Google Phone or Dialer is the default call/dialer on many Android smartphones today. Google’s dialer app has many annoying things; However, the call log notification is probably the most annoying. Once you start recording the call, the app plays a pre-notification “This call is now being recorded” on both sides. Similarly, when you stop call recording, it plays “Call recording complete”.
Recording calls without notifying all participants is illegal in many jurisdictions. We won’t go into too much detail, but it would be ethical to tell the other side before starting the call recording. On the other hand, Google’s push for notification every time is not well executed. Google should have left the choice in the hands of users – at least in areas where there is no such law.
How to disable pre-call notification in Google Phone app
The Google Phone app is pre-installed today on all smartphones including Nokia, Samsung, OnePlus, Vivo, Oppo, IQOO, Realme, Xiaomi, Poco, Motorola, Sony and Honor. This app is also used by many regional phone brands. So, this is a very universal guide and should work across the board
Google Dialer uses text-to-speech to read text and generate call log notification. So, we are going to overcome this problem by using another text-to-speech service. This change may prevent the Google Phone app from creating a recording notification for playback of an audio file, causing it to remain silent. Google may fix this issue in a future update to the Google Phone app – use it while it lasts!
- Install the TTSLexx app from the Play Store.
- Open Settings > System > Accessibility on your Android phone.
- Scroll down and select “Text-to-Speech Output”.
- Tap the preferred engine and change the value to “TSTLexx” from Google Speech Services. Confirm the next standard warning.
- Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > See all apps on your phone.
- Scroll down and find the “Phone” app. Tap on it to open its details.
- Tap on “Storage and Cache”. Then tap on “Clear Storage”.
- It’s done! Open the Phone app, make a call, and start recording to watch the magic.
If you are in doubt about the app, you can change the text-to-speech provider to “Speech Services by Google”. The call log notification is disabled until the Phone app refreshes its data or restarts the phone. You can repeat the steps again when the notification is active again.