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For a still image of your app’s own window or SurfaceView, use PixelCopy. To capture the device display or a user-selected app window, use MediaProjection and obtain the user’s approval for each capture session. These APIs serve different jobs: PixelCopy returns a bitmap from a particular surface, while MediaProjection sends display frames to an output such as an ImageReader. There is no general-purpose Android screenshot API that silently captures another app’s screen.
Choose the Android screenshot method that matches your target
| Need | Use | Scope and output | Important constraint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capture your Activity window for a feedback report or UI test | PixelCopy |
A still bitmap copied asynchronously from a Window |
Available from API 24; the window must have drawn and have a backing surface. |
Capture a rendered SurfaceView |
PixelCopy |
A still bitmap copied from that surface | Available from API 24; the surface must contain available pixel data. |
| Capture the full device display, or let the user choose an app window | MediaProjection |
A media stream delivered to an ImageReader, recorder, or other supported consumer |
Requires explicit system-mediated user consent for each new session. |
| Save a small view hierarchy rendered by software | View.draw() on a software Canvas |
A bitmap rendered from your own views | Hardware-only rendering effects might not be represented correctly; drawing-cache APIs are deprecated from API 28. |
MediaProjection has existed since Android 5 (API 21). PixelCopy is the better choice for a one-off still from your own window or surface; it avoids setting up a display-capture session. Use MediaProjection for capture beyond your own rendered surface, including repeated frames for recording, OCR, streaming, or screen sharing.
Capture your Activity window with PixelCopy
PixelCopy is asynchronous: submit a request with a destination bitmap and handle the result in its callback. Call it only after your Activity window has been attached and drawn. A request made too early can fail because the window has no acquired backing surface or has not produced data yet.
import android.app.Activity
import android.graphics.Bitmap
import android.os.Handler
import android.os.Looper
import android.view.PixelCopy
import android.view.Window
fun captureWindow(activity: Activity, onResult: (Bitmap?) -> Unit) {
val window: Window = activity.window
val decor = window.decorView
if (decor.width == 0 || decor.height == 0) {
onResult(null)
return
}
val bitmap = Bitmap.createBitmap(
decor.width,
decor.height,
Bitmap.Config.ARGB_8888
)
PixelCopy.request(window, bitmap, { result ->
if (result == PixelCopy.SUCCESS) {
onResult(bitmap)
} else {
bitmap.recycle()
onResult(null)
}
}, Handler(Looper.getMainLooper()))
}This function returns the captured bitmap through a callback; it does not write a file. Handle the bitmap on the caller side according to your app’s storage and sharing design. For a partial capture, use the PixelCopy overload with a source rectangle. The source region is scaled to the destination bitmap and converted to its bitmap configuration, so choose the destination dimensions and configuration intentionally.
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Copy a SurfaceView instead
Use the PixelCopy overload that takes the SurfaceView when the pixels you need are rendered into that view’s surface rather than the Activity window. Supply a destination bitmap and handle the callback result in the same way. The surface must be valid and have produced data; a newly created or unavailable surface can return an error rather than an image.
Interpret PixelCopy results
Check the result code rather than treating every callback as a successful image. PixelCopy can report SUCCESS, ERROR_SOURCE_INVALID, ERROR_SOURCE_NO_DATA, ERROR_DESTINATION_INVALID, ERROR_TIMEOUT, or ERROR_UNKNOWN. A successful request gives you a bitmap; an error means you should not publish the destination bitmap as a valid screenshot.
Capture the display or a selected app with MediaProjection
MediaProjection is the system-approved route to display capture. The user approves the capture in Android’s system flow, and on Android 14 (API 34) can select a single app window. In app-window mode, system bars, notifications, and other system UI are excluded from the captured app content. The size can differ from the full display and can change during capture.
Request consent and create the output
- Get
MediaProjectionManagerfrom theMEDIA_PROJECTION_SERVICEsystem service. - Launch
createScreenCaptureIntent()and wait for the activity result. Do not try to start a new session without a new user approval. - Pass the returned result code and intent to
getMediaProjection()exactly once for that session. - Create an
ImageReaderat the intended width and height. Its surface is the output for the virtual display. A recorder orSurfaceTexturecan be used when they better fit the application. - Create the virtual display using that output surface, then consume frames from the reader.
val projection = projectionManager.getMediaProjection(resultCode, resultData)
val imageReader = ImageReader.newInstance(
width,
height,
PixelFormat.RGBA_8888,
2
)
val virtualDisplay = projection.createVirtualDisplay(
"Screenshot",
width,
height,
densityDpi,
DisplayManager.VIRTUAL_DISPLAY_FLAG_AUTO_MIRROR,
imageReader.surface,
null,
null
)This is the core setup, not a complete Activity: your application still has to implement the consent-result flow, choose current dimensions and density, register the projection callback, consume and close images, and release resources when capture stops. On Android 14-targeting apps, the capture service must also meet the foreground-service requirements below.
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Read frames without leaking ImageReader buffers
Register an ImageReader.OnImageAvailableListener, acquire the newest available image, copy its pixels, and close the image promptly. Do not retain an open Image while doing slow processing: the reader has a bounded number of image buffers, and failing to release them can prevent later frames from arriving.
imageReader.setOnImageAvailableListener({ reader ->
val image = reader.acquireLatestImage() ?: return@setOnImageAvailableListener
try {
val plane = image.planes[0]
val pixelStride = plane.pixelStride
val rowStride = plane.rowStride
val rowPadding = rowStride - pixelStride * image.width
val paddedWidth = image.width + rowPadding / pixelStride
val padded = Bitmap.createBitmap(
paddedWidth,
image.height,
Bitmap.Config.ARGB_8888
)
plane.buffer.rewind()
padded.copyPixelsFromBuffer(plane.buffer)
val screenshot = Bitmap.createBitmap(
padded,
0,
0,
image.width,
image.height
)
padded.recycle()
// Process or save screenshot here, without retaining the Image.
onScreenshot(screenshot)
} finally {
image.close()
}
}, handler)The buffer’s row stride can be wider than the visible image width. The padding calculation above creates a bitmap wide enough to copy the rows, then crops it to the actual image dimensions. Keep this stride handling; assuming tightly packed rows can produce distorted or misaligned output.
Use current dimensions and respond to app-window resizing
For initial display dimensions, use WindowManager.getMaximumWindowMetrics() and the returned WindowMetrics.getBounds(). A selected app window can have different bounds. On Android 14 and later, implement MediaProjection.Callback.onCapturedContentResize() and resize both the virtual display and the output surface when the captured content changes size; otherwise the image can be letterboxed or use stale dimensions. Also handle onCapturedContentVisibilityChanged() so a preview can be hidden or shown when the captured app is fully covered.
Android 14 foreground service and one-use token rules
Apps targeting Android 14 or later must declare android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE and android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PROJECTION, and the foreground service used for projection must specify android:foregroundServiceType="mediaProjection". Android 14 also makes a projection token one-use for creating a virtual display: request a fresh consent result for each new projection session, and do not reuse a prior result to create another virtual display.
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<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PROJECTION" />
<service
android:name=".ScreenCaptureService"
android:exported="false"
android:foregroundServiceType="mediaProjection" />The additional media-projection permission and service type are the Android 14-targeting requirements described here; they do not replace the user’s consent dialog. Build the service lifecycle around the consent result and the projection’s stop callback rather than assuming capture will run indefinitely.
Stop capture cleanly and handle lifecycle changes
Register a MediaProjection.Callback before relying on the projection. Android can stop projection when the user ends sharing, the screen locks, another projection starts, or the process dies. In onStop(), release the virtual display, close the ImageReader, discard the projection reference, and stop any associated capture work. Close individual images after each frame as well.
Make cleanup idempotent: user cancellation, an error, and the projection callback can all converge on teardown. Clear references after releasing resources so later code cannot accidentally process frames from an ended session. Do not treat process survival or a fixed display size as guaranteed.
Or skip the browser setup: use ScreenshotNeo for website screenshots
ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API, not an Android device-display capture API. It cannot replace MediaProjection or PixelCopy when you need pixels from a running Android app. It is relevant when your Android workflow needs an image or PDF of a public website rendered by a remote browser. See ScreenshotNeo and the API documentation.
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curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webpReplace the target URL with the website you need to capture and supply your API key. ScreenshotNeo can accept cookie or consent banners and remove known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture; those steps can be turned off. Bot checks, blank pages, failed loads, timeouts, and cache hits are not billed, and responses identify the page verdict and billing status in headers. Its MCP server exposes take_screenshot, get_page_info, and capture_pdf for AI agents using Claude, Cursor, or another MCP client. The free plan includes 1,000 screenshots per month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 screenshots.
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Troubleshoot common capture failures
- PixelCopy returns
ERROR_SOURCE_INVALID. The source surface or window is invalid or unavailable. For a window, check that the DecorView exists and the backing surface has been acquired; wait for the Activity to attach and draw before requesting a copy. - PixelCopy returns
ERROR_SOURCE_NO_DATA. The source has not produced usable pixels yet. Retry after a draw or after the surface has rendered content instead of treating an empty frame as a screenshot. - PixelCopy returns
ERROR_DESTINATION_INVALID. Check that the destination bitmap is valid and has usable dimensions and configuration for the request. - PixelCopy reports
ERROR_TIMEOUTorERROR_UNKNOWN. Do not use the destination as a successful capture. Check source availability and request timing, and report or retry the failure as appropriate to the feature. - MediaProjection consent succeeds but virtual-display creation fails on Android 14. Confirm that the result token is being used only once for that session and request consent again for a fresh session.
- Capture stops unexpectedly. The user may have ended it, the screen may have locked, another projection may have started, or the process may have died. Use
onStop()for cleanup and require a new consent flow before starting another session. - App-window output has blank margins or the wrong dimensions. Selected content may not match full-display dimensions or may have resized. On Android 14+, respond to
onCapturedContentResize()by resizing the output surface and virtual display. - Frames stop arriving or buffers are exhausted. Close every acquired
Imagepromptly and avoid holding images while doing slow work. UseacquireLatestImage()when the goal is the freshest frame rather than processing a backlog.
Performance, reliability, and cost considerations
PixelCopy is usually the smaller implementation for a single in-app still: it avoids a projection session and gives a bitmap through an asynchronous callback. MediaProjection is a streaming capture mechanism, so it brings consent UI, a virtual display, output-buffer management, lifecycle handling, and (for Android 14-targeting apps) foreground-service configuration. No universal speed or memory figure applies: bitmap dimensions, frame rate, image processing, and device behavior all affect resource use.
Estimate bitmap memory from its dimensions and pixel format before allocating large outputs. A stream can produce frames faster than downstream encoding or analysis can consume them, so process only what the feature needs and promptly close input images. For one still, avoid maintaining a continuous projection if PixelCopy can capture the required window or surface. Both APIs are platform APIs rather than a required paid screenshot service; cost depends on the application’s own processing and distribution choices.
FAQ
Can an Android app take a screenshot of another app without asking?
For device-display or selected-app capture through MediaProjection, the system requires user consent. PixelCopy is for a specific window or surface your app can access; it is not a silent substitute for cross-app screen capture.
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Can PixelCopy capture an entire Android screen?
PixelCopy copies from a particular Window, SurfaceView, or Surface. For a device display or user-selected app capture, use MediaProjection instead.
Should I use the View drawing cache for screenshots?
No. Drawing-cache APIs are deprecated from API 28. For a still UI screenshot, Android’s View guidance recommends PixelCopy for feedback reports or unit testing; a software Canvas and View.draw() can be useful for a small view hierarchy, with rendering limitations.
Does MediaProjection always capture system UI?
It depends on the capture scope. Android 14’s user-selected app-window mode excludes system bars, notifications, and other system UI from that app-window capture.
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