Android 16 will let apps block AI writing tools

Google launches second developer preview Android 16 In the past few days, a series of new developer features have been introduced to the platform, such as better haptic control for applications, search support for cloud media projects in the photo picker, adaptive refresh rate API, and more. As usual, it also includes changes that Google didn’t highlight in its announcement, some of which we’ve already covered. The latest change we spotted is a new writing tools API that appears to let apps opt out of letting artificial intelligence rewrite text for you.

While delving into the file Android 16 DP2we noticed that Google documented two new methods in EditorInfo class: isWritingToolsEnabled() and setWritingToolsEnabled(). this EditorInfo Categories basically allow an application to pass information about an editable text field (such as the type of text content it contains) to the current input method (i.e. Android Keyboard App).

new isWritingToolsEnabled() This method returns true when the editor has the AI ​​writing tool enabled (enabled by default on all text fields). The document states that “the toolkit can optionally disable [AI writing tools] Irrelevant places, such as passwords, digital input, etc.

Documentation under the new version setWritingToolsEnabled() Method explains how an application can use it to choose not to rewrite text using a writing tool generative artificial intelligence.

Some keyboard apps like G board Have an AI writing tool that helps you proofread or rewrite text using on-device or cloud-based generative AI models. For example, Gboard has a proofing option on some Pixel devices that can help correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation in any text you type, paste, or dictate.

Most applications should have no reason to opt out of AI writing tools in most text fields, but some applications may wish to indicate to the current keyboard application that they are not allowed to be used in certain situations. For example, it makes no sense to allow the use of artificial intelligence writing tools to replace text in fields where email addresses, passwords, or phone numbers must be entered.

While Gboard already hides most irrelevant options when focusing on number or password fields, some other keyboard apps may not, which seems to be the logic behind this new writing tool API. Regardless, keyboard applications must respect this new API. Even if they do, it seems to be an easy fix since you can always generate the text in another app and then insert it into the text field that should be blocked.

We’re still digging into Android 16 Developer Preview 2 to see what’s new, so keep an eye out for more coverage Android Authority.