Android 2.3.3 Will Allow Screenshots Without Root

At present you can take screenshots on your Android device by using the Android SDK, or you can use an app from the Android Market.  The only catch is that with all existing versions of Android, the screenshot apps require that you have rooted your phones; something not everyone is comfortable doing.  But, with the new upcoming 2.3.3 version of Android Gingerbread, rooting is no longer a requirement!

Previously there was a worry that if an application could capture your screen there would be nothing to stop it from snapping clips of your credit card information and other personal data when, shopping online or otherwise through your Android device.  That worry never stopped tech-savvy users from rooting their phones and doing it anyway, and now it looks to be natively supported.  Starting on line 2032 of the SurfaceFlinger Android kernel, it looks like Android is changing up the way it handles screen capture buffering; now apps should be able to capture whether a phone is rooted or not.  For most other smartphones, this comes an out-of-box feature so many people feel that it is about time Android incorporate it despite security concerns.

Now all we have to do is wait for 2.3.3 to be rolled out by phone manufacturers, which could be a very, very, long wait –unless you have a Nexus One or Nexus S that is…