Android's stock dialer answers calls. Recline manages them — who gets through, when, what they hear back, what the screen looks like, and whether the conversation gets recorded. All configured on your device, none of it uploaded anywhere.
Android blocks call-audio recording for ordinary apps, and Google Play removed the accessibility-service loophole. Recline takes a different route entirely.
Recording is handled by a separate companion app — Recline Helper — which runs a small, tightly scoped background service with the elevated access Android requires for call audio. It captures the audio and hands it back to the dialer.
The result: the dialer itself declares no microphone permission and no accessibility service, and still records genuine two-way audio. The elevated component does one job and nothing else — capture.
How Recline Helper worksCall UI, logs, contacts, recording controls and playback. No mic permission.
The two apps confirm each other before any audio moves between them.
The capture service, plus encoding and on-device storage.
Six groups, and every item below is shipping today.
What a default dialer genuinely needs, and nothing beyond it.
| Permission | Why it's needed |
|---|---|
| Phone & Call | Make, receive and manage calls as your default dialer. |
| Contacts | Show names and photos instead of bare numbers. |
| Call Log | Display recent calls and let you edit or delete entries. |
| Notifications | Incoming, missed and ongoing call alerts. |
| SMS (send only) | Send the auto-reply and quick-reply messages you configure. |
| Bluetooth | Route call audio to a connected headset. |
| Write Settings | Apply a custom ringtone you selected. |
| Storage / Media | Let you pick a call-screen background from your gallery. |
| Internet | Load ads and send anonymised crash reports. |
| Foreground Service | Keep the call screen and fake-call timer alive. |
Recordings are encoded and stored on your device, and only Recline can open them — no other app on your phone can read them, and nothing is uploaded to any server of mine. Contacts, call logs and settings never leave the phone either.
Free, no account, no subscription. Android 8.0 and newer. Install the Helper too if you want call recording.
