Google's latest mobile operating system Android 7.1 Nougat brings a number of new features such as the split-screen display mode that allows users to access two apps at once. The OS also allows users to take partial screenshots but this feature is currently hidden.
On many occasions, users may want to capture and share a specific part of their device's screen. Currently, users have to take a screenshot and then crop the image before sharing it. However, Android 7.1 Nougat users have an easy way around this.
Users Discover Android Nougat Partial Screenshot Feature
Some users have found a code in Android 7.1 Nougat's Android Open Source Project that includes a "partial screenshot" feature to devices running on Google's latest mobile OS.
XDA Recognized Developer Maxr1998 also demonstrated the partial screenshot functionality on a Nexus 4 running on NitrogenOS ROM.
"@MrWasdennnoch found out that Android Nougat (AOSP master branch, actually since 7.0) contains a commit named 'Partial screenshot', which will seemingly allow us in the next Android version to select the size and position for taking a screenshot," says Maxr1998. "By modifying line 53 of TakeScreenshotService to takeScreenshotPartial(), I was able to activate the feature in my following NitrogenOS build for my Nexus 4."
Another Reddit user, Vyashole, was able to activate the new feature in a different way.
"I read the source code and managed to get it to work using a physical keyboard with the OTG dongle," says Vyashole. "The combination is CTRL+META+S for fullscreen and CTRL+META+SHIFT+S for crop."
The feature is Android Nougat-specific and a user suggests that the feature works in Android 7.0 Nougat as well. Unfortunately, the feature does not work in Android 6 Marshmallow.
Some redditors note that the partial screenshot feature may not have been available for many Android phones but it has been present on Samsung phones for several years.
"I had this on my Note 2. You can take a partial screenshot in any size and/or shape," commented a redditor.
"That's a Samsung custom thing. Have the same on my S7," says another redditor.
The partial screenshot functionality will definitely be handy for people who take and share part of their phone's screen. However, Google has not officially confirmed the feature. It is likely that Google is still testing the feature in Android 7.1 Nougat and will officially confirm it publicly soon.
Check out a video that shows how the partial screenshot functionality works on a Nexus 4 phone.
