How can I see which applications is reading the clipboard?

Question

Upon reading TikTok says it will stop accessing clipboard content on iOS devices, I wonder: How can I see which applications is reading the clipboard?

Answer 1

We can do some scripting with AppOps.

Create /sdcard/clipboard_history.sh:

for pkg in $( pm list packages | sed 's/package://' )
do
    ( appops get $pkg READ_CLIPBOARD; appops get $pkg WRITE_CLIPBOARD ) |
    grep -i time= |
    while read -r line
    do
        echo $line | grep ' allow; ' | sed 's/time=+//'
        echo $line | grep -v ' allow; ' | sed 's/time=+[^ ]*//; s/rejectTime=+//'
    done |
    sed 's/[0-9]*ms//; s/[:;]//g; s/_CLIPBOARD//; s/ago//g; s/$/& '"$pkg"'/'
done |
awk '{printf "%-10s%-14s%-20s%s\n",$1,$2,$3,$4}'

Run:

~$ adb shell sh /sdcard/clipboard_history.sh
WRITE     allow         19h48m7s            org.shadowice.flocke.andotp
READ      allow         2d1h46m12s          dev.ukanth.ufirewall
READ      ignore        26m16s              com.dv.adm.old
READ      deny          7h39m16s            com.google.android.gms
READ      foreground-R  1d2h43m6s           org.blackmart.market
WRITE     allow         6m48s               com.termux
READ      foreground    16s                 com.google.android.inputmethod.latin
READ      allow         1m17s               com.stackexchange.marvin
WRITE     allow         1m14s               com.stackexchange.marvin

Similar answer here: Is there a way to log calls to device vibrator?

Answer 2

• Prior to Android 10, all apps could access clipboard by default without even asking for permission. Apps actually need a permission (that is automatically granted) to read the clipboard: READ_CLIPBOARD (from XDA Developers) - thanks to Andrew in comment

• In Android 10, See Privacy changes in Android 10, access to clipboard is limited to OEM apps only that have READ_CLIPBOARD_IN_BACKGROUND permission, which are keyboards and "apps in focus" (not sure what latter means)

Unless your app is the default input method editor (IME) or is the app that currently has focus, your app cannot access clipboard data on Android 10 or higher

• TikTok would need to ask and be granted the same signature as OS since this permission is Signature permission

The system grants these app permissions at install time, but only when the app that attempts to use a permission is signed by the same certificate as the app that defines the permission.