How to Protect Floating Windows and Dynamic Content in Android Apps

Last updated April 23, 2023 by Appdome

Learn to Prevent the visibility of dynamically generated windows on screen grab applications in Android apps, in mobile CI/CD with a Data-Driven DevSecOps™ build system.

What is Appdome's Prevent Screen Sharing feature?

Prevent App Screen Sharing is used to ensure sensitive data is not recorded from the app’s screen. Screenshots, mirroring, and sharing the app’s screen is prevented.

The Appdome feature Prevent App Screen Sharing prevents the sharing of screens on Android applications. For full and complete protection, Appdome’s Protect Dynamically Generated Windows (a sub-toggle) secures those Android UI elements that do not expose a developer-facing API, such as Android floating windows.

Why Protect Floating Windows and Dynamically Generated Windows in Android apps?

When a developer sets the FLAG_SECURE for chosen Android UI elements, the underlying infrastructure of Android treats the content of the window as secure, preventing it from appearing in screenshots or from being viewed on non-secure displays. However, due to a design flaw in the Android framework, there are several exceptions. When setting the flag on an Activity or Fragment, the secured protection isn’t inherited by all of its “children” (aka small UI elements), such as various dialogs, floating windows or menus, and popups.

Appdome Protect Dynamically Generated Windows prevents those UI elements’ visibility on screen grab applications ensuring that sensitive data is not recorded from the app’s screen.

Furthermore, on many UI elements, it is fairly difficult to set the FLAG_SECURED, due to lack of a developer-facing API (f.e. Spinner or Toast). On some 3rd party UI frameworks, such as React-Native, the FLAG_SECURED cannot be passed at all without modifying the React-Native framework. Protect Dynamically Generated Windows enables you to protect even those UI elements that do not expose a developer facing API, among many others:

Prerequisites for Using Protect Dynamically Generated Windows:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Prevent the visibility of dynamically generated windows on screen grab applications , you’ll need:

Prevent the visibility of dynamically generated windows on screen grab applications on Android apps using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending Android Apps that Prevent the visibility of dynamically generated windows on screen grab applications without an SDK or gateway:

  1. Upload the Mobile App to Appdome.

    1. Upload an app to Appdome’s Mobile App Security Build System

    2. Upload Method: Appdome Console or DEV-API
    3. Android Formats: .apk or .aab
    4. Protect Dynamically Generated Windows Compatible With: Java, JS, C++, C#, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Cordova and other Android apps
  2. Build the feature: Protect Dynamically Generated Windows.

    1. Building Protect Dynamically Generated Windows by using Appdome’s DEV-API:

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Protect Dynamically Generated Windows feature as shown below:
      2. fusion set that contains Protect Dynamically Generated Windows

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Protect Dynamically Generated Windows feature
        Note: Naming the Fusion Set to correspond to the protection(s) selected is for illustration purposes only (not required).

      3. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2.1-2.2.2 of this article, Building the Protect Dynamically Generated Windows feature via Appdome Console, to add the Protect Dynamically Generated Windows feature to this Fusion Set.

      4. Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set. Copy the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below): fusion Set Detail Summary image

        Figure 2: Fusion Set Detail Summary
        Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).

      5. Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, App Center, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
        1. Build an API for the app – for instructions, see the tasks under Appdome API Reference Guide
        2. Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository
    2. Building the Protect Dynamically Generated Windows feature via Appdome Console

      To build the Protect Dynamically Generated Windows protection by using Appdome Console, follow the instructions below.

      1. Where: Inside the Appdome Console, go to Build > Security Tab > Mobile Privacy section.
      2. How: Check whether is toggled On (enabled), otherwise enable it . The feature Protect Dynamically Generated Windows is enabled by default, as shown below. Toggle (turn ON) Protect Dynamically Generated Windows, as shown below. Protect Dynamically Generated Windows option

        Figure 3: Prevent the visibility of dynamically generated windows on screen grab applications option

      3. When you select the Protect Dynamically Generated Windows you'll notice that your Fusion Set you created in step 2.1.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Protect Dynamically Generated Windows

        Fusion Set applied Protect Dynamically Generated Windows

        Figure 4: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Protect Dynamically Generated Windows protection

      4. Optional Configuration with Protect Dynamically Generated Windows:
        1. Protect Dynamically Generated Windows

          Extends App Screen Sharing Prevention to all Android floating windows.

      5. Click Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 3).
    Congratulations!  The Protect Dynamically Generated Windows protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the Protect Dynamically Generated Windows feature in Android Apps

    After building Protect Dynamically Generated Windows, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Protect Dynamically Generated Windows protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Protect Dynamically Generated Windows protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: Protect Dynamically Generated Windows shown in Certificate secure

    Figure 5: Certified Secure™ certificate

    Each Certified Secure™ certificate provides DevOps and DevSecOps organizations the entire workflow summary, audit trail of each build, and proof of protection that Protect Dynamically Generated Windows has been added to each Android app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Protect Dynamically Generated Windows and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app

Using Threat-Events™ for the visibility of dynamically generated windows on screen grab applications Intelligence and Control in Android Apps

Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when the visibility of dynamically generated windows on screen grab applications is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for the visibility of dynamically generated windows on screen grab applications in Android Apps, use registerReceiver in the Application OnCreate, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for the visibility of dynamically generated windows on screen grab applications shown below.

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for the visibility of dynamically generated windows on screen grab applications are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Prevent the visibility of dynamically generated windows on screen grab applications Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name Protect Dynamically Generated Windows
Threat-Event Mode
OFF, IN-APP DEFENSE Appdome detects, defends and notifies user (standard OS dialog) using customizable messaging.
ON, IN-APP DETECTION Appdome detects the attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (app chooses how and when to enforce).
ON, IN-APP DEFENSE Uses Appdome Enforce mode for any attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (gather intel on attacks and threats without losing any protection).
Certified Secure™ Threat Event Check x
Visible in ThreatScope™ x
Developer Parameters for Preventing the visibility of dynamically generated windows on screen grab applications Threat-Event™
Threat-Event NAME
Threat-Event DATA reasonData
Threat-Event CODE reasonCode
Threat-Event REF
Threat-Event SCORE
currentThreatEventScore Current Threat-Event score
threatEventsScore Total Threat-events score
Threat-Event Context Keys
message Message displayed for the user on event
failSafeEnforce Timed enforcement against the identified threat
externalID The external ID of the event which can be listened via Threat Events
osVersion OS version of the current device
deviceModel Current device model
deviceManufacturer The manufacturer of the current device
fusedAppToken The task ID of the Appdome fusion of the currently running app
kernelInfo Info about the kernel: system name, node name, release, version and machine.
carrierPlmn PLMN of the device. Only available for Android devices.
deviceID Current device ID
reasonCode Reason code of the occurred event
buildDate Appdome fusion date of the current application
devicePlatform OS name of the current device
carrierName Carrier name of the current device. Only available for Android.
updatedOSVersion Is the OS version up to date
deviceBrand Brand of the device
deviceBoard Board of the device
buildUser Build user
buildHost Build host
sdkVersion Sdk version
timeZone Time zone
deviceFaceDown Is the device face down
locationLong Location longitude conditioned by location permission
locationLat Location latitude conditioned by location permission
locationState Location state conditioned by location permission
wifiSsid Wifi SSID
wifiSsidPermissionStatus Wifi SSID permission status

With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), Android developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in Android applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when the visibility of dynamically generated windows on screen grab applications is detected.


The following is a code sample for native Android apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Protect Dynamically Generated Windows:


Important! Replace all placeholder instances of <Context Key> with the specific name of your threat event context key across all language examples. This is crucial to ensure your code functions correctly with the intended event data. For example, The <Context Key> could be the message, externalID, OS Version, reason code, etc.



Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured Android Apps by using Protect Dynamically Generated Windows. There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.

Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with Protect Dynamically Generated Windows

After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:

Related Articles:

How Do I Learn More?

If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.

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Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.

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