Serious Discussion Clipboard Protection for Android phone

[HarborFront]

A clipboard is a location where you copy and paste some things there be it text or image. It is useful for people who wants to use the clipboard.

However, for the security-conscious it's best to clear the clipboard upon work completion.

There are 2 clipboard locations. One is the system where you can view and clear with apps like Clipboard Cleaner, Clipeus etc. The other is your keyboard. None of the mentioned apps can clean the keyboard clipboard. You'll need to clean from within the keyboard itself.

Below are 3rd-party kb which comes with a clipboard and, hopefully, they allow the disabling of their clipboard for I have not try any of them.

5 Android Keyboards With a Clipboard

Do you need an Android keyboard that offers feature rich Clipboard? Check out these five Android keyboards with a clipboard.

www.guidingtech.com

However, I installed Yandex kb which comes with a clipboard instead.

Pros
1) By default, its clipboard is disabled.
2) Need to clean only 1 clipboard location i.e. the system clipboard
3) Can disable its telemtery data being send back. And you can also use NextDNS to block the telemetry data and trackers

Con

1) The app comes with trackers

Note that other 3rd-party kb do come with trackers and they do collect input statistics to send home

I'll use my Samsung Galaxy 23 Ultra as an example.

Pros

1) You can disable screenshots saving to clipboard
2) It gives an alert when the clipboard is accessed

Cons

1) Samsung kb do not have provision to disable its clipboard nor history. It allows you to clean the clipboard within its kb though. FF screenshot shows text stored on kb clipboard. Read reddit discussion below
2) Need to clean 2 clipboard locations

Finally, cleaning the system clipboard with Clipboard Cleaner

So far, I have not found an automatic way/app to clean the clipboards. If you know of a way or an app please share.

 

[Ink]

It’s been noted by the developer:

"On some android devices the clipboard cleaning might not work as some vendors implement their own method of managing clipboards."

Discuss/Update Thread - Clipboard Cleaner for Android - Free and Open source (Zero Trackers, No Internet Access)

Homepage: https://github.com/thatsmanmeet/Clipboard-Cleaner An android app for showing and cleaning clipboard. This app have a simple interface with only two buttons, Show Clipboard and Clean Clipboard. Both shows a small message (Toast) at the bottom with one showing the last copied text in...

malwaretips.com

 

[HarborFront]

For cleaning system clipboard can also try Clipeus from f-droid

Clipeus | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

Clipboard cleaner

f-droid.org

or Clipboard Cleaner

Clipboard Cleaner | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

Check and clean your clipboard

f-droid.org

 

[tsunami]

can android itself work on these instead of relying on other apps? feature request maybe?

 

[Ink]

can android itself work on these instead of relying on other apps? feature request maybe?

Edit: See post below.

No, but you can try submitting feedback using one the links below.

Android Beta Feedback

Help on providing feedback for Android Beta program.

www.google.com

Report and track bugs | Android Open Source Project

developer.android.com

Report and track bugs | Android Open Source Project

developer.android.com

Skeptical Google would implement user-submitted privacy-conscious feedback, as they generally reduce usability and ease of use for the wider audience.

 

[ForgottenSeer 76546]

I think android 13 automatically delete the clipboard history after an hour, well at least on the Pixel. It's really annoying on a Samsung phone, I always have to clear it myself, most of the time I just end up forgetting about it.

 

[Ink]

I think android 13 automatically delete the clipboard history after an hour, well at least on the Pixel. It's really annoying on a Samsung phone, I always have to clear it myself, most of the time I just end up forgetting about it.

Thanks for the information. Edited post above.

For on-demand use, Clipboard Cleaner can function from the Tiles.

Seems like a $500 Pixel is more privacy-focused than a $1500+ Samsung phone.

Android 13 has safeguards built in to help protect your personal data. To protect the information on your clipboard, you’ll get an alert when an app accesses it, and your clipboard history will be cleared after a period of time to prevent unwanted access.

Source: Android 13 - Customizable Apps & Security Controls - Android

Notably, too, Gboard automatically clears its clipboard after a certain period of time as well, probably to achieve the same privacy goal. But in Android 13, this automatic clearing will happen regardless of which keyboard you use.

Source: Android 13 will automatically clear your clipboard after about an hour