Android Ice Cream Sandwich to arrive with native screenshot app

Android Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) will bring together a bunch of new features to the Android platform which will be very beneficial for the users. And according to latest reports, one of them could be the ability to take screenshots without having to download a third party app or gaining root access.

Currently, there are applications like ShootMe and others in the Android Market which require root access to function or run. Although there are third party screenshot apps which do not require root access, they work only on a selected number of Android handsets. But if Ice Cream Sandwich will bring a native application which can do all of that without having to rely on other apps, those third party apps could start losing demand.

Samsung’s TouchWiz UI brings together a screenshot app as well, which is pretty slick on its own. Google will reveal Ice Cream Sandwich along with the Galaxy Nexus (Nexus Prime) tomorrow, October 19, 2011 with much fanfare and anticipation from Android users. Honeycomb already has a native screenshot feature, but wasn’t allotted a specific key combination like the power button + home button combination on iOS devices.

With Ice Cream Sandwich however it is being said that users will be able to capture screenshots using the power button and the volume down button. Being able to take native screenshots on Android was a feature that never existed, except on a few Samsung devices. We hope to see a lot more than just this in the new Ice Cream Sandwich OS.

If you’re an app developer or an extensive user of your Android smartphone, this feature will make your job a lot easier. However, it would have been appreciable if Google brought this feature throughout the Android sphere (Android 2.x and up).

Gingerbread as some of you might not know, has a feature to allow in app screenshots. But most developers either didn’t make use of this feature or did not know about it at all. But a system wide screenshot feature via a native app will be a welcome addition. Watch this space for more on Ice Cream Sandwich and other announcements tomorrow.