The change, first discovered and shared in a video by Esper’s Mishaal Rahman, is fairly straightforward. Summarily, once activated by the end-user, it deletes all contents of the Android system-level clipboard. And it does so automatically. More specifically, the automated process takes place whenever an hour has passed between any content being copied or pasted to or from the clipboard. That, in effect, means it works similarly to how the clipboard found in Google’s Gboard keyboard does. Or how it clears clipboard content that hasn’t been pinned.
Why is it a good thing for the clipboard to clear automatically in Android 13?
Now, Google could ultimately choose to keep the new feature turned off by default, as it currently is. Providing users a toggle or option in the Settings app to turn it on. Or it could choose to turn it on by default once the new version of Android releases. Conversely, it may also choose to keep the feature but only as a developer option. That remains to be seen. Regardless, the new feature would go a long way toward securing the Android operating system further than Android 12. In the most recent iteration of Android, the system provides users with a message whenever an app copies from the clipboard. That lets users see if and when apps are accessing the content. This is especially useful since apps don’t need any user interaction to copy or read from the system-level clipboard. With the change in place, following in line with other Android 13 privacy and security changes, users would automatically be protected. At the very least, protected from apps copying data that users have simply forgotten was in their clipboard.
