Android FAQs Find answers to frequently asked questions related to Android devices. Manual sessions Why do I see a black screen during a manual session on Android? A black screen can appear during an Android manual session for a few reasons. One common cause is the use of the FLAG_SECURE setting in an app. This setting helps protect sensitive content by blocking screenshots and screencast for specific windows, such as login screens. Learn more about FLAG_SECURE on Android Developers. Although the screen is black, you can still use the Inspector in a manual session or Session Explorer to inspect elements on the screen. Suggested solutions and workarounds for the black screen issue: Ask the app developers for a debug version of the app without the FLAG_SECURE setting enabled. If you’re familiar with the screen layout, open adb shell during the manual session and use input commands to navigate past the black screen. The next question shows this in action for Google Play login on passcode-protected devices. How can I bypass the black screen when logging into Google Play Store (device with passcode)? On passcode-enabled devices with Android 12 and later, during a manual session, the screen turns black when logging into Google Play. The black screen is actually the passcode input screen. This screen has been protected from screen sharing to prevent recording of passcode input. To bypass this screen in a manual session: Copy the passcode in the session information (only for organizations with passcode enabled). Open adb shell terminal from the device actions toolbar. Type input text <passcode> (replace <passcode> with the copied passcode) and hit Enter on the keyboard. This command enters the passcode on the device screen. Type input keyevent 66 and hit Enter on the keyboard. This simulates the Enter key in the virtual keyboard. You can then move on to the next screen, which is no longer protected from screen sharing.