Assistant mode & screen capture

Nova can act as the system assistant (long-press home / power / gesture) and capture the screen via MediaProjection for vision context.

Set Nova as default assistant

  1. Open Settings → Assistant → Default assistant
  2. Or open Android Settings → Apps → Default apps → Digital assistant app and choose Nova

On API 30+, Nova checks ROLE_ASSISTANT and opens Voice Input settings when you tap the tile.

Screen capture (MediaProjection)

Capture is not a static install-time permission. Android shows a system consent dialog the first time Nova requests projection. Grant it when prompted.

Foreground service type: mediaProjection (see MediaProjectionService in the Android module).

AppOps: PROJECT_MEDIA (debug / power-user)

On Android 14+ and many OEM builds, assistant overlay capture may also need the PROJECT_MEDIA AppOps grant. This is a developer / power-user step — Play Store users still get the normal MediaProjection prompt.

adb shell appops set dev.nova.assistant PROJECT_MEDIA allow

Verify:

adb shell appops get dev.nova.assistant PROJECT_MEDIA

If the assistant overlay cannot draw over other apps:

adb shell appops set dev.nova.assistant SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW allow

Revoke later with deny instead of allow if needed.