Google Keep will let you write notes from the lock screen on Android tablets

Android tablets can be great productivity tools if you use a robust note-taking app like Google Keep. Pairing the pen with your tablet can further enhance Keep’s note-taking capabilities by allowing you to draw notes with a pen instead of your finger.

However, to access Keep’s drawing mode, you need to unlock the tablet, tap the Keep home screen icon, and tap the brush icon. This three-step process makes it cumbersome to quickly jot down notes, which is why Google introduced a new feature in Android 14 that makes it easy to launch note-taking apps like Keep right from the lock screen.

Shortcut for taking notes

As we described earlier, one of the key features of Android 14 is the ability to customize the shortcuts displayed on the lock screen. However, this feature is disabled on the Pixel tablet. Google’s tablet has just one shortcut in the lower-left corner of the lock screen that launches Android’s “Device Controls” interface for the smart home. If you enable force enable Notes role setting on Android’s Developer Options page, then a second shortcut will appear in the lower-right corner of the lock screen. This is Android’s hidden ninth lock screen shortcut called note-taking.

Enabling force enable Notes role However, the setting is not enough to make this note shortcut really work. First, you need to set Google Keep as Android’s default note-taking app by going to the Settings > Applications > Default applications. This is possible since version 5.23.482.04 of the Keep application launched back in December.

At the time, however, launching Google Keep from the lock screen shortcut would simply trigger a message saying you needed to update Keep. Recently, this message was updated to say “coming soon”, suggesting that the feature is almost ready for release. In fact, Keep’s note-taking feature on the lock screen is already mostly functional, and with a bit of tinkering we were able to partially enable the experience.

In the video embedded above, our tipster, Anh on Discord, long-presses the note-taking shortcut on his Pixel tablet’s lock screen. This launches Google Keep in drawing mode with a message that reads: “create Keep drawings while your device is locked.” Our tipster can use his pen to draw in Keep, and after he’s done, his device is still locked.

Launching Keep from the lock screen makes it much easier to quickly jot down notes, thanks to Android 14’s new note-taking shortcut on the lock screen. But Keep isn’t the only note-taking app that can benefit from this new Android 14 feature, as any note-taking app can set a third-party note-taking app as Android’s default note-taking app as long as it meets the following requirements.

More than just a lock screen shortcut

Making it the default notes app has several benefits beyond being able to launch it from the lock screen. For example, the default notes application can also be launched when you press the tail button on a supported stylus. This launches the app in a floating bubble that sits on top of whatever app is currently on the screen.

Another benefit is that the default Notes app gets access to the new Capture Content for Notes API for Android 14. This API allows the default Notes app to insert a screenshot of the current page into a note. Only the default Notes app has access to this API to ensure that other apps can’t just take a screenshot of what you’re looking at whenever they want.

Because of the workaround in how we’ve enabled this feature, we’re unable to demonstrate the experience of launching Keep in a floating bubble by pressing the pen tail button or inserting a screenshot into a note. However, we can demonstrate what the experience should look like by displaying these features in a third-party app that has been updated to fully support Android 14’s logging APIs.

As you can see in the video embedded above, we can open the default Notes app in a floating bubble at the top of the Google Chrome browser. We can then insert a screenshot of the current screen into the note. Android even lets you crop a screenshot before you forward it to a note. While Keep’s user interface will obviously be different from this third-party app, the overall flow should remain the same.

When will this be launched?

The question you must have is, “When is this going to launch?” Unfortunately, we don’t really know. Given that this feature is mostly working, it’s possible that we’re only days or weeks away from its launch. It might even launch with the next Pixel Feature Drop in March. However, I think it’s more likely that Google will launch it with Android 15 later this year. The reason is that the default notes app role is disabled by default and requires a setting change in developer options to enable it. I suspect that Google will initiate a change to enable this role by default in a future version of Android so that users don’t have to go into developer options to enable it.

Google may also wait until it’s ready to release the first stylus accessory for the Pixel Tablet. We’ve seen evidence that one has been in the works for some time, but he still hasn’t released it. It could be delayed until the release of the rumored Pixel Tablet 2, which could make it a more productivity-focused device. However, there is no evidence that Google will do this, as it is also possible that they will release this feature without much fanfare, as it did with the pen handwriting in Gboard.

Anyway, Android Authority will be keeping a close eye on this feature so we can let you know when it launches.

Special thanks to Rodrigo on Telegram for sharing a method on how to partially enable this feature, as well as Anh on Discord for recording a video of this feature on their Pixel tablet!