Google makes Android’s new note-taking characteristic official in Android 15

Due to their giant screens, Android tablets are implausible units to jot down notes, particularly when you have a keyboard or stylus. Nonetheless, on many Android tablets, launching a note-taking app like Google Preserve requires unlocking the machine first, which might decelerate your productiveness. Luckily, Android will quickly make it simpler to shortly take notes in your pill. The upcoming Android 15 replace will allow you to set a default note-taking app that may not solely be launched from the lock display however also can insert display grabs.

Finally month’s Google I/O developer convention, the corporate held a presentation the place it shared tips about how builders can “improve person productiveness with giant screens & equipment.” Throughout this presentation, Miguel Montemayor, a Developer Relations Engineer for Android, talked in regards to the “new Notes function” in Android. As he defined, the Notes roles let customers shortly entry their favourite note-taking app from any display to allow them to jot down concepts or take notes with out switching apps.

Customers can choose their most well-liked default note-taking app by navigating to Settings > Apps > Default apps > Default notes app. The default notes app can then be launched by long-pressing a shortcut on the lock display, which opens the note-taking app with no need to unlock the machine. Alternatively, customers can press the tail button on suitable USI styluses to open the note-taking app in a floating window on prime of different apps.

By default, most present note-taking apps gained’t qualify to be set as Android’s default notes app. Builders of note-taking apps might want to do just a few issues to register their apps. First, they should create or modify one in all their app’s actions to deal with the CREATE_NOTE intent that Android sends when the person long-presses the lock display shortcut or faucets the tail button on their stylus. Second, they should set the exercise that handles the CREATE_NOTE intent to point out when locked and switch the display on. These attributes be certain that the app may be launched from the lock display and may flip the machine’s display on respectively.

Google additionally recommends that builders test whether or not the CREATE_NOTE intent was despatched with the EXTRA_USE_STYLUS_MODE additional set to true. If that’s the case, then meaning the person launched the note-taking app by urgent the tail button on their stylus, which implies they intend to make use of their stylus to take notes. The developer ought to reply to this by launching a word that accepts stylus enter so the person can instantly draw with their finger or stylus.

Extra importantly, although, builders of note-taking apps are suggested to test whether or not their app was launched from the lock display. If that’s the case, earlier notes shouldn’t be proven to protect the person’s privateness, except the person explicitly consents to exhibiting historic notes. Builders can test whether or not their app was launched from the lock display through the use of KeyguardManager’s isKeyGuardLocked() methodology and immediate the person to unlock the machine for full entry to historic notes through the use of the requestDismissKeyguard(...) methodology from the identical class.

Lastly, Google talked in regards to the content material seize functionality of note-taking apps. Content material seize is a characteristic that lets Android’s default notes app insert display grabs. Builders can add a button or different UI affordance that launches the SystemUI’s new seize content material exercise for Word. The person can then seize all or a part of the display and put it aside to the word as a picture that the person can then annotate. SystemUI solely permits the default notes app to launch the seize content material exercise for Word, which is one purpose why builders of note-taking apps are inspired to replace their apps.

Though Google talked in regards to the Notes function and content material seize API as in the event that they have been new, they have been really launched in final 12 months’s Android 14 launch. Nonetheless, the Notes function is disabled in Android 14 by default. Customers should go to Settings > System > Developer choices and toggle “power allow Notes function” to make the “default notes app” possibility seem in default apps.

It’s not clear why Google determined to attend till this 12 months to speak about Android’s new note-taking options. One purpose may very well be that it didn’t need to launch it till the Google Preserve crew was able to assist it. Luckily, we’ve identified for some time now that Google Preserve is making ready to assist Android’s new note-taking options, so it’s solely a matter of time till this characteristic goes stay in Preserve. Regardless that the Notes function remains to be disabled within the newest Android 15 Beta 2 launch for the Pixel Pill, it’s possible that Google will allow it by default within the upcoming steady launch, provided that it talked about it at I/O with out saying something about it being a developer preview.