Google Keep will soon let you quickly jot notes from the lock screen

Google Keep Notes stock photo 1

TL;DR

  • If you want to take notes in the Google Keep app, you need to unlock your phone or tablet and then launch the app from the app drawer, the home screen, or use the widget.
  • Android 14 quietly added support for a “default notes app” and a lock screen shortcut to launch that app.
  • Google Keep is preparing to add support for being set as the default notes app, letting you quickly open Keep in a floating window from the lock screen.

Although the Pixel Tablet supports USI stylus input, Google doesn’t sell an official stylus accessory. A few months back, we spotted evidence that Google was working on a stylus for the Pixel Tablet, but that accessory has yet to hit the market. Perhaps the reason this accessory hasn’t been released yet is that the software isn’t ready, but that might not be true for much longer. We’ve already seen that Google is preparing to upgrade the Gboard app with stylus handwriting support, and now we’re seeing evidence that Google is preparing to upgrade Keep with a dedicated note-taking experience for a stylus.

One of the key features introduced in the Android 14 update is the ability to change the shortcuts on the lock screen. In previous versions of Android, you only had access to shortcuts for Device Controls and Wallet, but Android 14 adds shortcuts for Camera, Do Not Disturb, Mute, QR Code Scanner, Flashlight, and Video Call. A hidden ninth shortcut for “Note-taking” can also be added to the lock screen, but it doesn’t function unless you set an app as the designated “default notes app.”

In order to be eligible to be set as the default notes app, an app needs to meet two requirements in Android 14: It needs to target Android 14 and

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How to customize your Samsung Galaxy phone with the Good Lock app

If you own a Galaxy smartphone and you haven’t already discovered the Samsung Good Lock app, I’d recommend getting it installed at your earliest opportunity. It’s packed with tweaks, tools, and options that build on top of what Samsung already puts into its One UI version of Android.

Good Lock lets you take much more control over how your phone interface looks as well as helping you to do more with your phone. Whether you want to design your own clock face for the lock screen, switch between apps more quickly, or change the behavior of the S Pen stylus, Good Lock can help.

Getting started

To get started, open the Galaxy Store on your Samsung phone, then find and install the Good Lock app

The app works by using mini apps called modules. When you’ve installed these modules through Good Lock, some of them will show up as normal apps on your phone in your regular app drawer, while others will need to be accessed through Good Lock — they will show up on the top of the same screen you use to install the modules.

When you open Good Lock, you’ll see two tabs at the bottom of the screen: Make up, where you’ll find customization modules, and Life up, where you go for modules covering under-the-hood tweaks. Scroll down to see what is available. 

There are too many modules to cover all of them here, but I’ve picked out some of my favorites to get you up and running and to give you a good idea of what Good Lock is capable of. (I tried them out on a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 running Android 13 and One UI 5.1.1.)

Edit the Quick Panel with QuickStar

Changing the colors of the Quick

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Samsung Good Lock module One Hand Operation + lets you launch your favorite apps faster than ever

Good Lock has become such a staple of the Samsung experience that, for many of us, it’s something we couldn’t do without. One of my favorite modules has always been One Hand Operation +. Weird name aside, the level of customization it gives you over gesture navigation has ruined other phones for me. Whenever I use a device without it, I miss it instantly. Now the module is getting even better, with a new gesture action that helps you open your favorite apps faster than ever.


As spotted by Twitter user TechByBD, the latest update to the module adds a quick launcher feature. As you can see in the GIF above, when you first enable the quick launcher, it’s filled with a random assortment of apps. Thankfully, that can easily be changed, so let’s look at how to enable it, customize it, and whether it’s worth using.


How to use quick launcher

  1. Open One Hand Operation +.
  2. Tap on either right handle or left handle based on which you want to use.
  3. Tap on one of the six gestures, depending on which you’d like to trigger quick launcher.
  4. Scroll down and tap on quick launcher.

With that done, quick launcher is now assigned to the gesture of your choice. Like the GIF at the beginning, in this state, it’ll just be filled with a handful of your apps — so from here, you’ll want to make it your own.

  1. Use your assigned gesture and wait for the settings cog to appear next to the launcher before tapping it.
  2. Tap on the minus symbol next to each icon to remove anything you don’t want.
  3. To add an app or shortcut, tap on the 3×3 grid in the bottom right.
  4. Tap on any app or system shortcut you want
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Google is working on custom lock screen shortcuts in Android 13

Google is testing custom lock screen shortcuts in Android 13, though it’s not guaranteed to make it to the final build.


Custom lock screen shortcuts are something that a lot of other device OEMs have figured out by now, but for Google Pixel owners, it’s not a feature that’s available. That may be changing though, as with Android 13 QPR2 Beta 3, the next Pixel feature drop update, it seems that Google is finally toying with the idea of introducing custom lock screen shortcuts for its smartphones running Android 13.


As shown in the above screenshots (from Mishaal Rahman on Twitter), you will be able to set a custom shortcut on both the left and the right side from the Wallpaper & Style UI settings. You can choose to launch the camera, launch device controls (though the option is grayed out), or toggle do not disturb mode. To interact with them, you hold down on the buttons that appear on your lock screen, exactly like you would on an iPhone. Mishaal shared a video of the feature in action below.

However, there’s no guarantee that this feature will actually roll out with Android 13 QPR2, if at all. The above options aren’t accessible in the most recent build either and were accessed through other means. Google tests features that don’t always make it to final builds, and it could be the case that this feature is shelved in the future. It’s a good sign though that Google may be providing a feature that other OEMs (such as Samsung) have offered for a while. It may be the case that Google recognizes that it’s a little bit behind the times, so it would be a bit strange if the company were to kill off this feature and not release it.

We’ll

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