This upcoming feature on Google Keep may finally sway me away from Apple Notes for good

(Image credit: Google)

Google Keep is a popular task management and note-taking tool integrated with Google Suite so you can create and tick off to-do lists as you work on your computer or phone. The mobile version of Google Keep could be about to get a new feature that may tempt people away from their other note-taking apps: lock screen access to your notes.

According to 9to5Google, the team behind Google Keep has been pushing to become the default note-taking app on Android devices. In the same way that Apple Notes is the default note-taking app on every iPhone, iPad, and Mac. If Google Keep does become the de facto note-taking app of choice on Android devices, this opens the door to the app having more features that can be integrated more intimately into your phone.

Alongside lock screen access to recent notes, we could also see improved stylus support so you can jot down your thoughts quickly and do fun doodles with a bit more control of your strokes. In version 5.24 of the app, there’s a new section of the settings menu that lists the lock screen access as ‘coming soon’, which gives me hope that we’ll see the feature sooner rather than later.

I have no memory, I need lock screen access, please

As an extremely forgetful person who needs to make lists for everything, I am so excited about the possibility of being able to look at my lock screen and see all my important to-dos at a glance, especially if the feature becomes available to non-Android users too.

You can have shopping lists, reminders, positive affirmations, and reflections all on your lock screen and tick them off as you go through them without even needing to unlock your phone. I currently use Google Keep on my work computer exclusively to tick things off as I go through the day. If I can have my professional to-do list not just on a mobile app but very visible on my lock screen, I can keep tabs on what needs to be done while on my commute to work, and jot down tasks to carry over to the next day on the way back home.

Apple Notes has been my default note-taking app mostly because I’m an iPhone user, and while it has had a few improvements here and there (like adding grids, text formatting options, and being able to drop in photos into the app) it’s ultimately nothing special in the world of note-taking apps. If Google Keep can implement lock screen access outside of just Android phones, you’d better believe I’m shifting all my shopping list reminders over immediately and saying goodbye to Apple Notes for good.

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Muskaan is TechRadar’s UK-based Computing writer. She has always been a passionate writer and has had her creative work published in several literary journals and magazines. Her debut into the writing world was a poem published in The Times of Zambia, on the subject of sunflowers and the insignificance of human existence in comparison. Growing up in Zambia, Muskaan was fascinated with technology, especially computers, and she's joined TechRadar to write about the latest GPUs, laptops and recently anything AI related. If you've got questions, moral concerns or just an interest in anything ChatGPT or general AI, you're in the right place. Muskaan also somehow managed to install a game on her work MacBook's Touch Bar, without the IT department finding out (yet).