Microsoft OneNote Android 15 Lock Screen Support Coming

Eric Zeman / Android Authority

In short

It appears that Microsoft is preparing the OneNote app to support Android 15’s lock screen note-taking feature.
New text strings in OneNote include a clear reference to upcoming lock screen support.
However, the app is not currently available as an option in the default note-taking app.

The next major version of Google’s mobile operating system is on its way, with Android 15 set to officially launch later this year. It’ll bring a host of improvements and new additions, like support for Satellite SOS in emergency situations. One of the changes we’re looking forward to is the platform’s integration with note-taking apps, allowing users to quickly access their preferred note-taking app right from the lock screen. Today, we’re checking in on the progress one of those apps is making towards adding support for this new Android 15 feature.

Some APK Demolition helps predict features that might appear in the service in the future based on code in the works. However, it is possible that such predicted features will not be released publicly.

As we mentioned when we first shared the news about Android 15’s lock screen support for notes apps , it won’t work by default with any app you use to take notes (and no, saving notes as drafts in Gmail doesn’t count). Developers need to be intentional about building support for this new way of accessing their software, including appropriate steps to maintain privacy, given that we’re doing all of this directly from the lock screen. Google Keep has been around for ages, and now we think we’ve spotted what could be the next big app to do its own preparations.

We are testing the beta version of Microsoft OneNote 16.0.17928.20054, where we have observed the presence of the following strings:

Code

<string name="feature_notes_role_description_when_permission_disabled">Allow to make OneNote as "Default Notes App"</string>
<string name="feature_notes_role_description_when_permission_enabled">Add Lock Screen Note Taking shortcut from settings</string>
<string name="feature_notes_role_enable_button">Enable Lock Screen Notes</string>
<string name="feature_notes_role_title">Lock Screen Notes - Take notes over lock screen</string>
<string name="permission_notes_role_disable_description">Are you sure you want to remove OneNote as “Default Note Taking App” ?</string>
<string name="permission_notes_role_enable_description">We need permission to make OneNote as “Default Note Taking App” to enable this.</string>
<string name="setting_notes_role_summary">Turn this on to quickly jot down notes over Lock Screen.</string>
<string name="setting_notes_role_title">Lock Screen Sticky Notes</string>

Indeed, the ability to select an app as the default notes app is fundamental to the lock screen experience in Android 15, and the following lines here confirm Microsoft is working to get that compatibility ready. But even in Android 14, we should be able to set a primary notes app (by enabling it in the developer settings, anyway) — and despite the progress we see here, there’s still no way to do that with OneNote. This suggests to us that Microsoft is still working to configure OneNote with the permissions and roles it will eventually need.

Since Android 15 is still in beta, Microsoft has at least a few weeks to get OneNote ready if it intends to have lock screen support ready in time for the platform’s release. Our current best estimate is that it will happen sometime in the fall.

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