Android 16 may promote this Google app to a core app that cannot be uninstalled

Developer Preview 2 of Android 16 brings an interesting new change: Google Keep will become a system appmeaning it cannot be uninstalled. You can still deactivate the app and put it to sleep. It seems that this decision may be related to the upcoming lock screen note taking feature.

Google Keep is a note-taking app owned by Google that seems to have been improved in Android 16 Developer Preview 2.

System apps are pre-installed applications that allow the operating system to perform basic functions on the device. These functions are usually related to settings, messages, calls, system management, etc. Users cannot uninstall these applications unless they have root access to the device. Of course, you can still disable some of these apps to free up storage space if needed.

Google Keep is not currently an uninstallable app, but it will reportedly become a core app in Android 16.

Of course, this change may also be due to Google preparing for the upcoming lock screen note taking feature. This feature is expected to be Android 15most likely. How the feature works is pretty simple: It lets you quickly write notes without having to unlock your phone. While I like to have as few core apps as possible that can’t be installed (bloatware, for example, has always annoyed me), if the app is doing something important, it might be worth uninstalling it. I wonder what this could be, since the lock screen note taking feature seems (at least to me) less important to the functionality of the phone. We may know more soon, so stay tuned!