Android Lock Screen -- create new note

[David Daly 2]

Is there a way to setup an android lock screen widget to --only-- create a new evernote note? 

 

I don't want someone to be able to look through my notes without unlocking, but I would like to create notes without unlocking. I'd like similar behavior to the camera app, which allows me to take a picture without unlocking, but won't let me look at any pre-existing pictures without unlocking the phone. I'm not comfortable allowing access to my notes on the lock screen. 

 

My apologies if this is discussed somewhere else, or solved. I've looked around and hadn't been able to find a solution. 

 

Also, I'm running lolipop. 

[gazumped 6,967]

Hi - no apologies necessary,  I don't think this particular request has been made before - but AFAIK at present it ain't gonna happen.  There's no way to put any of the several Evernote widgets onto the lock screen.

[David Daly 2]

Thanks gazumped. My real issue is trying to reduce the cost of saving a piece of information. On my phone (nexus 5), it takes me six seconds to unlock, hit the evernote new note widget, and be ready to enter information. I'd really like to cut that down and trying to figure out any way to do that. I'm trying to capture and measure more things, and the six seconds limits what I can afford to record. 

[Rich Bucky 4]

David, my previous phone was N5, but now I use Nexus 6. Sometimes I also need to take a quick note. Thus I use a third-party note app, so when I unlock my phone I can directly type whatever I like. After that I just copy and paste the text into Evernote. I know it's a bit too complicated, but...this is me. I do thing the hardest way.  

[Coffee First Thing 21]

I've love to see a way to be able to take a quick note in Evernote from my Android's lock screen.

 

I just installed a new note taking app, Parchi, made my Microsoft. With Parchi you can write notes directly from your lock screen. Note taking is one way only: They can only be written from the lock screen, not read.

 

I'd much rather use Evernote to take note on my phone's lock screen, but until that's possible, for quick notes I'm using Parchi.

[ted1735 2]

Using note 5 all you have to do is take out the S pen, even with the screen off you get access to a quick note, (using S Note) and it saves to Evernote.

[eric99 118]

Thanks gazumped. My real issue is trying to reduce the cost of saving a piece of information. On my phone (nexus 5), it takes me six seconds to unlock, hit the evernote new note widget, and be ready to enter information. I'd really like to cut that down and trying to figure out any way to do that. I'm trying to capture and measure more things, and the six seconds limits what I can afford to record. 

On my S4 it takes me 3 seconds to unlock (swipe pattern lock) and enter a new note via the evernote widget.   I also enabled evernote's pinlock for extra security.

That said, I also would like to install the widget on the lock screen.

[scruggles 47]

We haven't thought about this, but this is a nice idea.  Would having a widget in the notifications tray be sufficient, or do you want a dedicated widget on the home screen? Personally I'd worry about security - anyone who finds your phone could put content into your account.

[Coffee First Thing 21]

We haven't thought about this, but this is a nice idea.  Would having a widget in the notifications tray be sufficient, or do you want a dedicated widget on the home screen? Personally I'd worry about security - anyone who finds your phone could put content into your account.

 

I agree that there's a security trade-off, but fortunately, somebody who finds your phone can only put notes into your account (perhaps "Hey, I found your phone. Call me at XYZ to get it back") and not read your notes.

 

Since I installed Microsoft's Parchi on my phone, I've been using it a lot. A real lot. It's so convenient and fast to take a note directly from the lock screen. I just wish I could do this with Evernote.

[wshafferman 0]

I would REALLY appreciate being able to do this. A widget on the lock screen would be a really great add. You can do it EN! Lol.

[Aldo Rodriguez 0]

On 11/12/2015 at 5:38 PM, scruggles said:

We haven't thought about this, but this is a nice idea.  Would having a widget in the notifications tray be sufficient, or do you want a dedicated widget on the home screen? Personally I'd worry about security - anyone who finds your phone could put content into your account.

When capturing ideas on the go this would be such a nice feature. I personally would not be concerned about people entering notes if they find my phone, however you can always have an ON/OFF switch feature for people who would mind and that way they would be able to disable the feature. 

[FannyB 0]

How do we vote? I would LOOOVE beeing able to create a note without unlocking!

[Dave-in-Decatur 975]

@jzabrams, what phone and Android version do you have? On my Samsung Note 4 Edge running Android 6, I basically can't do anything on the lockscreen (as I once could in earlier Android versions). Well, I take that back--I can create memos using the S Pen, and apps can send info to it (e.g., weather). So perhaps Evernote could manage this too. But it might be different with different phone makers' Android flavors.

I do find that, with "quick notes" enabled (in EN, Settings > Notifications > Add notes from notification bar), on the lockscreen I can pull down the notification panel and tap the Evernote "Add note" icon there to create a very simple note. But I don't have any serious security on my lockscreen; I don't know whether this would work if you had a password set up.

[passic 2]

Hello to All.

There are news about the feature to create a new note from the lock screen? or to see the todo notes in the lock screen?

tnks to all

Pas

[Dave-in-Decatur 975]

GOOD NEWS! The most recent update to the Android app now makes it possible to add a quick note from the lock screen. This capability is not announced directly in the update notes, which indicate only "Adjust the note text size for better readability. Customize Evernote notifications you care about from Android system settings. Enjoy new Android O features on Evernote." It's the notifications that make this happen. On my somewhat outdated Android 6.0.1 (Marshmallow) phone, I can go to Settings > Sound and notification > Application notifications, then scroll down to Evernote. Tapping that brings up a set of choices:

• Allow notifications
• Set as priority
• Previews in pop-ups
• Hide noti. on Lock screen
• Hide sensitive content

On my system, Set as priority and Previews in pop-ups don't seem to do anything. But Hide on Lock screen is set off by default, and when I leave it that way I find that on my lock screen there is a link to the quick note feature found on the pull-down from the notification screen (which creates a note that goes into the default notebook). I do find that I have to swipe the lock screen (the only "security" I have on it) after I tap the link, which does make it less immediate. OTOH, for Samsung users this note-creation interface can accept S-pen input. 
 

[gazumped 6,967]

Just found this post.  There's also a 'notifications' option in Evernote settings* where they are slightly more up front - the top option is "Add notes from notification bar".  If I then go to Android settings,  the Lock Screen setting is set to allow notifications.  (There's a 'more' option option there which takes me right back to the Evernote options too!)

* I'm on 7.14 beta

[Dave-in-Decatur 975]

42 minutes ago, gazumped said:

There's also a 'notifications' option in Evernote settings* where they are slightly more up front - the top option is "Add notes from notification bar".

Yes, that's been there for quite some time (see my post from Oct. 5 last year; I don't think it was new then). That's the "quick note" feature that pulls down from the notification bar while the phone is unlocked. The new features seems just to be a link to this on the lock screen.

[Henryx200 0]

Is this already available? I have a 6-digit number to unlock the phone and even if I'd do it with a short swipe or shorter pin, it's distracting and time-consuming. When I have an insight I don't want any obstacles and hoops on the way of writing it down. Having able to have a quick way to jot down notes straight from the lock-screen without unlocking the device is meaningfully useful.

[gazumped 6,967]

On 03/12/2017 at 3:39 PM, Henryx200 said:

Is this already available? I have a 6-digit number to unlock the phone and even if I'd do it with a short swipe or shorter pin, it's distracting and time-consuming. When I have an insight I don't want any obstacles and hoops on the way of writing it down. Having able to have a quick way to jot down notes straight from the lock-screen without unlocking the device is meaningfully useful.

Hi.  The Evernote feature does show a link in the notification bar once the phone is unlocked,  but that bar isn't something that Android shows on the lock screen.  The entries you see on the lock screen about messages received or other activity are also shown on the notification bar,  but they seem to be a different class of notification in Android. 

As mentioned above,  MS's 'Parchi' was written to appear on the lock screen and it is possible there to start a new note without unlocking the phone.  MS obviously felt the same as you do about the need for immediacy when noting things down.  While Parchi isn't as fully-featured a note app as Evernote,  you can export notes from it in a variety of ways.  If you want to investigate further you may find that app automation tools like IFTTT would allow you to automatically transfer notes started in Parchi to Evernote.  If all else fails,  it's still possible to 'share' individual notes into Evernote.

I got my copy of Parchi from here - http://www.appsapk.com/microsoft-parchi/ - beware that that's not an 'approved source' for downloading applications.  You'll need to give express permission for the download and install to complete.

[Dave-in-Decatur 975]

On 12/4/2017 at 11:26 AM, gazumped said:

The Evernote feature does show a link in the notification bar once the phone is unlocked,  but that bar isn't something that Android shows on the lock screen.  The entries you see on the lock screen about messages received or other activity are also shown on the notification bar,  but they seem to be a different class of notification in Android.

As noted in my post above, in the current Android Evernote app you can go to Settings > Sound and notification > Application notifications, then scroll down to Evernote, tap that , and then be sure that "Hide noti. on Lock screen" is unchecked. That should place on the lock screen a link to the quick note feature found on the pull-down from the notification screen. I have to swipe the lock screen (the only "security" I have on it) after I tap the link, which does make it less immediate, so that @Henryx200's issue does remain significant. OTOH, a completely unsecured note-creation feature might raise issues of its own.

[gazumped 6,967]

On 12/6/2017 at 9:46 PM, Dave-in-Decatur said:

As noted in my post above, in the current Android Evernote app you can go to Settings > Sound and notification > Application notifications, then scroll down to Evernote, tap that , and then be sure that "Hide noti. on Lock screen" is unchecked. That should place on the lock screen a link to the quick note feature found on the pull-down from the notification screen. I have to swipe the lock screen (the only "security" I have on it) after I tap the link, which does make it less immediate, so that @Henryx200's issue does remain significant. OTOH, a completely unsecured note-creation feature might raise issues of its own.

Doh! I hadn't tried the pull-down menu on the lock screen before!  Yes,  it is possible to create a note from the lock screen via that menu!!  I also have swipe security only (while on this wifi)  so I don't know what password or fingerprint protection might do to the process.  Uninstalling Parchi now...

[Henryx200 0]

Evernote has gotten many things awesome when they first launched. I like the way desktop version of Evernote presents notes. It gives a preview or overview of each note or all notes, a good sense of what's where and, all-in-all, I tried OneNote and imported my Evernote stuff there and I really don't like the way I have to navigate around in OneNote and how it presents the notes. So Evernote really good overall, but some features that Onenote has are currently obvious improvements over Evernote, such as providing the ability to take notes from the lockscreen, which lured me to test out Onenote.

Already tried Parchi before tried Onenote. Evernote should definitely simulate the way Parchi does it with the UI on the lockscreen. Very simple. Just click on the icon, write a note, and send. Nothing else.

Unfortunately, there are too many issues with Parchi. Parchi notes do go to Onenote but it's full of bugs as it is sort of discontinued it seems. And it doesn't seem to throw this option to take a note from the lockscreen when disconnected from active wifi/4G connection.

And so there's also OneNote now, which does exactly the same thing, allowing to take notes right from the lockscreen. However, it disables the feature when restarting the phone (so does Parchi), and the icon that allows to take quick notes stays hanging out there in front of my screen also when the phone is unlocked.

I'm using Tasker so I'm going to check if I can make the "badge" button to launch when phone screen goes off, and close when phone gets unlocked, and in case I succeed in that and even better in case I can get those notes somehow forwarded to Evernote, it's great (but no matter what Evernote has to add this function - the current one is no good because I still have to unlock the device).

By the way, there's no security issue whatsoever when there's only text input that can only go to predefined notebook. Can't really access any data. Can't change anything. In case it is implemented properly (like any other such kind of function to get data from one place to another, it has to be implemented properly to be secure - such as getting these notes from notebook to cloud for instance), then saying that this would rise security concern is a very big joke! No security issue, like somebody already mentioned earlier here. It's just text input to notebook. No output to the screen from any notebook.

[Dave-in-Decatur 975]

5 hours ago, Henryx200 said:

By the way, there's no security issue whatsoever when there's only text input that can only go to predefined notebook. Can't really access any data. Can't change anything. In case it is implemented properly (like any other such kind of function to get data from one place to another, it has to be implemented properly to be secure - such as getting these notes from notebook to cloud for instance), then saying that this would rise security concern is a very big joke! No security issue, like somebody already mentioned earlier here. It's just text input to notebook. No output to the screen from any notebook.

I agree that if it were possible to create an Evernote note from the lock screen without unlocking, that would not pose a security risk for existing notes and data. My only concern was the possibility of someone getting hold of someone else's phone and trolling or pranking them through Evernote. Not an issue for me, but might be for some.

[Henryx200 0]

On 12/9/2017 at 6:26 PM, Dave-in-Decatur said:

I agree that if it were possible to create an Evernote note from the lock screen without unlocking, that would not pose a security risk for existing notes and data. My only concern was the possibility of someone getting hold of someone else's phone and trolling or pranking them through Evernote. Not an issue for me, but might be for some.

Yea, not an issue for me either. The worst case scenario is not that bad and is extremely unlikely to happen too. You'll be more pissed about somebody using or stealing your phone than that there are some new notes in that specific notebook and, well, you can easily delete these notes and block this phone from sending these notes to that notebook. 

Currently satisfied with the Onenote lockscreen thing. Can activate and deactivate this balloon very easily. I super don't like everything else about OneNote and I am happy that I found CloudHQ to get these notes to Evernote. I think Evernote should get this same function to their app. It's really good. Only thing that leave this balloon, box, Evernote logo, whatever object, only to doing the thing on the lockscreen. 

[Dave-in-Decatur 975]

20 minutes ago, Henryx200 said:

You'll be more pissed about somebody using or stealing your phone than that there are some new notes in that specific notebook and, well, you can easily delete these notes and block this phone from sending these notes to that notebook.

Very true!

[David Daly 2]

So long as the lock screen widget only allows adding new notes, I'm not overly concerned about the security issues. I can deal if someone adds a bunch of notes to my database.

 

The real key is time -- reducing the time from reaching for the phone until I can start saving a note, and ultimately save it. Having the note on the lock screen saves the time to unlock the phone. I don't think having something in the notification tray really helps reduce that note taking time. I already have the evernote widget on my home screen, and use that. 

 

As an aside, I'm on Marshmallow now, and I'm not sure it's possible anymore to add lock screen widgets anymore.

[gazumped 6,967]

Remember voting is important here guys - we still only have 1 official vote despite several apparently 'in favour' comments...

[Dave-in-Decatur 975]

On 6/27/2016 at 10:25 AM, FannyB said:

How do we vote? I would LOOOVE beeing able to create a note without unlocking!

Click on the up-arrow button at the top of this page.

Personally, I like the idea; but every time Google updates Android, this capability changes (or disappears). It must be a nightmare for developers to keep up with.

[jzabrams 0]

Being able to view (some) or even create notes on the lock screen would be a HUGE plus.  In the grocery store I feel like I want to wear a sign that says "NOT texting / on Facebook!"  The act of unlocking the phone takes 3 times as much time and attention as glancing at the note. 

It's the one activity for me where it actually would be easier to be carrying a Post-it Note...