Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- With Android 16 Developer Preview 2, Google Hold is now a system app, which means it can’t be uninstalled.
- You’ll nonetheless have the ability to disable the app, although, placing it in a dormant state.
- The choice to make Google Hold a system app appears to be in preparation for an upcoming lock display screen notes characteristic.
Google Hold, the corporate’s free note-taking app, has been promoted to a system app on Android 16 Developer Preview 2, which means it can’t be uninstalled by regular means. This transfer indicators that Hold would possibly play an even bigger function in Android 16 with extra highly effective options.
System apps are apps that come pre-installed with the OS to carry out important capabilities on a tool. These apps embrace key providers like settings, messaging, calling, system administration, and extra. Customers can solely uninstall system apps by rooting their gadgets (gaining superuser entry), however these apps could be disabled to unlock storage or cut back background processes.
In the event you’re on Android 15 or an older model, you’ll discover that Google Hold isn’t a system app and could be simply uninstalled with the same old strategies. Nevertheless, with Android 16 Developer Preview 2, Hold is graduating to turn out to be a core app, transferring to a protected system partition from the place it can’t be eliminated with out root entry.
Adamya Sharma / Android Authority
The one purpose we expect Hold is turning into a system app is that Google is likely to be planning to grant it deeper system entry and performance, permitting it to carry out some essential duties or combine with different core Android options.
It’s additionally attainable Google is making the change in preparation for an upcoming lock screen note-taking feature. We beforehand previewed this characteristic and anticipated it to debut with Android 15, but the Hold lock display screen shortcut remains to be unavailable on Android.
