Skip to main content

Using Google Keep on a Samsung S21? Don’t install One UI 4

Samsung has been busy rolling out Android 12 updates to a bunch of smartphones over the past few weeks. While the rollout has been largely bug-free, a specific subset of Samsung users has encountered a rather peculiar issue. Apparently, the move to Android 12 and One UI 4.0 seems to have caused an inadvertent bug with Google’s popular note-taking app Google Keep on select Samsung smartphones.

According to the user who first reported this problem, he noticed the issue after finding that an auto-numbered list on his Google Keep app behaving strangely. Whenever he tried to navigate through the list by scrolling, the bug caused extra numbers to be automatically added. The problem also manifests whenever users try to add newer items to the list. The user in question was using a Samsung Galaxy S21+.

The user also shared a screenshot showing the result of what the bug had done to his numbered list. Because he could not get Samsung or Google to respond to this bug, the only fix he could think of was to open the numbered list using a web browser on a PC, where it is correctly displayed.

A screengrab showing the issue with numbered lists on the Google Keep app on Samsung smartphones.
The latest One UI 4.0 update is messing up numbered lists on the Google Keep app. Tim O 8971/ Google Support Forums

While people have been talking about this peculiar problem for over two months at Google’s support forums, it gained substantial traction after a 9to5Google report prompted a Google volunteer contributor to confirm and acknowledge the problem exists. The contributor, a Diamond Product Expert on Google Forums, also revealed that there is no timeline for when to expect a fix as of yet. Chances are, we may only see a fix whenever Google issues an update for Google Keep on the Play Store.

Interestingly, not all smartphones running One UI 4.0 atop Android 12 seem to be affected by the problem. The issue appears to primarily affect some units of flagship-grade devices like the Samsung Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and the Galaxy Note 20. So far, there have been no reports of any Samsung Galaxy A series or M series phones facing this issue.

Nevertheless, if you happen to own one of the smartphones mentioned above, and also use Google Keep on Android a lot, it might be a good idea to hold off on the long-awaited Android 12 One UI 4.0 update for a couple of days. For those who don’t use Google Keep at all, we don’t see any reason you should push back the One UI update.

Editors' Recommendations

Rahul Srinivas
Rahul is a smartphone buff turned tech journalist who has been tinkering with all things mobile since the early 2000s. He has…
Samsung’s One UI 5 launches with iOS 16’s coolest feature
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra in Phantom Black with S Pen.

Samsung has finally announced One UI 5, its take on Android 13. The company is focusing on improving the customizability of its operating system, refining its distinct design language, and adding some nice-to-have improvements as well.

Samsung's headlining feature here is lock screen customization. Although not exactly new to the company's phones, Samsung is bringing that functionality over to One UI's stock lock screen just after Apple unveiled something similar on iOS 16. You can tweak the wallpaper, clock style, notification design, and more. It's even been tweaked to look like Apple's implementation. Lock screen customization is a useful feature that you'll find on many Chinese Android phones. It's one that Google should implement in Android as a whole, especially considering its focus on individuality with Material You.

Read more
Samsung just copy-and-pasted iOS 16’s lock screen in its One UI 5 beta
From left, Good Lock, Samsung One UI 5 beta, and iOS 16 lock screens are displayed on smartphones.

It's hard to tell sometimes if iPhone innovations inspire Android or the other way around. Google introduced Material You for Android 13, while Apple programmed iOS 16 with lock screen customization -- giving their respective customers all the personalization power in the world. Now, it seems Samsung made lock screen customization on its phones look similar to that of iOS 16 in its latest One UI 5 beta.

Video creator and TechDroider founder Vaibhav Jain pointed out on Twitter that the lock screen interface for One UI 5 is a spitting image of the lock screen interface for iOS 16, but with some differences. Whereas iOS 16 gives users a selection of eight clock face designs, One UI 5 gives only five. The former also offers both built-in and third-party widgets (like Widgetable), while the latter only offers widget icons for notifications.

Read more
Don’t like the Galaxy Z Flip 4’s cover screen? This app supercharges it
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 with CoverScreen OS and Maps

Samsung’s latest clamshell foldable — the Galaxy Z Flip 4 — has proved its mettle as a great phone for its asking price. The build quality is top-notch, there is plenty of raw firepower, the cameras are reliable, and the software update scenario is also unparalleled.

The Flip 4 has also added some new tricks to the cover display. Fresh clock types, the ability to use video files as a cover screen background, more intuitive notification interactions, new widgets, and some neat utility tools all give the cover screen a welcome boost.

Read more