Samsung appears to be tightening its grip on the use of Samsung Notes on non-Samsung laptops and PCs. The company has recently taken steps to actively block Samsung Notes from running on non-Samsung Windows laptops. Several months ago, the company ceased supporting the installation of Samsung Notes on non-Samsung computers, but there were previously workarounds to bypass these restrictions. However, the situation has now changed.
The Samsung Notes application no longer functions (as reported on Reddit) on Windows-based computers that are not Galaxy Books. Even if the application is already installed on a laptop or PC, it prompts users to log in using a Samsung account.
However, upon logging in, it displays a message stating, “This app only works with Galaxy Books.” This move by the South Korean company aims to establish an ecosystem in which certain features exclusively operate on Samsung hardware. For instance, features like Auto Switch and Fast Pair on Galaxy Buds are only compatible with Galaxy phones, tablets, and televisions.
Samsung Notes is a valuable note-taking application that allows users to create, collaborate on, and even draw and paint within their notes. Originally launched alongside the Galaxy Note smartphone, it later expanded to include compatibility with tablets featuring the S Pen. Subsequently, all Samsung phones and tablets began supporting Samsung Notes, enabling users to synchronize their data.
When Samsung introduced the Galaxy Book lineup a couple of years ago, Samsung Notes came pre-installed on these devices, and the Windows version of the application was also permitted for use on non-Samsung laptops.
With this feature now disabled, individuals with Galaxy phones and tablets who have stored their data in Samsung Notes are left with no means to access their content on their computers. Unlike competitors such as Apple (iWork), Google (Docs and Google Keep), and Microsoft (OneNote), which allow their applications to be accessed via a web browser, Samsung Notes lacks a web-based version. This means that users without a first-party laptop cannot access their notes through a web interface.
