'Google Keep' Keeps Your Phone and Web Notes Synced
Image credit: Google
Watch out Evernote, OneNote and all you other to-do lists apps out there, Google's coming after you with its new Google Keep service. The app, announced by Google this afternoon, allows you to sync your notes and to-do lists across your computer, phone and tablet using your Google account.
"With Keep you can quickly jot ideas down when you think of them and even include checklists and photos to keep track of what's important to you," Google's Katharine Kuan detailed on Google's blog today. Google then uses its Google Drive service and servers to sync your content so you can get those important thoughts or notes anywhere.
The app works very similarly to the other note apps, like Evernote and OneNote. You download the app, which is avilable for only Android 4.0 phones right now, take your notes and then you can access them via the app on the web, which is located in your Google Drive or at https://drive.google.com/keep. You are able to upload voice notes, which can be transcribed, and even photos. You can also color code notes and turn some notes into checklists by adding check boxes.
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After a few technical difficulties, we were able to test the new application. When logged in with our Google account, we created a new note on the website, typed "Remember to tie shoes" into the text and then saw it pop up within a few seconds on a Galaxy Nexus in the Keep app. On the phone we also tried a voice note: The phone accurately transcribed what we said and then turned it into a note with the audio recording attached.
Google Keep joins a host of other note syncing applications, the most popular being Evernote. As of June 2012, Evernote had 34 million users. While Evernote is a general note-syncing app, other apps like Wunderlist and Remember the Milk offer cross-device to-do list services. Still, Google's service is in the early stages - it is only available for the web and select Android phones; there's no iPhone or other platform apps … yet.