Google has unveiled its new note-taking app called Google Keep, which is now available as an Android app and as a Cloud-based Web service.
“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 stated in a blog post. “Your notes are safely stored in Google Drive and synced to all your devices so you can always have them at hand.”
Google Keep allows users to create, edit, and access new notes on its app and Web service. The service also supports voice memos, which Keep will transcribe automatically. It also has a search component and the option to delete or archive notes once you are done with them. While Keep is currently a subcategory of Google Drive, the company says that users would “be able to do the same directly from Google Drive” in the coming weeks.
As an app, Google Keep is compatible to devices running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and above. It comes with a home-screen widget that keeps the app remain front and center. Meanwhile, a lock-screen widget appears on devices with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and above, which provides easy access to Keep.
Users can drag and drop to arrange notes according to priority, as well as select a different color for each note. When viewing these notes on the smartphone, they line up like the live tiles on Windows Phone.
This is not Google’s first time to venture into note taking jungle. The company had Google Notebook years ago, which it stopped active development in 2009. By July 2012, the service was shut down and all data from Notebook was transferred to Google Docs.
Source: PC magazine