Why Google Keep is worth a second look

Google Keep – did you forget it exists? We did…

Google Keep is still around and some people really love it. Haven’t tried it yet? You may be missing out; well, you’re missing out if you’re already a Google user. If you’re already into Gmail, Google Drive, and perhaps even G+, you may very well love Keep… if not, it’s still useful, it’s just not as useful.

This is largely because Keep is at its most useful when you can save notes to other Google areas.

Google Keep is basically an organizational and note-taking platform.

It’s a bit like Evernote, but more minimalistic and let’s face it: sometimes minimalistic is better. Further, since its launch, it has continued adding features, but quietly, and mostly under the radar.

If you haven’t tried it, here are a few nifty things it can do for you. I’ll start with my favorite: the personal transcriber. With Keep, you can speak a quick memo, story idea, business meeting, plan change, or anything else, and Keep will transcribe your voice to text and save it for you. These transcriptions then become searchable and editable.

Other cool Google Keep features

If you love sticky notes as much as I do, you’ll love this Keep feature: create a pop-up reminder in Keep and it will show up in your browser (if Keep is open), on your phone, and in Google Now. Super nice for remembering last minute meetings and birthdays. If you create notes you can search for them from the top according to color, whether or not they have a reminder, and more. You can send these notes right to Google Docs if needed as well.

Just like you can transcribe voice to text, you can transcribe text from photographs. Simply upload an image, click the three dots in the menu underneath, and a pop-up will appear. From here, choose “grab text” and Keep will transcribe the words. Results can vary a bit, but if you have an image that you cannot read, or is in a different language, it is a good starting place. Currently, Keep doesn’t have handwriting recognition like Google’s other apps, but this may come in a future update.

For now, Keep is a good alternative to involved organizational apps like Evernote. Keep allows you to take your reminders with you easily on all your devices. If you haven’t tried it yet, it may be worth a look, especially if you’re a prolific Google (Gmail, Drive, G+) user.

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