Today we are launching a new string of posts, called ‘The Essential App Series’.
The goal of The Essential App Series is to showcase apps by their flawless set of functionalities and their ability to deliver great user experiences. Thus, the displayed apps won’t necessarily be new as ‘recently listed on Product Hunt new’. To open the series (and prove our point in a proud-ish style) we’ll start with an app that has been around for 3 years now. If it weren’t for the impressive iterations that come out virtually every quarter, this app could easily be labeled as ‘old’. Yet, it feels incredibly new.
Essential Notebook App: Google Keep
Keep was launched in 2013 by Google, and despite being listed among 2013’s 50 best Android apps by Time magazine, it somehow managed to stay under the radar for a long time. To be fair, competing against a well-achieved product like Evernote (and a zillion built-in note taking apps) does not sound like an easy task. However, things started to change in 2015. That year, Google released Keep for iOS, and updates for both Android and iOS began to show a leaner product, with improved functionality and design. But let’s see why Google Keep is, above everything else, a keeper (pun intended):
- Nimbleness: Unlike other note taking apps, Keep is fast, and using it feels good. It excels at doing the most important thing for an app of this kind: taking notes in just a few seconds.
- Layout: a key aspect of Keep is the way notes are displayed on screen. You can choose the grid view or the list view, and that’s it. It also allows tags, an option for those who really care about organization. Furthermore, notes can easily be moved across the screen, rearranged and deleted without messing up what we have in front of our eyes.
- Integration. Being a Google product, Keep is fully integrated with Chrome and Android Wear, synchronizing inputs in real time across platforms. It also allow users to copy any note to Google Docs. Have an idea while you’re working on your desktop computer? Click on the Keep extension button, take the note and review it later on your phone – if you want to.
- No connection required. In a similar way to Google Docs, Keep allows you to take and save notes even if you’re not online. A useful feature in the neediest of times.
- Extra features. While not central to a note taking app – but very much welcome – Keep offers a reminder function. In addition, it’s able to grab text from images and allows comments on notes, a function that will instantly be cherished by those who use project management apps like Trello. Moreover, it displays website previews if you insert links on notes: forget about link-guessing or crypto-words for websites you’ve pasted on a note.
- Cost. There is no cost attached to Keep. No freemium models, no pay-walled functionalities. Completely free to use!
To conclude, one last aspect that shouldn’t be overlooked. As a Google product, Keep will likely have proper support from its parent company for years. The risks of having an ageing, non-updated product are close to zero – which is important for an app whose function is to keep thoughts and ideas alive. If you haven’t downloaded Keep yet, give it a try. You won’t be disappointed:
Next in this series, the absolute best writing app in the world. Follow us for updates!
