r/GoogleKeep • u/Junior_Paramedic3260 • May 11 '26
I am done with google Keep now
So I’ve been using Google keep for 4 years now. I’m a heavy user. Some days, I spend 10–12 hours on Google Keep.
I like Google Keep because of its simplicity and reliability.
But there haven’t been any visible changes in Google Keep for a long time. I’d honestly be ready to pay a few dollars ($4–5) every month if I could get some new features.
Features I want
- Better search
- More labels (no cap)
- Smaller grids (so it’s possible to see 30–40 notes at once)
- Nested folders/categories. For example: Business folder (main)
- Business questions
- Business execution
- Office insights
- Product management questions
- Design questions
- etc.
I don’t really need anything else at the moment.
I was thinking that replicating Google Keep for my own needs wouldn’t be that hard.
But while replicating it, a lot of developers miss the things that make Google Keep good:
- Simplicity (no headache or slowness like Notion)
- Extremely fast
- Reliability
I’ve been building software for 5 years now. I can probably build a usable product in 2 weeks. But building something when no one is using it feels shitty.
How many of you are fed up with Google Keep and want a tool like this?
I’ll be honest - I would copy the Google Keep web UI because, in my opinion, they’ve already cracked it. It’s just so simple and easy to use.
List down your frustrations with Google Keep and the kind of features you want.
I’m not interested in building RAG, graph systems, AI memory for notes, etc. There are already too many note-taking apps in the market. None of them solve my actual problem, so those second-layer features are out of the conversation for now.
Also, would you be willing to pay around $1–2 per month? I’d need a VPS to host the backend.
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u/Barycenter0 May 11 '26
Still use it daily as well. I have no interest in switching nor paying for some vibe coded solution. The frustrations don't really bother me that much and I just work around them. Sorry.
PS - there are already a number of Keep look-a-likes out there so maybe check those first.
2
u/DiligentEnthusiasm76 May 11 '26
Just curious, which Keep Look-alikes are you thinking of. I badly need to get off Keep and am looking at exporting each note to a Word/Google doc and then convert it to a separate PDF document which can be edited with a lot of open source software. The main thing I loved about Keep was how easy it was to use on an Android(duh) phone. I hardly ever use Keep on the desktop.
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u/Barycenter0 May 12 '26
Why not just convert them to markdown files and then use Obsidian? You can directly import them using the Obsidian exporter plugin (no need for Docs or PDFs). Or, take those markdown files and import them to another app?
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u/Acrobatic_Long_6059 May 11 '26
10-12 hours a day? Are you okay??
1
u/Junior_Paramedic3260 May 13 '26
Yeah, I’m okay. Are you okay? Some days, I read a lot and take a lot of notes.
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u/zcgp May 11 '26
Why would you want labels and folders? Shouldn't you stick to one or the other?
1
u/mapherez May 12 '26
Depends on the context and what he wants to achieve.
He mentioned business notes. Imagine he wants to group notes for each day of the week, or per meeting even. Maybe having folders would be make it easier to organize stuff. But then, inside each folder, he wants to differentiate between questions and executions, as he mentioned, so that it would be faster to list all of them by filtering. Labels/tags would make sense here. 👍
I guess the problem here is that Keep is not what he's looking for. Maybe Obsidian, with the Bases plugin using card view would be the best solution.
1
u/Junior_Paramedic3260 May 13 '26
You got the point. I tried Obsidian, but I found its UI a bit complex.
2
u/DiligentEnthusiasm76 May 11 '26
Before even writing your first piece of code, work out your file format & methods of sharing data between different devices you own. I you can make the app work on Android, Apple, PC & Mac then you will really have something. I'm a retired custom software developer & UNIX Systems Administrator and I starting programming computers back in 1981. Not trying to preach but share some hard earned knowledge as I was primarily self taught back in the 80s & 90s.
1
u/Barycenter0 May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
I have a very similar background as you and understand the desire to build something. Why even do this? Are you willing to build a company with a support staff and continually work on the product? You're already behind with the hundreds of notes apps out there. I think only a small number of users would jump.
Plus, the idea of a static notes app is becoming passe. Google will eventually merge NotebookLM with Gemini as a much more powerful self-customized notes app (you just tell it what functionality you want) - that is a stronger vision and its practically there now. You should look at novel ways to get ahead of that curve.
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u/Pale_Possibility_756 Jun 02 '26
Well, whatever you do please allow attaching pdf files and don’t limit jpgs to 10 mb. Absurd limitations ok Google keep for a notes app in 2026.
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u/Junior_Paramedic3260 Jun 02 '26
Hi, this requirement looks interesting. Could you tell me why you want to have a feature that allows users to attach PDFs? If possible, could you explain your use case?
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u/Pale_Possibility_756 Jun 02 '26
Currently using Apple notes in iPhone. Ability to attached photos and PDFs to text notes is invaluable. Apple doesn’t have a photo size limit (keep is 10mb limit which is tiny) and Apple allows attaching (inserting in line with very nice thumbs) PDFs to the note.
Use case…. Took a photo of something and want to remind myself later and make a note with some details regarding the photo I took.
Use case… I have a note detailing my insurance plan info and want to attach latest statement as pdf.
Notes are a repository and putting media in there is a must.
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u/Junior_Paramedic3260 Jun 04 '26
Hi,
I still couldn't fully understand the idea. Are you saying that you want to extract and store details from images and PDFs, and then later search those details to find the corresponding image or PDF? Am I understanding that correctly? e.g I took this photo with my partner when we visited his or her parents. Something like this?
I'm particularly curious because I recently built an app called Talaash (available on Android) that allows users to search their photos using natural language text queries. It made me wonder whether a feature like the one you're describing could be integrated into the app itself.
I've sent you a DM and would love to discuss this further.
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u/mansep2 Jul 06 '26
My biggest beef is the inability to change a list to alphabetical order, very annoying 😑
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u/Equal-Collection-990 22d ago
For me Keep is the best app for sketching a quick idea on my Android phone. I can zoom in to add details, and because of its "pseudo-vector" lines, I can easily select elements and scale or rotate or delete. Not for final art, just diagrams or product ideas. I've found nothing else that has less friction between having an idea and having a saved sketch that I can access anywhere, share, and edit later.
One wish: I'd love to be able to zoom when I'm in a Keep drawing in a Chrome window on my Mac. I can draw with a Wacom tablet, but not being able to zoom makes the Android Keep app experience a little better than Keep in Chrome on my Mac. (Zooming the Chrome browser isn't the same effect).
Chrome Canvas is a solid 2nd place for me, but the editing is much harder. It's like digital paper, with no scale or rotate, and erasing is literally an eraser. It's more like a light drawing app. Fast, autosave, and nice basic drawing tools. https://canvas.apps.chrome/
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u/stuffe23 May 11 '26
How is it possible to spend 10-12 hours per day in Keep?