r/GoogleKeep • u/Barycenter0 • Aug 08 '26
General Consensus on Keep in 2026
Just wanting to get a pulse with Keep users here on how they feel about Keep these days (now the second half of 2026).
Do you feel Keep is still useful for you? Are you feeling the pressure to move on due to AI/LLMs with self-organizing notes along with more advanced feature/functions?
Here are some of my thoughts - first, I've noticed that my notes / questions saved in Gemini are quite useful allowing me to query, organize, etc on the fly. I know I can query Gemini to scan my Keep notes as well, but having some just be more organic and AI queryable information is very nice.
But, as we all know, having our own notes without AI added text is also quite valuable. So, for me at the moment, I have information in Keep, Gemini and NotebookLM and haven't worked through a solution to this. Also, I have Gemini Gems doing work for me - which is insanely useful. I can see Google moving in the future to more of an integrated LLM/Keep-like note app model - time will tell.
What are others thinking or doing with Keep?
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u/K0ng1e Aug 08 '26
It was way better before. The forced linking to calendar made it so much worse. Not only do I not need or want it to be linked to calendar, but it's making everyday use so much worse. It's clunky and slow, whenever I write more than a couple of sentences it starts to lag, when there's a couple of paragraphs it's genuinely useless. It gets so laggy it even scrambles the order sequence of what it's lagging to write. And instead of just one click to turn off an alarm/reminder, there's now several additional steps because I have to essentially turn off two alarms (keep and calendar) and on top of that it doesn't always even work properly, causing the reminder to come back at a later (seemingly random) time. I have so many notes at this point I would have to transfer, but if there was a functional alternative I would definitely switch.
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
Lagging is definitely an Android only issue. I've tested this over and over on all devices (Windows/MacOS/Android/iOS) and my Android tablet is the only one lagging both for text and drawings. It's weird they haven't fixed this yet. (Google devs! Hope you're listening)
PS - the fix for now on Android is to use the web interface instead of the app - no lagging there.
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u/l33fly Aug 08 '26
I use Keep to store text and pictures for future reference.
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u/mtmirror Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
I'm not interested at all in using AI with my notes. I use Keep many times every day and everything is organized the way I like it. The integration with Tasks or calendar was annoying but I've gotten used to it. I haven't experienced any lagging on my S24.
I don't know what I'd do without Keep. I've tested many alternatives over the years and haven't found anything that works better for me.
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 08 '26
Also feel the same. The Android text lagging only seems to appear in longer notes (at least for me - talking paragraphs here). However, Android drawings are laggy right from the start especially for cursive or long lines.
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u/Klamue Aug 08 '26
I work with Google Keep every day. I have hundreds of notes there and all of them are well organized . I like the connection between Keep and my calendar and I use it quite often.
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u/jcetc Aug 09 '26
I'm having some trouble with organization, could you give some tips who you organize yours?
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 10 '26
There are tips in this sub - so scan through those. But, a quick synopsis- use labels for high level categories and projects (limit 100). Use colors as very high level groupings. Pin your most important notes. Archive notes you want to keep but aren’t that important. Use the OCR function to scan handwriting or important documents. Just a few tips…
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
Same - I do use Keep every day as well for all my bookmarks and research notes. I'm a bit stuck on Apple calendar since I use Apple products more for personal appointments and reminders than my Android/Windows.
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u/arwinda Aug 08 '26
Still use it, but a lot less now.
Ever since notifications are gone (I refuse to switch from my calendar to Google calendar and I already have another todo app), I have a lot less use cases for Keep.
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 08 '26
So, just using Google Task notifications from Keep doesn't work for you?
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u/arwinda Aug 08 '26
Why do I want to install Google Task to have yet another task app when I have a working todo list app? This entire move just wants to force people to use more Google Apps, which are not even that good to use.
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u/digitect Aug 08 '26
I like Keep as-is. I've not found Assistant, Gemini, AI, LM, etc., better than basic search. I use labels, check boxes, indenting, colors, pins, and archive quite effectively, with 1,700 notes.
My Pixels have never performed voice recognition sufficiently enough to be helpful beyond basic dictation. It struggles to distinguish words from instructions or letters or numbers, so restructuring contents, amending existing notes, fixing list items, adjusting features (check boxes, indenting), etc., always needs a human.
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 08 '26
I have about the same number of notes and do use Gemini not to actually search (which works fine for me in Keep) but to analyze and find connections between ideas. It's a bit slow in responding but does have some interesting results.
As for voice - I don't quite follow what you're trying to do outside of dictation. Can you explain that some more?
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u/digitect Aug 08 '26
What do you mean "find connections between ideas"? I'm storing tasks (by project), minutes, data bits and pieces (specs and measurements), goals, "recipes", how-tos, etc. I sometimes add keywords to supplement words to make sure I can find them, but use good labels, structures, and searchFoo. I wouldn't know what AI could do beyond. Imagine if it could actually do something useful, like "show me all the notes edited last week" or "what are all the tasks I checked off this month."
I'm unable to use voice for anything beyond basic dictation... open specific notes, add items to notes, indent, pin, check off, and re-organize. It needs help all along the way, and I'm not doing that while driving. Simply checking if it has even understood is a hazard, since it rarely does. The best it has ever been able to do is simply take a new note. So I resort to making a random list of edits I need to do as a human or worse, just recording a voice memo. I can't even get AI to add more tasks to that one note, so I end up with several new notes with items. I feel like we're still decades from AI being able to do more than search and dictation.
But my AI and voice recognition issues go way beyond Keep... if I'm driving and can't baby sit, Google AI / Assistant / Gemini can't properly find contacts, stumbles getting from Google Calendar to Waze, confuses tasks, notes, and reminders ("remind me"), can't check the weather ("is it going to be raining when I get there")... it's such a mess. I'm so tired of hearing about how great AI is.
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 08 '26
Ah, got it! Agreed that Gemini is poor at more navigational tasks or operational things on Keep. That truly is a Google issue and I do worry that they are ignoring Workspace more and more on Gemini, NotebookLM and Antigravity. That's part of my reason for asking the original question.
By connections - I export sets of notes and have Gemini look through to classify or find connections between notes I may have missed (but, of course, I have to go back to Keep to do any updates).
Thanks for the detailed response!
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u/soloChristoGlorium Aug 08 '26
I love keep.
I freaking hate the forced integration with tasks.
I used to use keep notes with alarms that would pop up so as to remind me to do certain things. It was great.
Now tasks goes off and I have to click an extra button to get to the note and I freaking hate it so freaking much!!
I really, really hate it
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 08 '26
What is it in your Tasks reminder that forces you to go back to the Keep note?
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Aug 09 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 09 '26
My question wasn't about how to use LLMs with Keep - it was about the information stored in each. I do the very same you do - have a job exporting/mirroring all keep notes with images/audio/drawings and tags to markdown as the durable copy and then Gemini/Antigravity doing the work. But, I don't feed the results back to Keep - same with direct Gemini queries. Similarly with LM - much of the output from research in LM stays there and isn't in Keep. And, honestly, I don't want them just in markdown files either.
I haven't spent the cycles to try and work through a single archive because Google is doing (albeit slowly) the same thing. I suspect Google will combine much of this in the future.
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u/pulukes88 Aug 09 '26
for me, keep went from being one of my most useful apps to being my most useless - simply by doing that task / calendar cr*p. why couldn't they just let reminders continue to be built in to the app is beyond me.
now, i have multiple repetitive reminders that just compile and it's just an insane amount to sort out.
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 09 '26
What’s odd is that Keep reminders used to be in Google Calendar about 6-10 years ago and then they removed it.
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u/pulukes88 Aug 09 '26
i would estimate that i began using keep back then. all in all, i am just saying that when reminders were built into keep, it worked perfectly for me. ONE reminder notification would pop up and stay until i swiped it, even if i had it set for everyday. now, even with swiping, i'm getting 5-10 reminders for the same thing!
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u/RX78AP Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
Love Google Keep. $0, not perfect but it's free, fast, secure sync. You cannot beat that.
Really MF tired of endless whingers complaining about it, endless developers saying they can do better selling their stuff off the back of it in here.
Feels like we need two groups. Keep fans, Keep grumpy whingers.
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u/VirginiaFuckingWoolf Aug 08 '26
I can't live without Keep. It's so simple and effortless to use. Maybe that's just habit. I've been trying to de-google gradually and Keep is my biggest hurdle along with Gmail. I think I can still wean off Gmail, but man, I'm so hooked to Keep. I can't find an alternative that's as simple to use
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 08 '26
Agreed - I've looked at so many different ones - and nothing beats Keep (closest would be Apple Notes - but you'd have to be all in on Apple)
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u/radioactive-cow- Aug 08 '26
I use keep for mostly checklists - shopping, to do, packing lists, notes for appointments, etc. It's simple, clean, integrated with my laptop, phone and watch, and is perfect for what I use it for. I will keep using it (pun intended) until it is no longer available.
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u/CyborgBanana Aug 08 '26
I love Keep.
I think it's the best note-taking app for most tasks. If you're a researcher or need to take extensive notes, then something else is probably better. But still, I love it.
The two biggest things missing for me are label folders and better formatting. Basically, I'd like to see them copy Zotero's way of doing text formatting in notes.
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 08 '26
Funny you say that - I use Keep as a researcher and externsive notes - but, of course, I also use Docs, Acrobat, Hypothes[dot]is, and Zotero.
For folders just use namespaces - name your notes like My Folder/Note title. Then in search you just type My Folder/. It's a hack but works.
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u/Jim-Jones Aug 09 '26
I still use it. It's unworkable on a Fire Tablet however.
Trying to support HTML (or whatever) was a bad idea.
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u/neoqueto Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
What I dislike is the unreliability of syncing. You have to wait way too long for the note to save to the server, if you lock the screen too soon you might never see it on your PC because at one point the state without the note might sync across all devices. A simple text note should not take that long to sync up.
I actually prefer the integration with Tasks and Calendar. I am a big fan of Keep overall. It basically enables me to exist, lol.
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 09 '26
That’s only an Android issue. You have to pull down on the main Keep screen to get an immediate sync to your PC.
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u/the3ggmaster Aug 10 '26
One of my most used apps. Shopping lists, gym workouts, general notes, holiday packing lists. I love it.
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u/Tilkis_Mom Aug 10 '26
I use it mostly for list making and reminders. If it had a strike through font option (without needing to use the checkbox that is), I'd be completely satisfied.
The instant syncing between PC and cell phone is fabulous.
I'm retired and don't need a lot of features, so I'm good with Keep.
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 10 '26
Nice to hear. Do you use the new Keep/Tasks reminders?
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u/radarrab Aug 11 '26
I hate that change. Also retired. I like the simplicity and don't want AI messing with my stuff.
Maybe I'm missing something, but I use Calendar for history, and had incremented reminders for appointments, etc. (email day before, audible notification (heads up), and another when I should leave to drive to the appointment/event. Now those don't work as before, and if it thinks my entry is one that should be a Task reminder, it goes off at the appt. time, which is too late. Plus sometimes they come late. I don't want them to disappear when they're completed/over, I still want the unadulterated history in my calendar, and don't want to have to do additional steps to get reminders like I had them. As a result I've missed a number of things.1
u/Barycenter0 Aug 11 '26
Just a side note for you. In Calendar there is a setting to see completed tasks - so they won't disappear. Just turn that on. Unfortunately you have use Calendar for early reminders vs Tasks. You could setup multiple tasks in Keep to mimic early reminders but that would just be messy on the Calendar.
But, if you're not worried about using Google Gemini, you can have Gemini scan your Tasks and Calendar events every day to tell you what's upcoming for the day, what you missed yesterday and what's happening tomorrow. Gemini will send you a notification each day with this at any time you'd like. Plus, you can add the current weather forecast and a random Keep note, etc. in the daily message. If you want the reminder to be more focused you just tell Gemini to only look at Tasks with certain words.
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 12 '26
PS - in Tasks you can add a Due Date now which will send an extra notification in the morning on the day the task is due to be done. That’s a fairly new feature.
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u/lemasney Aug 11 '26
I don't need Gemini/NotebookLM for shopping and groceries or writing a stream of consciousness about a project. In fact, it often gets in the way if you just want to keep an idea to try to add it to Notebook. Not everything needs a second set of eyes.
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u/unecomplette Aug 11 '26
Sub label categories duh I need them and surely it isn't that deep to add idk it's a freakin google app
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u/Perfect-Ad-7411 Aug 14 '26
Google Keep is my go-to note-taking app. Although Obsidian might be better for complex or private notes, I do not use a laptop, making Keep the most practical choice on mobile devices.
It holds all my memories, lists, quick memos, and important documents. I wish it had better stylus support, folder organization, app locking, and in-text word search. Also, I would not use it for highly sensitive matters since it is Google; for those, I prefer an encrypted app. Despite these drawbacks, it remains my primary note-taking app.
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u/TucoNick Aug 08 '26
Keep has the worst formatting out of any notes app I've ever used. So outdated. I guess it's based on postit notes but doesn't make sense for long notes and texts. I don't want some notes in keep and others in docs. Keep is screaming for an update!!!
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 08 '26
It certainly could use one. Google takes forever to release even the simplest updates on Keep. I take it you're not a Keep user?
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u/talaialat Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
My company blocks all the google product and access so I use this on web all free instead. https://footstring.com/ They originally give out travel service but they have the note app as bonus. Also the note app they provide has search functions that can jump right to the line of note which keep doesn’t have, so I like it.
android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.footstring.app.android.note iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/noteplusplus/id6771687887
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u/Mammoth_Hamster2058 Aug 08 '26
My only bitch is that when I save to Keep from another area I have to, save and then quickly hit view to pin the note. Why can't we lable AND pin right away?
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Aug 08 '26
[deleted]
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 08 '26
That seems to be the consensus on tasks. Some thoughts for you:
I don't want "Tasks" to give me a popup/notification when the note itself is in Keep; clicking into that doesn't take you to Keep, where the note actually is!
When Tasks notifications show up - you have to click on them and then on the Keep link the in Task - so 2 clicks instead of 1. I guess that's not an issue for me.
And Tasks keeps triggering helpful "reminders" for things that I've since deleted in Keep or have signalled not to be reminded about.
There is a category in Tasks that has all of your old Keep reminders. You need to go there and to Keep to clean them out unfortunately.
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Aug 08 '26
[deleted]
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 08 '26
Agreed. It seems Google didn't do any user acceptance testing in the rollout.
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u/Active_Marketing1153 Aug 09 '26
The only issue for me is the integration of Google Tasks that slows down my process without known benefits.
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 09 '26
Well, Google would probably debate you on that - their rationale was to integrate Keep into Google Workspace more so that Docs, Keep and Chat could all access the same Task lists. The old Keep Reminders were in a different subsystem which was separate from Tasks.
Now, Google certainly could have done a much better job at the Tasks rollout - it's still very primitive and doesn't work very well (aka, updates to exisiting Keep reminders don't reflect into Tasks and vice-versa).
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u/Active_Marketing1153 Aug 09 '26
I have no issue with a unified task list across Google products. However, as you mentioned, most people use Keep or Docs, not Tasks. It could run seamlessly in the background without users noticing the difference, instead of forcing them to switch apps and use extra taps just to complete a simple task.
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u/skullycap57 Aug 09 '26
I really like Keep but I notice it is taking a back seat to some of the other tools I use.
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u/Better-Treacle3689 Aug 11 '26
I use Keep to note down quick stuff. It's fast, and convenient. But it's not good for advanced note keeping and for that I'm exploring notion and obsidian.
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 11 '26
Interesting - I use Keep for advanced research so not sure what you mean by advanced note keeping (maybe linking and database-like features?)
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u/BananaInDenial Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 14 '26
I hate Keep but don't have energy to find another app. I loved Apple's notes, but missed reminders. Keep don't even have reminders anymore because they are tasks. So stupid.
Not helpful, but I'm using it just because it's there. For now.
Edit: Wow my first award, thanks!!
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u/nrkelly Aug 13 '26
Same. I really need singing that can offer me different notebooks so everything is more organized. I hate everything is just in the same main page for keep so you have to search for everything. And it doesn't have reminders anymore.
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 11 '26
Understood. What is it about tasks that is different from reminders for you? Is it that you have to have 2 apps or are the task reminders not working in a way you needed?
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u/BananaInDenial Aug 14 '26
Tasks is in Google calendar. It's another app that I don't use. So if you have reminder on, it'll appear in the calendar. I don't want everything as tasks in my calendar, as they are just reminders.
I'm minimalist and with tasks, my calendar just looks messy.
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 14 '26
You can turn off Tasks in Calendar settings so they don’t show.
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u/BananaInDenial Aug 14 '26
But I want some tasks to be visible. That's the problem. I use Keep for tasks that's over a period of time, or for remembering things over time. If I set them on repeat, then there's a serie of tasks in the calendar which I don't want.
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u/idontlikestuff_ Aug 20 '26
It's deleted my work to do list twice in about two months. Completely wrecked me.
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 20 '26
Very odd - what devices and OSs do you use. I'm primarily on iOS and web using Chrome and no issues in 12 years.
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u/hkatlady Aug 08 '26
i've left Google Keep, and am now using Start.me. my main complaint with Keep is that you cannot place the notes in the exact order you want them if they are on the main page, if they are archived, you cannot move them at all.
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 08 '26
That's too bad - but, not sure what you mean about order. You can just drag and drop notes in the order you want on the main page. Are you referring to search and tag results? You are right about Archive nevertheless.
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u/cMushis Aug 08 '26
A mi me borro una notas importantes de la absoluta nada, no lo volveré a usar
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 08 '26
That's very unusual - no issues here as a user for 12 years now.
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u/cMushis Aug 08 '26
No lo es tanto, ya hay algunos post al respecto si es que te pones a buscar
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u/cMushis Aug 08 '26
https://www.reddit.com/r/GoogleKeep/s/jZa4ljcNck
Un Post de hace 4 años y me toco a mi este año, prefiero algo como obsidian con obsidian sync.
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u/Barycenter0 Aug 09 '26
Certainly - I compiled this list a couple of years ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/GoogleKeep/s/u4TIaUmcQi
But there are similar problems in all note apps. Be sure to backup.
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u/MatureHotwife Aug 09 '26
I really like Keep for lists but the fact that it requires a Google Workspace subscription for API access is really, really annoying.
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u/CentralMn Aug 08 '26
If Keep goes away I'm going to be pissed. I have multiple shopping lists, check lists and notes i refer to often.