After what seems to be years of waiting, Google finally introduced a new long-awaited feature for its note-taking app Google Keep. This feature-rich update happened along side other Google app updates, the new version of which came with huge design changes and new functionality.

Google Keep’s latest update now allows users to share their notes and collaborate on those. You can now, for example, share groceries lists with your family and meeting notes with your colleagues. And as with other Google Drive apps, you can collaborate within Google Keep in real-time, making sharing notes with others a much better experience.

Desktop Google Keep OSX is a simple desktop client for Mac built in Javascript and MacGap. This app simply wraps the Google Keep site in an app and allows you to quickly and easily access it as a separate entity outside of having to navigate through your browser tabs.

1. The app is NOT user friendly. The help center is a joke. The talk help is an even bigger joke. If you click on some of the default question you “could” ask, some answer will be “i don’t understand”. How don’t you understand your own question. Link devices is impossible to figure out. The help center just says to open setting. That’s all it ever says “open google home.
2. Google Chrome eats RAM like there’s no tomorrow, so if your Mac computer is low on RAM, then that could be the issue why Chrome keeps crashing. If your Mac is good enough and still unable to run Chrome properly, then the problem is with the browser.

Sharing notes with the new Google Keep

As one could imagine, sharing notes with the new and improved Google Keep is pretty straight-forward. Simply select the “Share” option below your note (on desktop) or in the top-right corner of your app and type in an email address of the person you want to share the note with… and you’re done!

The person on the other side will automatically receive an email with a notification. Also, the shared note will appear automatically among other notes in Google Keep.

Collaborating within notes has also never been easier. Everyone with access to any given note can edit it, and others will see the changes in real-time. The live collaboration feature also works across devices and platforms, so it doesn’t matter if you are on the go or at home using a full browser to edit the note.

Even adding an image to the note will make it appear automatically for those who you’ve shared the note with.

No synced reminders

For a number of reasons Google has preferred not to add a shared reminder feature for Google Keep, where one could set a time or location for another person to me reminded of something. Also, changing the note’s color on your account will not affect the others’ note, as well as archiving.

However, if you, as the owner, delete it (not to be confused with archiving it) the note will also be deleted from the list of those people who you’ve share the note with.

Even more new features

The new Google Keeps comes not only with the new sharing and collaboration feature. The latest version of both the app and web-app allows you to search and sort your notes by color and content. This means, that, for example, you could filter for green notes with an image attachment, or yellow notes with a voice recording.

Better late than never

Although the technology behind the last Google Keep update is nothing new whatsoever, it’s still a nice improvement to one of Google’s top apps out there. The new features, along with the beautiful and simplistic design, are definitively a good sign for Google’s move towards cross-platform functionality and improved user experience.

The sharing and collaborations feature might also open up a door for third-party integrations with Google Keep, which is something many of us techies would be looking forward to see in the future.

Google Keep is a great app with cross-platform sync, apps for Android, Chrome and the web and neat collaborative features. But are you getting the most from it?

Whether you use it to manage your weekly shop or to brainstorm your next big project, here are five powerful Google Keep tips that you should definitely make use of.

Transcribe Text from Images in Google Keep

Google Keep can transcribe text from images, a feature a lot of people don’t know about. It’s available everywhere Keep runs, including on Android and in the Chrome App.

Take advantage of character recognition to save time manually copying and typing information. For example, snap a photo of a business card or book page, add it to Keep, and have the text automatically pasted into the note ready for you to copy, edit and use elsewhere.

Using the feature does require a working internet connection and a photo, screenshot or other image that contains text:

• Create a new image note in Google Keep
• After the image has finished uploading open the note
• Click the overflow menu button
• Select “Grab Image Text”

The accuracy of the text transcription can vary depending on the quality of the image being read from and the words within it (Google applies autocorrect, adds spaces, etc.).

Brightly lit, crisp images with good contrast give best results, while busy, dark or blurred images regularly result in weird translations.

Set Reminders & See Them in Google Now

A popular features of other to-do tools, like Wunderlist and Todoist is the ability to schedule tasks for a future date and receive a notification when due.

Keep offers this too. Every note you make can have a due date or deadline attached. Click the ‘finger with a bow’ icon note to access the date and time picker and click ‘Done’ when done.

Reminders of due notes are delivered as push notification on Android, cards in Google Now and alert toasts in the Chrome Notification Center on Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome OS.

Smart Filtering & Sorting Options

Keep’s colour options are not just there to make your notes look pretty but to help you organise tasks, thoughts and to-dos; e.g., red for shopping, yellow for random thoughts, or whatever else you may prefer.

All note types can be assigned a colour, including image and voice notes. Use the ‘Search Google Keep’ filters to view cards by colours and/or type, e.g., ‘Red notes with images’, ‘Yellow notes with checkboxes’, and so on.

Google Keep App For Mac

Create Voice Memos

Android users can create voice memos in Google Keep. But more than simply syncing your voice clip across the desktop and web-apps, Keep will also transcribes your spoken words into editable text.

To create a voice memo in Keep on Android.

• Open Keep
• Click the ‘Microphone icon’ under the new note field
• Chat away

Recover Deleted Notes (And Learn to Archive)

If you accidentally delete a Google Keep note you can recover it — but only if you do so within 7 days!

To restore deleted notes open the keep sidebar, select the “Trash” item, and click “Restore” in the dropdown menu that opens up under ‘More Options’.

Mac Google Keep App

To save losing something precious by accident it helps to get into the habit of using the ‘Archive’ rather ‘Delete’ option. This makes your old notes accessible for future reference (using the Archive view in the sidebar) but keeps them hidden from the main view.

Google Keep App Mac Osx Shortcut

Do you use Google Keep? Share your own favourite tips, tricks and features with other readers in the comments below.