Summary

  • Google Keep merged reminders with Tasks, losing independent reminders for lists. Another change now looms ahead for tablet users.
  • Keep devs are working on a resizable window feature for the Android, styled like the web UI for Gmail and Outlook.
  • A recent beta version hints at the upcoming feature, but it will be limited to larger devices.



Google Keep is one of our favorite note-taking apps on Android because it is easy to use and offers most of the features you might need, such as mixed-media notes and rich text formatting. However, it recently lost the ability to maintain an independent list of reminders. Google has merged Keep reminders with Tasks and nothing could possibly make up for the jarring transition, but developers seem to be working on an email-like window resizing option in the app.

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Related

Google Keep reminders are making their way to Tasks

Keep joins Assistant, Calendar, Chat, Docs, and Gmail under the Google Tasks umbrella



Google Keep is versatile, like most Workspace utilities, including Docs, Sheets, and Slides, since the service is accessible on the web and through a dedicated Android app. Since the Android app must scale to fit everything from the cover screen of a foldable device to a large tablet display, UI components like the app toolbars and Floating Action Button (FAB) can be repositioned and content in the main window can be rearranged too.

However, Keep doesn’t allow users to resize windows in landscape orientation, even on larger devices. This means you can either use the default split view with all your notes on the left and the selected one expanded in the tight half, or you can maximize the right-hand side, but there’s no option to resize the split window. A dedicated browser extension on the Chrome Web Store might help matters, but that might soon be unnecessary.

Reputable app researcher and tipster AssembleDebug has discovered Google developers working on a window resizing feature for Keep’s Android app (via Android Authority). Beta version 5.24.222.01.90 has a flag which allows window resizing, suggesting we could see the feature debut soon.



Resizing is widely requested, but mostly unavailable

The concept of a resizable UI was popularized by email service providers like Outlook and Gmail. However, it isn’t popular among Google’s apps, and only the Calendar app has a sliding pane layout, despite immensedemand. With Keep joining in, it could set the precedent for other Google apps to follow suit.

That said, a feature hidden behind a flag in the beta version of Keep is no assurance it will eventually be available to a wider audience. Moreover, the change will only impact larger devices, which the tipster says have a pixel density greater than 600 ppi. You can simulate the change on a smaller device by messing around in the Developer Settings, but it can throw off app scaling across the OS. We will post an update if this feature becomes a reality, though.