Despite its drawbacks, I keep coming back to Google Keep for taking quick notes. Maybe it’s muscle memory, or maybe Keep is the best note-taking app, even though it lacks many basic features.
With Google adding AI and Gemini to supercharge almost all its products and services, I can’t wait for the company to show the same love to Google Keep.
Here’s how I imagine a Gemini-powered version of Keep could transform the experience.
Taming long notes with AI summaries
TL;DR of long notes and transcripts
Google Keep only works best for short notes. Take a note running into a few thousand words, and it can be difficult to browse and go through.
To fix this, Google can bring its existing AI-powered summarize feature to Keep, making long notes easier to navigate. The feature is already available in almost all Google services. Even Gmail shows Gemini-powered AI summaries of long email threads at the top.
Google Keep can benefit from such AI integration, summarizing long notes. For instance, a quick AI-generated overview of a transcribed voice note would make it much easier to catch up without reading through the entire note.
Imagine Gemini in Google Keep generating a concise summary of a long meeting note, complete with clearly listed action items, each tagged with speaker labels.
This way, you’ll know exactly who said what and who’s responsible for which task.
This would turn messy voice transcripts or hastily typed meeting notes into a neatly organized, actionable checklist for future reference.
AI-generated summaries would be incredibly helpful when I revisit a long note a few months down the line.
AI summaries will also help improve the collaborative notes experience in Google Keep. Instead of scrolling through back-and-forth updates or edits, I could read a generated summary to understand the latest changes.
Gemini-powered note creation
Fix typos and grammatical errors
In Gmail and Google Docs, Gemini provides smart auto-complete suggestions. It can even write an email or letter for me with the right prompt.
Google currently offers basic Gemini integration in Google Keep, dubbed Help me create a list. The feature uses AI to generate a list of items you might need based on your prompt.
For example, if you’re traveling to Spain, you can ask Gemini to create a packing list, and it will quickly compile all the essentials for your trip.
However, like Google Docs and Gmail, Google should also offer AI-powered autocomplete suggestions in Keep. This can help speed up the note-taking process.
I would also love to see Google leverage Gemini’s advanced natural language processing to correct grammar and spelling mistakes in my notes.
I tend to make a lot of typos and small errors when jotting things down quickly, especially during meetings or brainstorming sessions.
Having Gemini quietly clean things up in the background would make my notes more readable without interrupting my flow.
Audio notes with speaker detection
Learn from Pixel Recorder
Like other note-taking apps, you can record voice notes in Google Keep. It even transcribes the recorded audio, enabling you to copy, modify, and search through it.
While this works for quick voice notes, there’s plenty of room for improvement.
Google should take note from its own Pixel Recorder app and add support for AI-powered speaker labels.
For example, if I’m having a quick conversation with a potential client and want to refer back to it later, automatic speaker labeling would make it easier to identify who said what, saving time and avoiding confusion.
Now imagine using Google Keep to record a lecture or an interview, while simultaneously jotting down key points in the same note.
With speaker labels, the audio transcript would become far more structured and useful, especially when reviewing or summarizing later.
Google Keep’s voice notes fail at even the most basic tasks. There’s no option to speed up the playback of a voice recording, which makes listening to anything longer than a few minutes frustrating.
And as if that’s not bad enough, you can’t download the recorded voice note at all.
Given that Google already offers these features in the Pixel Recorder app, it seems like a matter of intent — and not capability — for the company to bring them to Google Keep.
Smart Q&A from tagged notes
Powered by Gemini
I use labels in Google Keep to categorize multiple notes from the same project, helping keep things fairly organized.
The problem arises when I need to find specific information. My only option is to manually search through each note to find the relevant details.
Yes, search helps, but that only gets me to the relevant note faster. I still have to find the relevant information myself, which can be a challenge, especially if it’s a long note.
Google can add NotebookLM-type capabilities to Google Keep to solve this problem.
Imagine being able to ask Google Keep a question related to a specific label, and it intelligently pulls relevant answers by sourcing information from all notes tagged under that label.
This would be faster than going through multiple notes, saving precious time. Plus, you can ask relevant follow-up and contextual questions.
If anything, integrating NotebookLM-like capabilities into Google Keep would make it a better tool for project tracking and research.
NotebookLM is one of Google’s most impressive AI tools, and incorporating its strengths into Keep would elevate the note-taking experience significantly.
Extracting important events and dates from notes
From Google Keep to Calendar
I use Google Keep to note important dates and events. Later on, I have two options: create a reminder directly in Google Keep or add the event manually to the calendar.
Google should use Gemini and its deep integration across Google services to simplify this process and eliminate friction.
When Keep detects a date or an image with an event and a date, it should proactively display a prompt to create a calendar event or reminder. This would save me from switching between apps and streamline the entire process.
Similarly, if a transcribed voice note includes phrases like “meeting next Thursday” or “follow up in two weeks,” Keep should suggest setting a reminder or calendar event.
When I add an event, it should contain a link to the Google Keep note for reference.
Gemini already does this on Android, so it’s more about Google integrating such a feature in Keep.
One of Gemini’s key strengths is its deep integration with Google’s products and services. So, it’s puzzling to see such benefits trickle down to Google Keep.
Google, it’s time to show Keep some Gemini love
Google Keep has a lot of potential. It’s just that Google isn’t giving it enough attention.
It has received minimal usability upgrades over the years, while the company has focused on improving its other services, like Gmail, Docs, and Google Sheets.
What’s worse is that the AI features imagined above — summarizing long notes, adding dates and tasks into calendar entries and reminders, and others — are already available in other Google services. Google only needs to bring them to Keep.
Hopefully, Google gives Keep the attention it deserves sooner rather than later and transforms it into a true productivity powerhouse.
