Keep is one of Google 's best apps , and part of what makes it so great is the perfect combination of features. One of the most beloved features is the ability to add reminders to notes – so you can have your to-do list pop up whenever you need it. That's a feature most other note-taking apps lack.
Unfortunately, it seems Keep itself will soon be removing this feature. In an APK source code analysis, Android Authority discovered several UI changes that appear to indicate Keep's reminder feature is about to be removed.
Changes in Google Keep
Goodbye, reminder
You may have recently noticed that Google has started moving your Keep reminders into Google Tasks , and Keep itself no longer sends reminder notifications. This still works pretty well, although it feels less seamless than before.
However, in Google Keep version 5.26.021.01.90, the reminder function appears to have disappeared entirely. The icon to add reminders has vanished from individual notes, and the Reminders item has also disappeared from the three-horizontal-lines menu. Notes displaying reminders attached in the current version of Keep will not show the same indicator in the upcoming version. It seems Google is removing this feature and focusing more on Keep as a dedicated note-taking app.
Alternatives to Google Keep
There is no shortage of task management applications.
If you rely on Google Keep to organize your work, don't worry. You can continue using Keep to jot down ideas and organize your notes. However, you'll need to find another app for reminders. There are many great task management and reminder apps that you can combine with Keep:
- Google Tasks : An obvious choice, as it's integrated into the Google ecosystem (although many find it a bit simplistic).
- Apple Reminders : A powerful built-in option for Apple devices, which has become quite feature-rich over the years.
- Todoist : This is a popular cross-platform task management app. It fits the way many people think, and paid plans unlock powerful features like multiple reminders for a task or location-based reminders.
This could also be an opportunity to try a different note-taking app. Keep is great (and many people use it daily), but it lacks the typical folder structure of most competing apps, so it's easy to accumulate a pile of unorganized notes. You can add labels and color codes to your notes, but this isn't as efficient as folders. If you're looking for alternatives, Samsung Notes and Obsidian are very powerful.
There's currently no information on when this change will take effect. It's always possible Google could change its mind, but since the Reminders feature has been moved to Tasks, that seems unlikely. If you have a favorite task management or reminder app, please share it with other readers in the comments below!