Welcome back to another week of Double Click (now, Gray Haired Tech). I would like to remind you to shoot me an email with your tech/computer questions when you run into them. I am always glad to hear from you guys any time.
If you read the column regularly you will know that I have a love/hate relationship with Google. I love many of their products but I hate it when they have a really good one that they decide to remove from their cadre of apps.
So let me share a little love and hope that Google does not decide to kill it in the next couple of years. The app/site is called, “Google Keep” and it works really well. Google even added a very good feature to it this week, so it will be around for a while…well, I guess.
It is presently available for all Android devices. Sorry iPhoners, it is not an app yet; however, it is available as a website for one and all.
Basically, Google Keep is a note taker/keeper. I know you have been doing one thing with your phone/tablet (device from here on out) and think of something you need to get to later. Yes, you could email yourself, write it on a piece of paper or do it the ancient way…remember it. But with Keep (yes, I shortened that one too) you open the app with a click and add your note.
There are similar apps out there but they are not as simple to use or available everywhere electronically. Evernote is one of the others I have used.
You can type in a note, create a list, add a photo with or without notes and even leave an audio message. The speech to text transformation is smooth and fairly accurate but not perfect. For instance, with audio I recorded the previous sentence and it was all correct, except for “smooth and” which was changed to “moving.”
All of your “notes” are added to your Google Drive so you can log into, “google.com/keep” and see your notes there. Then you may edit, delete or create new ones online. In just a few seconds they will be available on your device too.
Now let’s discuss the recently added feature. It can mark an existing or new note to alert me at a specific time. Yeah, neat but not extraordinary. However, I can also set it to alert me at a specific location, if I have a data or Wi-Fi connection at that time. For instance, I set an alert the other day to notify me to write a column about, “Google Keep” the next time I went to my favorite coffee shop. When I arrived here this morning, ding-ding, I received the reminder to write the article. I don’t even need a brain anymore. Hmm.
Think about this, since you can create lists in Keep, how about your grocery list? Set it to alert you when you get to the grocery store. When you arrive at the store, there it is, ready to read from your phone or tablet.
Keep in mind this new feature may not be available to you right this second since they are adding this through the end of the month. So make sure you do your updates.
Yes, I know the brain and paper are probably just as easy but not as cool…
