Google Keep for Chrome, the desktop tool for the search giant’s note-taking service, has gained a sizeable update this week.
A number of small new features have been added to version 2.0 of the offline-enabled app, while core interface elements have been tweaked to better match the Android version of the app.
New Features Added to Keep
Right away the most visible change you’ll find is the new default view called ‘Active’. This is now the top-most item in the sidebar drawer.
By default all new notes are considered ‘Active’ and are listed in the default view. Notes, reminders and lists that aren’t pressing, or you don’t want on show all the time can be marked as ‘not active‘, at which point they disappear from the default view.
Inactive notes are not deleted or inaccessible; a new option allowing you to view all notes, regardless of status, has been added to the sidebar and sits beneath the ‘Reminders’ entry (which is unchanged).
List items can be reordered by drag and drop in version 2.0. Mouse over the list to reveal the grab bar on the left-hand side, click and hold on this, then pull it to where you want and let go to land it in place.
Elsewhere, a new set of ‘List Settings’ have been introduced, accessible through the tool-strip menu (vertical stack of dots) on a list-style note. Options include:
- Position of new list items when added (top or bottom)
- Behaviour of checked items (grouped or in position)
- Option to apply changes to list
The action bar has also been tweaked to match the (upcoming) Android Google Keep app, switching from dark flat icons against a white background for white icons against a grey one.
Google Keep launched almost one year ago as a direct successor to Scratchpad. Its Chrome App is available from the Web Store for free, though requires a Google account to both install and make use of it.