Google Keep is one of the most popular note-taking apps out there. Released in 2013, it managed to get over a billion downloads on the Play Store. But while it is one of the most preferred apps for taking notes, it is still quite bare-bones when it comes to features.
Unlike Samsung Notes, another note-taking app, and also has over a billion downloads, Google’s app does not support text formatting. However, this could soon change.
The people at 9to5Google have decompiled the latest version of the Google Keep installer and discovered that the tech giant could be working on adding text formatting tools to its note-taking app.
Version 5.22.182.00 of Keep includes icons similar to those found in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, as well as the ability to enable bold, italic, and underlined styles. You also have the option to show or hide the formatting controls.
It should be noted that the formatting tools cannot currently be activated even if version 5.22.182.00 of Google Keep is installed. This may mean that the new functionality can be enabled later via a server-side update.
The simplicity of Google Keep meant that it was often used for simple shopping lists or reminders for sticky notes. Improving its text formatting portfolio may mean Google wants to turn it into a more serious note-taking app, which should still be lighter than Google Docs but just as useful as Samsung Notes or the iOS Notes app. And that has been going on for quite some time.