Joe Maring / Android Authority
Note-taking apps are among the most basic yet most helpful apps on our phones today. While there are dozens to choose from on the Google Play Store, my notes app of choice is Google Keep — and it has been for well over a decade. I’ve been using Google Keep since it launched in 2013, and while I’ve tried Google Keep alternatives over the years, I keep coming back to Google’s note-taking service.
Google Keep hasn’t changed much over the years, and that’s part of why I love it. The Post-it Notes-like layout is charming, having it tied to my Google account is convenient, and I vastly prefer its decidedly simplistic interface compared to something like Evernote. But when Google Keep does get new features, they’re usually meaningful and worth the wait.
One such feature Google added in late 2023 was text formatting. Google Keep previously didn’t support text formatting of any kind, but with this update to the Android app, that finally changed. The only problem is that Google implemented it in such a half-baked way that it defies all logic and reason. Let me explain.
Do you still use Google Keep?
82 votes
Keep’s text formatting is great … when you can use it
Joe Maring / Android Authority
The way Google added text formatting to Keep’s Android app works exactly as you’d expect. When you’re in a note, you tap the underlined “A” button to bring up the formatting menu — giving you options for two header sizes, bold, italics, and underline.
It’s not the most exhaustive list, but it’s well-integrated with the app and gets the job done. I often have long notes when I’m jotting down ideas for an article, so it’s incredibly helpful to break up my thoughts with headers or to emphasize certain things with bold or italicized text.
However, there’s a very key word here. This all works great in Keep’s “Android app,” specifically. That’s because text formatting doesn’t work on the Keep iOS app or the desktop website. Seriously.
Joe Maring / Android Authority
Google Keep iOS app (left) and Google Keep Android app
And it’s not just that the text formatting tools don’t exist (which would still be ridiculous). Any formatting changes you made in the Keep Android app aren’t reflected in the iOS app or the desktop site. So, if you have a note with headers, bold text, etc., none of it shows up in Keep’s iOS or desktop versions. All of the text is still there, so it’s not that you’re losing information, but any formatting is stripped away once you view a note outside of the Android app.
Even more perplexing is that the text formatting for your notes shows up fine in the Keep Wear OS app. But formatting for iOS or desktop? Well, that’s just a step too far.
This should not be an issue
Joe Maring / Android Authority
So many notes with no text formatting to be found.
Is this a deal-breaking issue? No. If I need to access my Keep notes on my iPhone or on my computer, I can still view and edit them without a problem. It’s not that the lack of text formatting on these platforms makes Keep unusable, but that there’s no conceivable reason for them not to have it.
As I mentioned at the top, text formatting was added to Google Keep’s Android app in 2023 — September of that year, to be exact. That means Google has had 18 months to add formatting to Keep’s iOS and desktop counterparts. So, why hasn’t it? This isn’t some overly complicated AI integration or anything. All we’re talking about is making text look different — something Microsoft Word has been doing since the early ’80s.
Joe Maring / Android Authority
I recognize that Google is a big company with a lot of different pots on the stove. I’m also fully aware that it’s much more interested in advancing its AI tools than spending time worrying about its silly little notes app. But in a world where Google Gemini can remember small, personal details about me or instruct me on how to fix a plumbing issue, it’s a little absurd that Google Keep doesn’t support something as basic as text formatting across all of its apps.
Will this ever get fixed? I don’t know. Part of me thinks it’s such a simple change that it has to happen sooner or later. On the flip side, if it hasn’t happened yet, it’s hard to see Google suddenly getting a change of heart and deciding to flip the switch. Still, I can dream.
