Google Keep working on smart ‘Explore’ feature that can create reminders

Abner Li | Nov 28 2017 - 12:21 pm PT

In recent months, Google Keep has been more closely aligned with Google Drive thanks to numerous integrations. The latest one sees Keep on Android adding a similar Explore feature that scans notes and offers useful productivity suggestions.

About APK Teardowns: In this ‘APK teardown,’ we enable in-progress features of an application. As during teardowns, we’re able to see various lines of code that hint at possible upcoming functionality. Keep in mind that Google may or may not ever ship these features, and our interpretation of what they are may be imperfect. With that in mind, read on.

Explore was added last year to Docs, Sheets, and Slides to “bring you insights, design tools and research recommendations so you can create better work, faster.”

We’ve been able to activate Explore in version 4.0.441.01 of Google Keep and it is not yet live. The action bar inside a Keep note adds a new “Explore” icon. A red dot will highlight when the feature has a suggestion.

Tapping slides up a panel of cards to “Explore this note” and “Follow up on your note.” Scanning for “actionable keywords,” text that list events with date/time will prompt the feature to automatically create a reminder.

An overflow menu lists options to edit it before saving, which will bring up the built-in reminder feature of Google Keep. There is also a button to send feedback, as well thumbs up/down icons.

It’s unclear whether Google Keep will be able to surface other functionality like relevant web-based suggestions as the Explore feature is not yet fully functional. We were able to activate this feature on Android, but given Keep’s nature it will likely also be available on other clients, like the web and iOS.