Google Keep tests floating bottom bar or a new FAB [U]

Abner Li | Mar 27 2024 - 3:36 pm PT

Earlier this year, Google Chat introduced a floating bottom bar, and Google Keep for Android is following suit.

Update 3/27: Google Keep is now testing a more conventional alternative to the floating bottom bar. Tapping the FAB presents the same three options. This approach is rather reminiscent of Google Calendar and takes up less space.

Original 3/21: When Google Keep got its Material You redesign in 2021, the primary change — besides Dynamic Color — to the bottom portion of the app was the floating action button switching from a circle to a square with rounded corners. (To my eye, the cutout for the FAB wasn’t very inline with Material 3. Look at how Google Tasks was updated.)

Google Keep is now readying a floating bottom bar (via TheSpAndroid). Enabled with version 5.24.x, this pill-shaped container has an oblong button for creating a new note at the center. This is flanked by New list and New drawing, which uses a new icon.

Google has removed New audio note and New photo note, though you should still be able to attach both when inside a note.

This pill is themed by Dynamic Color with an inner button that is darker. Visually, it takes up much less space than the current interface, thus letting you see an extra line or so of content. Compared to the bar in Google Chat, it doesn’t span the entire width of your screen, so the impact is much more noticeable.

Google is clearly going in this design direction, though it has yet to codify the new component.