Maintaining lists goes far beyond helping you stay organized, because it reduces strain on your memory and allows you to compartmentalize all your thoughts. On Android, there are several apps which accomplish the same goal using different interfaces and a focus on different features, but Google Keep isone of our favoritesbecause it integrates nicely with the Google Workspace ecosystem of apps, and also has a pleasant UI. Said interface could be due for a slight cosmetic overhaul with a bottom-aligned navigation bar.
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Google apps ranging from cloud-based services like Gmail and Drive to apps like Phone and Photos have a few UI traits in common, thanks to the company developing and maintaining the apps concurrently — Material Design, effortless sync with the cloud, and a navigation bar at the bottom to switch between the tabs in the app. Interestingly, though, Google Keep is a notable exception with its sidebar-happy approach, which even thePlay Store abandonednot too long ago.
Sure, the bottom bar in Keep currently helps you hop right into a blank checklist, drawing, voice note or annotated photo, but the massivePlusfloating action button (FAB) in the lower right corner almost does the same thing. It creates a new blank note in which you can create a checklist, add images, voice notes, and drawings. It appears Google is taking cognizance of this redundancy, becauseDanyil Kobzar on Telegramspotted Keep trying out a new design with a bottom bar in version 5.24.102 (viaTheSpAndroid).
Google Keep leans into the bottom navigation bar aesthetic
One look at the new UI and it’s immediately apparent that Google is willing to experiment, because the navigation bar is center-aligned and pill-shaped, instead of a full-width bar with tabs. This bar, shaped like the Home button on early Samsung Galaxy S series devices, also replaces the FAB and closely resembles what wesaw recently in the Google Chat app.
The current UI(left); and the new UI(right)
The new bottom bar has only three buttons — aPlusicon in the center, flanked by shortcuts to create a checklist and a drawing. With this change, Google has eliminated the shortcuts to save a note with a photo and a voice note. Lest we forget, the pill changes color dynamically according to your active wallpaper. The change is pleasant and refreshing, and also gives more screen space to your notes, especially in landscape mode.
That said, the new bottom bar design is protected by flags, and hence unavailable to beta testers. So, if and when this design change will make its way to the stable version of the app is anyone’s best guess.
