Google Keep is finally adding a feature that's been missing for 13 years

(Image credit: PC Mag)

Google Keep has been around for over 13 years, but shockingly it's been missing a very basic feature this entire time — an in-note search function. Which, considering Keep is one of the best note taking apps you can get on Android, is pretty bizarre.

Keep does have a search bar, which lets you find specific keywords from your main stack of notes. But what the app lacks is a true Ctrl+F-type option that lets you jump to specific points in those notes.

Thankfully, as spotted in the code by Android Authority, Google may finally be about to fix that issue.

The team were able to find and activate a new "Find in note" functionality, accessible from the 3-dot menu. While the feature doesn't actually work without crashing the app at present, this will eventually let you find specific parts of individual notes — rather than the whole app.

How useful this will be is all dependent on what you use Keep for, though. If you're like me then you probably only use the app for small notes that can be skim-read without issue. Honestly, the majority of my Keep usage is grocery lists or jotting down measurements during various home improvement projects.

Now that it's hit me, the lack of a proper search function does seem like a huge omission — and one Google has let slide for the past 13 years.

Longer note-taking tends to be typed out on my laptop using Google Docs, so I hadn't actually noticed that there wasn't an equivalent to Ctrl+F in Keep. I just never actually needed it up to this point and didn't think too much of it.

Now that it's hit me, the lack of a proper search function does seem like a huge omission — and one Google has let slide for the past 13 years. It makes you wonder about all the other features missing from Keep's minimalist and simple interface.

Of course with Keep already getting AI support, as part of the Magic Lists feature, it's clear Google hasn't completely forgotten about the app. So hopefully the addition of "Find in note" is the start of a series of big changes coming to Google Keep.

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Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.

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