Google Keep is a syncing notepad that supports photo notes, voice notes and checklists. It lets you quickly take and save those notes, photos, voice memos, and checklists to Google Drive, and then access them again on any other web-connected device you use.

“It’s ideal for quick note-taking on the go, anyone who appreciates simple, fast note-taking tools or to-do apps, or for saving notes like shopping lists, addresses, phone numbers, checklists and to-do lists, or conference call codes,” writes lifehacker.com.

I have personally found Keep a very useful tool while doing my shopping. I type several items on my shopping list; each item presenting with a checkbox before it, and as soon as I pick a particular item, I simply click its checkbox and the item immediately drops off the list.

And though the item disappears from your list, it is not completely erased. Instead, it simply slips to a lower panel list where every item is crossed out.

That means the next time you are compiling a shopping list, all you have to do is just go to that pane and uncheck the item you want on the list and it will pop back onto the shopping list, saving you the time to type a fresh list.

The Keep on my phone isn’t just for shopping lists. It also holds a wealth of other information that I may need to work with regularly and need to access without a hassle.

Therefore, I have a to-do list, a mini expenditure budget (including monies I owe other people), a record of the books lent out, and to who, plus when, and other lists and information.

To make it easy for one to identify the list or information they need, Keep offers a colour coding tool which allows you to place different information in different colours such that when you open the app, the coloured columns spring up – making it easy for you to pick the relevant one.

Keep also gives you the option to make audio notes when the need arises, for example when you are driving. It will also turn into some kind of actual notebook on which you can quickly scribble a name or number, even using your finger!

fkhan@observer.ug