Google Keep is testing a new way to improve your notes

Published Sep 9, 2026, 7:56 AM EDT I've been covering Android and other mobile technology for close to ten years now, with a specific interest in phone accessories, e-readers, and what makes each individual phone different from another. I delight in looking at the phone market from as many angles as possible, and while my opinions may be odd, at times, they're always from the heart as much as the head. I have a background in the mobile accessories world, which explains my odd enthusiasm for cases and things that clip onto smartphones. I worked for Digital Trends from 2017 to 2025. Sign in to your Android Police account Google has been testing a lot of new additions to Keep lately, and it seems as if we can add one to that list. Spotted by the code-crawlers at Android Authority, it seems Keep is testing a new pill-shaped navigation bar that makes it much easier and more natural to make changes to your Notes as you're composing them. Google Keep is getting some big upgrades More controls at your fingertips Google Keep has been my go-to notes app for years, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit it had some problems. A number of these problems are being solved by the new features Google is already testing, like being able to mix-and-match text, images, and check lists . But, Keep is still a bit clunky to control, and that makes it a lot more difficult to use quickly and efficiently. That may come to an end with the new addition Google seems to be planning. Android Authority was able to enable a feature buried in the code of the latest Keep build which turns on a control bar shaped like a pill. This pill hovers at the bottom of the screen, and contains most of the useful features you need in Keep. from the left to the right, we have controls for check lists, images, voice recordings, and drawings. Credit: The check list controls adds the ability to delete checked items, and two new functions: Uncheck all items at once, and Convert to text. Both of which have been missing from Keep for a while, with conversions back to text previously only being possible with undo. The rest are pretty straightforward, but just having them available in a pill at the bottom of the screen makes them much more useful. However, this isn't a feature you can check out for yourself yet, as it's definitely not publicly available yet. Android Authority notes a few key features are missing, and it sticks around even when you open the keyboard. So there's probably still some time before it's made available to everyone.