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There is a little-known feature that is starting to show up for the Google Keep Android app, and I think it would make a fantastic addition to the existing PWA. This new feature looks like it would be a solid addition to the web-based PWA, but as many people haven’t even seen it in action up to this point, I suppose asking for it in the PWA is a bit of an odd request: but I want it nevertheless. As a regular user of Keep on my Chromebook and on my phone, I think it would make the desktop experience far more productive and simple to navigate.
Dual-pane view for Google Keep
This new feature I’m referencing is the recently revealed split-pane view that we are beginning to see arriving on certain Android devices. According to the official Google support thread, this view only surfaces on particular devices with particular screen sizes and resolutions: greater than 840dp (density independent pixels). We’ve been unable to get this working on any devices around the office so far, so I can’t speak to how it all functions at this point, but I can definitely tell you I want this feature in the Keep PWA.
As it stands right now, Google Keep is a fantastic way to keep up with your ongoing lists, notes, to-do’s and anything else you need to keep tabs on. The UI, however, is not the best in my opinion. Clicking on a note brings up a semi-full-screen view of the selected item and doesn’t really take advantage of the whole screen. At the same time, it covers up most of your other notes, too, so moving in and out of multiple notes isn’t intuitive or productive at all.
If this new split view does come to the PWA in the future, it would make moving in and out of your notes a much simpler process. Sure, the new feature is likely more aimed at productivity on something like the upcoming, folding Pixel Notepad or the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, but it would heighten productivity just as much on a Chromebook and on the web if it were implemented down the line.
Just like the split-pane view we get in the Gmail web component, this change could go a long way towards making Google Keep a much more powerful option for users. Even now, up top in the Google Keep PWA, there’s a toggle for the grid or list views to make things easier on users. If Google simply adds a Gmail-like split-pane view, we’d be all good. Will it happen? I’m unsure at this point, but I’m hopeful.
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