I used Notion, Obsidian, and Evernote only to go back to Google Keep

Ever since I graduated from school, I’ve stopped taking notes in physical notebooks. I now take notes on my smartphone, tablet, or laptop like most people online. My default note-taker has been Google Keep for years now — primarily because it came pre-installed on my smartphone a long time back, and I didn’t bother looking for third-party options. But, more recently, I learned that there are several apps that offer extra functionality and help you take notes in a better way. This opened up a rabbit hole for me to decipher the best note-taking app out there.

You see, all the app stores have a ton of different apps that serve the same purpose — take notes. At one point, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of options just to take notes. Despite this, I decided to take some time out to research and shortlist a few apps that I wanted to try. Evernote has been around for a while, so it obviously made it to my must-try list. Notion and Obsidian have both been creating waves recently thanks to the fact that you can also use them to create personal knowledge management systems and landing pages. So, I decided to throw them into the mix too.

I downloaded all three of them and decided to spend at least a week exclusively with each app. A month later, I’m back to using Google Keep. Here’s why.

Information overload

I didn’t ask for so much

My first issue with apps like Notion and Obsidian is the sheer amount of information displayed at once. The moment I open Notion on my Mac, I can see a guide to using Notion, several templates to achieve various goals, and a pane on the left with way too many options for an app that I solely want to use for taking notes. Now, I understand that most of these options can be hidden, and the UI can be customized as per my requirements. But, I don’t want to put in so much effort for something so mundane. I wish Notion had a “show me nothing but my notes” toggle that hid everything else out of my vision automatically.

Since Notion is more than a simple note-taking tool, I understand that a lot of features I just called useless are quite valuable to a good chunk of individuals. In fact, I love how utilitarian it is, almost like a Swiss army knife. However, I don’t want to feel intimidated by so many tabs when I’m there just to add milk to my shopping list.

I observed the same behavior with Obsidian too. However, the UI is a lot cleaner with Obsidian as it tucks away most unimportant features into small icons that don’t really distract me. But then again, can someone please remind me why I need a ‘Command Palette’ or a ‘Graph View’ of my notes? I once clicked on an icon by mistake when navigating inside Obsidian. A long list with different options popped up, and I was so confused as to why it came up, and what was the purpose of it.

Now, I understand both Notion and Obsidian are more than just note-taking apps. Obsidian, as a matter of fact, is an excellent markdown-based writing tool that I use all the time to write a lot of my articles since the formatting stays the same when I paste it into the online CMS. But, I just can’t see myself using it daily to take notes.

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I don’t want to pay for a note-taking app

Why splurge when plenty of free options are available?

Evernote’s UI — albeit crowded — is much better in terms of displaying the information that is required. There are a few unnecessary elements here and there but I can deal with them. However, the service has a different issue. It wants me to pay to use Evernote on more than one device. This is a massive deal-breaker for me since I need my notes to sync across my smartphone, laptop, and tablet. Sometimes, it’s multiple smartphones and computers, since I keep switching between devices when reviewing them.

If there were no free note-taking apps at all, or if Evernote had a bunch of exclusive features that would add value to my workflow, I would definitely consider paying. But, given the huge repository of apps that let you take notes for free, I cannot justify paying for an app to do this job for me — even if the cost isn’t very high. What’s worse is, that even after deciding to use the free version with limitations, Evernote keeps trying to push me to get the paid subscription with banner ads and full-page promotions. It’s a goddamn note-taking app. Let me read the minutes of my meeting without coercing me into giving you my credit card details.

Google Keep gets the basics right

Simplistic UI and features

The first and foremost reason why I love Keep is the minimalistic UI. As soon as I open either the app or the website, I am greeted with all my notes in one place. My pinned notes are at the top, while the labels used for segregation are displayed on the left. To take a new note, all I have to do is start typing as soon as I open the site on my PC. This is a fantastic implementation since I don’t have to worry about clicking the right icons when I’m noting down something in a hurry.

All the important options like adding someone for collaboration, color-coding your notes, setting reminders, etc. are present at the bottom of each note, making it easy to select them. I must admit, though, that I prefer Notion’s implementation of adding a “https://www.xda-developers.com/” and typing the relevant shortcut to trigger it. For example, I can type ‘/to-do list’ to bring up checkboxes. This is simpler as opposed to Keep where I have to first click on the three-dot menu and then add them.

Over the years, Keep has also become my reminder app of choice — primarily because it can send notifications on all my devices. Most reminder apps on my smartphone can notify me at a set time, but they only send notifications on the phone itself. With Keep, the notification arrives on my smartphone, laptop, tablet, and smartwatch — all at once. So, no matter what device I’m using, Keep ensures I don’t miss the reminder.

I’ve also never had to worry about my notes syncing across devices when using Keep. As soon as I add a note on my Mac, it shows up on my Pixel 9 Pro without any delay. Of course, only when both devices are connected to the internet. This brings me to one massive downside of Keep — you cannot access your notes on a PC/Mac without an internet connection.

Everything isn’t perfect

The Google Keep website just won’t load unless you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network. This is a huge deal-breaker for anyone who frequently takes notes offline. Thankfully, this restriction isn’t applicable when you’re using Keep on a smartphone. I’ve added notes on the smartphone app using both an iPhone and Android device while I was on a flight on several occasions. The note stayed on the device and synced to the cloud as soon as I was back online.

Some users may also argue about how giving your data to Google isn’t the wisest option. I agree, since Google — at the end of the day — is an ads company. More recently, it’s also possible that Google uses data from Google Keep to train Gemini and its other AI models. While notes are encrypted at rest and in transit, Google can have access to decryption keys. Owing to this, I wouldn’t recommend storing sensitive information like passwords, login credentials, bank account details, and other confidential data on Google Keep. Always use a password manager for that.

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It may not be for everyone

If you’re concerned about privacy, I would recommend alternatives like Joplin that allow you to self-host your own server. This allows you to sync your notes across devices without relying on the cloud. Obsidian can also do this since it allows you to use services of your choice for syncing. For those who are a part of the Apple ecosystem, Apple Notes is an excellent alternative to Google Keep — and it works offline on all devices.

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Access important notes from any device

I also get the appeal of a do-it-all app like Notion, so I won’t blame you if you pick it as your note-taking tool of choice. It replaces several apps and services with a single all-in-one tool, and I’m certainly a fan of that. Just that it’s too overwhelming if you simply want to take notes. Google Keep, on the other hand, is simple and gets the job done. It also helps that it’s well integrated with the rest of Google’s services and, since I am overly dependent on those, Keep is automatically my default choice.

Google Keep

Google Keep is a reliable note-taking service that’s fairly easy to access and use. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles like password protection and search options, but what you get is a simple tool for everyday use that gets the job done.