In the early days, it seems like every Google product was a completely separate product made by separate teams that did not speak to each other. However, over the recent years, Google’s massive portfolio of web, mobile, and wearable products have been integrating more and more.
Unfortunately, there are still some areas that do not integrate and they really stick out like a sore thumb. One such area is in reminders.
With the launches of products like Google Now and Inbox by Gmail, reminders have become an important feature across the board.
You can use voice commands to speak to your Android phone or Android Wear watch, and it can set a reminder for you. You can say “Ok Google, remind me to take out the trash tonight” and it will set a reminder. One really nice feature is that it shows up both in Google Now and Inbox by Gmail at the correct time.
However, here are some issues.
Dismissing a reminder in Google Now does not mark it as done in Inbox
Perhaps it simple needs a better interface with some action buttons to mark as “Done” as opposed to simply dismissing the card which would not mark it as “Done.”
Strange Triangle of Google Reminder Apps
- Google Now shows Google Now reminders and Google Keep reminders
- Google Inbox shows Google Inbox reminders and Google Now reminders
- Google Keep only shows Google Keep Reminders
It’s quite odd that Google hasn’t set all 3 of these apps to show the reminders from the other apps. Why aren’t reminders unified across them?
I wonder what Google’s plans are for Google Keep. After trying to use, it I stopped because it really didn’t seem to serve a purpose for me. It was also frustrating that Google Keep reminders were limited to just Google Keep.
I wonder if they haven’t integrated Google Keep reminders because they might be planning on shutting it down or rolling it into one of the other Google products. It would be really nice to see Google Keep merged into Inbox by Gmail. I could see that as being much more useful rather than as a separate standalone app.
What do you think?
Am I missing anything? Do you think that this lack of integration was done on purpose?
Not only did Google missed this link between the 3 products, they also missed out on integrating with Google Calendar. I mean, the reminders that I set out on Google Now, also appears on Calendar too. If I dismiss the one on the calendar, it didn’t dismiss on the other Google Products. Kind of a shame really.
Great point! It’s even worse than I thought!
I’m kind of surprised that you’re surprised. Of these three products, only one is a real solid platform they stand behind (Google Now). Inbox is basically just an experiment in beta for goodness sake. Keep and Inbox are not fully matured products and they aren’t intended to be.
Wait, how long was Gmail in beta before they just eventually removed the beta tag…? So saying inbox is in beta doesn’t really count. Keep has been in use for a long time and i agree that both keep and inbox isnt very matured/popular… But if Google can merge these it might kick things up a notch. The lack of Keep/cal integration and recently the lack Now/Keep/Cal integration really irks me, but we are obviously in the minority…
Don’t forget Google Tasks, which is part of… Gmail and Calendar, and creepily automatically adds Tasks that it finds in your email.
Google Keep is going to die off, Google Now is likely their centralized reminder service, I’d say rely on it.
I don’t know. I actually started using Google Keep again recently. Its simplicity is nice.
Actually Google Now and Inbox show reminders from all 3 products at the moment, but Google Keep still shows only its own reminders…
This is more than frustrating. My life is in Google Calendar. I am constantly searching for some type of Google Calendar/ to do/planner app integration, but none of 3’d party apps seem to do it for me. I love the look and ease of use of Keep. Chrome’s desktop app is great ..but, if it doesn’t integrate with Google Calendar via Tasks or on it’s own…Grrrrr. I could use Google Now’s reminder service, but that’s just for reminders, and not organizing your life! The whole Keep vs. Tasks thing is also really aggravating. Either they should integrate Keep with Google Now, and whatever happens there with a time and date should show up in Calendar, or they should ditch Tasks and use Keep in conjunction with G Calendar. Ugh!
You’re absolutely right. I came here looking for a possible solution but now it’s clear that I’m in the same boat as everyone else!
I’m trying to find a hacky, integration-based solution by running gmail through non-Google todo lists, but don’t want to give up my beloved Inbox.
Sigh.
Any developments since this was posted?
Yes, I think there have been developments since this was written. Now, I think Google Now and Inbox are more synced up, I’m not 100% sure.
Yes, I love IFTTT.com… it’s fantastic.
The triangle has become a square, as google calander can make it’s own reminders now. And keep’s reminders are now visible in inbox and Gnow too, with a button ‘view in keep’. This mess really needs to be cleaned by one reminder-platform that is accessible from all 4 apps, and with unified options (like the keep-only feature to repeat and keep/inbox which alow to remind at a location). Please, Google.
That’s a good take on it. I see it the same way these days.