I have been slowly moving more of my daily workflow into Google’s ecosystem.
Most of its apps already handle a huge chunk of my workflow, so moving from Samsung’s apps to Google should make my setup cleaner and simpler.
Then I open Google Keep and the whole idea falls apart. Next to Samsung’s alternative, it feels basic.
It is the single biggest reason I can’t fully commit to Google’s productivity ecosystem.
I genuinely tried to make Google my default
But Google Keep felt too basic
One of the first things I noticed after setting up my Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra was just how many duplicate apps Samsung throws at you.
It is one of those things reviewers point out when talking about Samsung phones, and I can understand why.
Having two apps that do the same job can make the experience feel cluttered.
So, I decided to clean things up and go all-in on Google whenever possible. The logic was simple.
Google’s apps work across Android, Windows, the web, and any other device I may use in the future. They also share a more consistent experience.
Overall, Google seemed like the smarter long-term choice. But I quickly reached a wall when moving my notes.
After using Samsung Notes for so long, Keep feels almost too basic for the way I work now.
I don’t always want to create a plain-text note with a few checkboxes underneath it.
Sometimes I want proper formatting, structured notes, tables, PDFs, or a combination of all of them in the same place.
Samsung Notes gives me room to build and work on a note instead of simply storing one.
Keep is still excellent at being a lightweight notes app. The problem is that I no longer want a lightweight notes app as my primary one.
Samsung Notes lets me build real documents
The S Pen changes what a notes app means
Being a tech writer and homelab enthusiast, my notes are rarely a few lines of text.
I often use them for article planning, work ideas, Docker documentation, self-hosting tools, and anything else that needs a little more structure.
Samsung Notes offers a rich text editor where I can add headings, tables, attachments, a highlighter, and more.
I can also change the page style, move things around, and organize everything in a way that looks like a proper document.
That makes a huge difference when a simple idea starts turning into something more serious.
That is where Samsung Notes feels ahead of Google Keep for me.
Keep is great at capturing information. Samsung Notes lets me shape that information into something useful.
The S Pen is another reason Samsung Notes feels like a different class of app.
On my Galaxy S25 Ultra, I can pull out the S Pen and start writing immediately.
I use it for quick ideas, small sketches, marking up screenshots, and writing things down when typing would take longer.
That is why the S Pen is more than an extra feature here. It changes the way I use the app.
Organization feels built for heavier use
Feels closer to a traditional notebook structure
This is another area where Samsung Notes fits my workflow better. When you collect hundreds of notes, simple labels and colors are not always enough.
I like to separate everything into proper folders and keep work notes, article ideas, personal stuff, travel plans, and reference materials in their own spaces.
I don’t have to rely on remembering a keyword or scrolling through a long wall of notes. I can open the right folder and get to what I need much faster.
It feels closer to how I organize files on my computer, so it’s easy to understand from day one.
Google Keep offers pinned notes, colors, and labels, but they only work when I have a few notes to manage.
Samsung Notes even works with Gemini
Surprise Surprise!
When I chose Samsung Notes over Keep Notes, I expected the Gemini integration to be the one feature I’d miss.
To my surprise, Samsung Notes supports it. It’s just ticked behind a toggle.
Open the Gemini app, head to Settings > Personal Intelligence > Connected apps, and enable Samsung Notes.
When connected, Gemini can read from and write to my notes library.
I can ask Gemini a question and have the answer saved as a note, no copy-paste required.
I can also ask it to dig out specific information buried inside my notes, which beats the app’s built-in search.
I can’t create folders or reorganize notebooks yet, but the core loop works.
My biggest reason to stay with Samsung
Google’s productivity ecosystem still makes a lot of sense to me, especially with Gemini sitting in the middle of everything.
But Samsung Notes is the one app I am not willing to downgrade from just for the sake of consistency.
It is more capable, flexible, and better suited to the way I take notes on my Galaxy S25 Ultra.
So, for now, my experiment with moving everything to Google ends here.
