Google App Maker (discontinued) vs. Google Keep

App Maker is exceptionally strong when you need things to just get done, but your internal development team has a full queue. Or maybe you don't even have an internal development team! If you need a check-in system, an applicant tracking system, an office cleaning checklist with notifications and reports, etc. you can use App Maker to throw something together and make sure your team can use it. You can also collaborate on it, so teams can make this part of their process improvement goals.

Incentivized

We use it to post photos of a given area or circumstance, so there is never a question about the current appearance or the desired appearance, as the case may be. We also use it a lot for checklists. When items are needed, possibly from different locations, team members can check them off a shared list as they are acquired, so we can see what is still required and what has been acquired, and the person responsible can initial the checked-off entry.

• Minimal coding experience required. Javascript is a must-have, but the documentation is excellent, and once you're past the learning curve, it's great!
• Great WYSIWYG editor. It's easy to see the layout and still have deep control over what you're putting together.
• Excellent integrations with G Suite. There are methods built-in that allow you to easily authenticate and work with the G Suite APIs.

Incentivized

• It's incredibly quick to load, it doesn't take long to pull up any note you have no matter how much information is in the note.
• The ability to collaborate on a Google Keep note is also great! It allows for two or more of you to work on a project in one space.
• I also love that I can color coordinate. I can make all my meeting notes one color, my personal notes another color and so on.
• Enjoying the pinning feature that allows me to keep my important notes right at the top so I don't have to go searching for them when needed.

Incentivized

• Definitely not for beginners. App Maker certainly isn't usable by "everybody," but it's excellent for those who are willing to learn and get their hands dirty!
• Experienced developers will have issues. The target user is someone who doesn't want to (or know how to) use something like App Engine or Kubernetes. People with more experience will certainly see limitations and find it difficult to use to the fullest extent.
• Data sources can be iffy to manage. It used to be that App Maker would use a sheet or "Drive table" as a data source, but it now requires a GCP data source like CloudSQL.

Incentivized

• The iOS app sometimes gets into a state and doesn't update your notes (won't show new notes from other devices / computer), needs to be re-installed to resolve
• Your notes take up space in your Google account's quota, though this is not very apparent at first - you have to keep an eye on what you are storing - huge pictures better not go in there

Incentivized

It does everything I need it to do. It is easy to organize and categorize what I need and what I want to see.

They made it simple for anyone to use. There are no complicated steps involved to create a note, edit a note, or search for a specific item located in a note. They also made it simple to share it with others, making it easy to collaborate. Google kept it basic without a thousand "bells and whistles" to overcomplicate it.

Incentivized

App Maker is a very "do it yourself" platform. There is a huge amount of documentation and plenty of examples to begin learning, plus a vast community support through StackOverflow that can assist anywhere that you're stuck, but the great thing is that it's all up to you. If there are specific features that don't work, Google is always there to help troubleshoot.

Incentivized

I gave this rating based on the ease of use, the simple functionality and how well it does at keeping my attention and helping me continue to use it and stay on track. The functionality mentioned before alongside the reminder functions and how it utilizes Google's powerful machine learning tech to better its software is remarkable.

Incentivized

App Maker is really kind of new in its own space. We haven't seen the level of functionality, nor the deep integrations, with anything else. It can replace a lot of products, and we've seen it in place in many applications across our organization, so it's been able to reduce our spend on products that offer specific functionality and still need to be customized.

Incentivized

The main differential of Google Keep is its simplicity and efficiency for quick notes. I can draw on the card, put a photo, record audio if I can't write at the moment, in short, for everyday tasks, simple things, it is superior.

Incentivized

• We have seen a reduction in time spent on manual processes by being able to automate functions in Google Sheets, take input with special functionality, and have App Maker do the work for us.
• We have seen the internal development queue decrease, which allows us to focus on larger projects that couldn't be handled by App Maker.
• We have seen ownership and process improvements increase in certain departments, as they are able to get to work themselves.

Incentivized

• Quick note-taking and easy access to reminders reduce time wasted on forgotten tasks, improving efficiency.
• Digital note-taking reduces the need for notebooks, sticky notes, and printed task lists.
• Employees sometimes need to move notes to Google Docs for better formatting, leading to extra work.

Incentivized