Google Keep’s new Android widget makes it easier to check off items on your to-do list

Google is introducing a new widget for its notes and lists app Keep, which lets you put a single interactive note on your home screen. With it, you can check items off a list, which could be handy for a to-do or grocery list.

While you can force one of Keep’s current widgets to show just a single note using the tags system, doing so isn’t as simple as just selecting one to display on your home screen. Plus, Keep’s existing widgets don’t have the level of interactivity that Google’s promising with its new widget; if you try to mark off checkboxes, it’ll just open the app instead of actually checking it off like the single note widget does.

Of course, many dedicated task list apps have let you manage tasks using a widget. However, it’s nice to see that Google’s paying some attention to Keep and adding what feels like an obvious feature to it.

Google also says there are new Keep complications coming for Wear OS 3 and up, which will act as shortcuts to creating notes and to-do lists.

Update March 2nd, 4:20PM ET: updated to reflect that the widget has started rolling out.