Tim Chaten interviewed my for the iPad Pros podcast, which is all about getting work done on iOS.
In the podcast we discuss Keep It: what it can do, some of the thinking behind the app, plus a little about its history and its future. We also talk a little about the non-existence of Feeder for iOS.
Keep It 1.2 is now available for Mac, iPad and iPhone. This version adds icon view, custom styles and background colors for notes, and completes support for the Files app in iOS 11 with thumbnails and previews. It is now possible to specify a default import destination, and there are improvements to search, the tag filter, previews, and various other changes.
Icon View
Icon view lets you browse items by their thumbnails, and can be used an alternative to list view, particularly useful for working with more graphical items such as images and movies. On Mac, switch between and configure list and icon view using the button above the list. On iOS, the same button is shown in the toolbar below the list. Additional info can be shown below the name, such as the item’s date, kind, tags, etc.
Together for Mac users will be familiar with the icon view, but Keep It builds on that by allowing each list to be set to show either list or icon view (the setting for All Items is used as the default), and by bringing icon view to iOS for the first time.
Improved Files App Support
Keep It 1.2 now provides thumbnails for files in the iOS Files app, and Quick Look previews for Keep It notes both in the Files app and other apps that use Quick Look previews.
When first run, Keep It 1.2 for Mac will regenerate thumbnails for iCloud libraries to correct issues where thumbnails stored in earlier versions could be larger than necessary. These thumbnails are used for list view, icon view and the Files app on iOS, and so thumbnails may not appear in those places until all changes have been uploaded.
Default Import Destination
It’s now possible to set a folder or bundle as the default import destination. This will be used whenever you import something without specifying a destination, such as dragging to the app’s Dock icon, using the Services menu or a bookmarklet. This destination will also be selected by default in the Share extension and Import view.
The chosen folder or bundle will also be shown at the top of the list of folders / bundles with a special icon, and if you’re using iCloud, will be consistent across all Macs and iOS devices.
This is similar to the Inbox feature in Together 3, and can be used that way, but allows for more flexibility. For example, if you’re focusing on a particular project, you may use a folder relating to that project for as long as it makes sense.
Tag Filter
The Tag Filter now animates on Mac as on iOS, and an “Untagged” item will be displayed if appropriate on both Mac and iOS, providing a straightforward way to see untagged items in the selected list.
Search
On Mac, it’s also possible to find things that do not have the chosen terms — for example, clicking on a tag in the search field will let you choose either “Is [tag name]” or “Not [tag name]”, allowing you to find items that have, for example, one tag, but not another.
Also, it’s now possible to change how the search is performed. On Mac, click the magnifying glass in the search field to choose whether the search matches on all or any of the terms used, and what is searched when typing free text. The chosen options are used as defaults for future searches. Saved searches retain the settings used when they were saved, and when a saved search is selected the settings will apply to the saved search and not the defaults. On iOS, the free text options can be accessed through item list settings, which you can see by tapping the icon / list button below the items list.
Notes
There is now a Monospaced style for notes, and it’s possible to customize the fonts and colors of the built-in styles, or create styles of your own. These styles can be set to apply to whole paragraphs or just the selected text, and optionally reset to the Body style on a new line. It’s also possible to change the default background color for new notes. These changes apply to both Mac and iOS, and the styles are stored in iCloud, making them available across all your devices.
Other Changes
The list view now animates on both Mac and iOS. On Mac you can now save web links as web archives, and find text within PDF documents. On iOS it’s now possible to disable automatically downloading items when viewed. Both apps also have new, improved app icons.
Keep It for Mac is also available from the Mac App Store, offers a free trial and a choice of one-time purchase for all Keep It 1.x releases for $49.99, or an upgrade from Together 3 for $24.99 (or free if Together 3 was purchased in its final 6 months on sale). Alternatively, choose from yearly or monthly subscriptions at $19.99/year or $2.50/month.
Keep It for iPad and iPhone is available from the App Store with a choice of yearly or monthly subscriptions at $9.99/year or $1.50/month.
Keep It 1.1 for Mac and Keep It 1.1 for iPad and iPhone are now available. Both versions include improvements to the list and previews, and add the ability to copy links to items. Keep It for iPad and iPhone gains support for the Files app, the ability to view email files, search improvements, and drag and drop in the iPad version.
Mac and iOS Improvements
Both Keep It for Mac and Keep It for iPad and iPhone get improvements to the items list. The date is now shown as one of the preview lines to leave more room for the name, and it’s possible to always show the size of an item in the list too. You can now copy clickable links to items in Keep It on both Mac and iOS, and those are also made available via the Services menu on Mac.
Drag and Drop and Files app support on iOS 11
Keep It for iPad and iPhone now integrates with iOS 11’s Files app, and on iPad now supports drag and drop, so you can rearrange folders and bundles and drag items around, both within Keep It and to other apps. It’s also possible to drag text from other apps to create notes, and drag web links to save them according to your settings.
Other iOS Improvements
You can now swipe right in the items list to add (or remove) an item as a favorite, as in the Mac app, and all the swipe actions have icons. When searching, you can choose whether to search All Items or just the current list, and the app can now view and search email files. Keep It 1.1 is ready for iPhone X. See the release notes for a full list of changes.
Other Mac Improvements
Keep It for Mac will now zoom rich text files, and its Share extension has been improved to allow you to choose whether or not to save a web link for offline, rather than always follow the app’s Import preferences.
It’s now possible to replace or remove tags on multiple items, and the status bar has been improved to show current progress in compact mode or when the sidebar is collapsed. There is now an option to prevent autoplay in web pages in Keep It’s Files preferences. See the downloads page for a full list of changes.
Availability
Keep It for iPad and iPhone is available from the App Store with a free trial. Prices vary by region, but are based on the US App Store price of $7.99/year or $0.99/month. Your iTunes account will not be billed until the trial period ends, and you can cancel at any time up to 24-hours before the trial ends at no charge.
Keep It for Mac is available directly from Reinvented Software, and can be downloaded as a free trial. A license for Version 1 is $49.99, includes free updates for all 1.x versions. Keep It currently offers a half-price ($24.99) discount for Together 3 users, with free upgrades for anyone who purchased Together 3 on or after February 17, 2017.
Keep It is for writing notes, saving web links and documents, and finding them again. Available on Mac, iPhone and iPad, Keep It is the destination for all those things you want to put somewhere, confident you will find them again later.
Keep It is designed to be effortless and can handle whatever you throw at it — make notes for that idea you need to save, or list you need to make, and save interesting web pages as links or PDFs for offline viewing. Keep It can edit its own notes, along with rich and plain text files, and can store any kind of file. Keep It will show summaries, thumbnails and previews for most file formats. Keep It can use iCloud to make your library available on Mac, iPad and iPhone.
Keep It provides the simplicity of a notebook with the power of an organizer. Nothing in Keep It needs to be filed anywhere — its Recents list shows both things you’ve added lately across all your devices, and things you’ve changed, newest first. Keep It can help you get organized when you need it, with folders, which work as you would expect, and bundles that can be used to collect items into virtual piles where, unlike folders, items can be in more than one bundle at a time. For quick visual recognition, colored labels will grab the eye, and tags and comments can help you find things later.
Keep It can search as you type, with suggestions to help narrow things down, whether by name, kind, date, tags, content and so on. Its innovative tag filter lets you drill down to items with any or all of the selected tags with a tap or click.
Keep It can be where you need it, in more ways that one. In Compact Mode its window will reduce to a single column, ideal for using alongside other apps or in split screen. Keep It provides a share extension for adding text, links, images, and other files to Keep It, and can append text to notes.
Keep It works with the apps you know and love. Too many apps lock your stuff away in databases, and often aren’t great when you need to get that stuff back out again. Keep It for Mac stores the original files in folders that match what you see in the app, and you can open and edit those files in their original apps, search them with Spotlight, back them up with Time Machine, and so on. On iOS, Keep It’s document picker lets you access everything in Keep It and save documents directly to Keep It from within other apps.
Here is a summary of its main features:
Notes
Create notes with built-in styles that look good and read well on all your devices. Notes can contain checklists, bulleted and numbered lists, images, links and other attachments.
Web Links
Save web links to Keep It, view them in the app, open them in your browser, or save them as PDFs for offline reading.
Files
Add other files to Keep It, view them in the app and open them for editing in their original applications. All changes can be saved to iCloud and made available across all your devices.
iCloud Sharing
Add people to items and share them via iCloud. Any changes they make will be automatically shared with all participants.
Info
All items can have tags and comments, along with color-coded labels for quick visual recognition, plus automatically generated thumbnails and summaries where appropriate.
Folders
Folders let you organize items and bundles when needed. Select a folder to see everything it contains.
Bundles
When you need to see things in one place, make a bundle. Items can be in more than one bundle at a time, and when you remove the bundle, everything else stays where it was.
Lists
Use the Recents list to see things you’ve added or viewed lately, with the latest shown at the top. Favorites provide quick access: swipe right to favorite items. Deleted Items shows the most recently removed at the top, and these are permanently deleted after 30 days.
Search
Most file types can be searched as you type. On Mac, suggestions help you narrow things down to exactly what you need. Use keywords and natural language for dates. Searches can be saved for later reuse.
Tags
The Tag Filter shows all the tags attached to the currently visible items, whether. Select tags to filter the list to just the items you want to see.
Compact Mode
In compact mode, Keep It for Mac will become a single column, ideal for using alongside other apps or in split screen.
Adding from Other Apps
Pretty much anything can be dragged to Keep It for Mac, and you can also add text, links, images and other files from a variety of apps with its Share extension. Keep It for iPad and iPhone also provides a Share extension wth identical capabilities, along with a document picker for accessing files in Keep It and saving files to Keep It from within other apps.
Moving to Keep It
Keep It can import files and folders, converting text files to notes if desired, and can also import Together libraries and Evernote ENEX files.
Pricing & Availability
Prices vary by region; on the US App Store, Keep It for iPad and iPhone is $7.99/year, or $0.99/month. All subscriptions include a free trial and are billed to your iTunes Account. You will not be billed until the trial period ends, and you can cancel at any time up to 24-hours before the trial ends at no charge.
Keep It for Mac
Purchase a license for all Keep It for Mac version 1.x for $49.99. When version 2 is released, you will qualify for a half-price discount. A free trial is available from this site. Keep It is the successor to Together, and Together 3 users will be treated as though Keep It is a Together upgrade. Existing Together 3 users can move to Keep It for $24.99, or obtain a free license if Together 3 was purchased on or after February 17, 2017. See the support page for instructions.
Keep It is for writing notes, keeping web links and documents, and finding them again on Mac, iPhone and iPad. Keep It is the destination for all those things you want to put somewhere, confident you will find them again later.
Keep It for Mac is available today as a public beta, which is free to try and use. Keep It for iPad and iPhone will be available as a beta soon — you will need to sign up to take part.
Here are Keep It’s main features:
Notes
Create notes with built-in styles that look good and read well on all your devices. Notes can contain checklists, bulleted and numbered lists, images, links and other attachments.
Web Links
Save web links to Keep It, view them in the app, open them in your browser, or save them as PDFs for offline reading.
Files
Add any kind of file to Keep It, view them in the app and open them for editing in their original applications. With iCloud changes will be available across all your devices.
iCloud Sharing
Add people to items and share them via iCloud. Changes will be seen by all participants.
Items
All items can have tags, comments and colored labels for quick visual recognition. Keep It automatically generates thumbnails and summaries for most common file formats.
Search
When searching, suggestions appear to help narrow results down to exactly what you need, or use keywords and natural language. Searches can be saved for later reuse.
Tag Filter
The Tag Filter shows all the tags attached to currently visible items. Select tags to filter the list to just the items you want to see.
Bundles
Make a bundle to see things in one place. Items can be in more than one bundle at a time, and when you remove the bundle, everything else stays where it was.
Folders
Use folders to organize items and bundles. Keep It lets you see everything a folder and its nested folders and bundles contain.
More Lists
Use the Recents list to see things you’ve added or viewed lately across all your devices, with the latest shown at the top. Favorites provide quick access. Deleted Items shows the most recently deleted at the top, and these are permanently removed after 30 days.
Compact Mode
In Compact Mode, Keep It for Mac becomes a single column that you navigate with single-clicks and swipes, ideal for using alongside other apps or in split screen.
Adding from Other Apps
Pretty much anything can be dragged to Keep It, and you can also add things from a variety of apps with Keep It’s Share extension, the Services menu, its bookmarklet, etc.
Information for Together Users
Keep It is the successor to Together. Many of Together’s fundamental features were established years before iPhone apps, iPad, the Mac App Store, iCloud, etc. Keep It has been developed from scratch, preserving the best of Together, but recast in full knowledge of where we are now, and ready for the years ahead.
Keep It has many new ideas and improvements over Together, including:
Tag Filter can filter combinations of tags in the same straightforward way on both Mac and iOS
Compact Mode for working alongside other apps on Mac
Summaries and thumbnails on both Mac and iOS
iCloud sharing for individual items
Search suggestions on Mac, and saved searches that work consistently across Macs and iOS
Use keywords and natural language when searching on both Mac and iOS
Favorites Bar for quick access to lists on Mac
Hide the sidebar on Mac; it will reappear when you drag to the side of the window
Folders can show all items in nested folders and bundles
Selecting multiple items shows options to add them to a bundle, move to a folder, change the label or add tags
See and search a list of tags in the Info view
Save web links as PDFs on both Mac and iOS
Predefined styles for notes and improved file attachments
Edit notes in tabs or their own windows on Mac
Text for notes and rich text scaled to match the Text Size setting on iOS
Recents list shows added and edited items across all your Macs and iOS devices
Deleted items automatically removed after 30 days
Each list can have its own sort settings
Automatically rename items created from stationery
Share extension can tag items, choose locations, append text to notes and more
Bookmarklet can import a link or the selected text from a web page
About The Beta
This beta is feature complete for Keep It 1.0. This is an opportunity to try out the app, import your data and see if it works for you. Keep It can import Together libraries, Evernote ENEX files, and regular files and folders.
Beta Discount Period
Keep It is free to use during the beta period. When released, Keep It for Mac will be priced the same as Together: $49.99 for new users and $24.99 for upgrades from Together 3.
During the beta period Together 3 users can get Keep It for Mac 1.0 for $19.99 (60% off full price) and new users for $34.99 (30% off). These licenses will work for all Keep It for Mac 1.x versions and have the exact same status as licenses purchased after the beta. Anyone who purchased Together for Mac in the last 6 months qualifies for a free upgrade, both during and after the beta period. See the Keep It for Mac support page for information on obtaining the discounts and importing Together libraries.
Together users can also check out Keep It for Together Users for more information on the differences between the two apps.
Keep It is the product of everything I’ve learned over the last 14 years, and returns the app to its roots, offering the power of an organizer with the simplicity of a notebook. I hope you enjoy using it.