PazByPazBy vs Google Keep location reminders
Honest side-by-side. What Keep used to give you, what it stopped giving you in the Tasks migration, and what PazBy does instead.
Quick context
Google Keep used to let you pin a location to a note and get a reminder when you were near that spot. When Google migrated Keep's reminder system into Google Tasks, location reminders weren't carried across — Tasks only supports time-based reminders. Existing Keep location reminders stopped firing, new ones can't be created, and Google's official suggestion is to use Maps' "Saved places" list as a passive workaround.
PazBy is a dedicated Android app that does the shoulder-tap-when-nearby thing Keep stopped doing, plus a handful of things Keep never did. One-time $2.99 USD. Below is the feature-by-feature breakdown.
Side-by-side
| Feature | Google Keep location reminders | PazBy |
|---|---|---|
| Status today | Removed in the Tasks migrationExisting reminders stopped firing; new ones can't be created. | Actively developedLive in Play Store, regular updates. |
| Price | Was freeBundled with Google account. | $2.99 USD, one-timeNo subscription, no ads, no in-app purchases. |
| Account required | Google accountNotes stored in Google cloud. | NoneInstall and go. Saved places live locally on your phone. |
| Location-based reminder | No longer works | YesConfigurable radius from 25m to 25km per place. |
| Per-place reminder text | YesThe note body itself was the reminder. | YesFree-text field, up to 500 chars. |
| Voice announcement on arrival | No | YesReads the place name + reminder text aloud. Audio-focus ducks music + podcasts. |
| Approach alert (driving) | No | Yes, opt-in per placeHeads-up a couple of minutes out so you can plan a turn. |
| One-shot zones | No | YesAuto-delete a place after first arrival — handy for "once and done" errands. |
| Available on Date/Time | No | YesHide a place outside its window — Wednesday-only deal, Saturday market, Happy Hour spot. |
| Travel Mode | No | YesOne toggle hides home-country pins while you're traveling, shows only places you saved in the country you're visiting. |
| Multi-stop trip planning view | No | YesNumbered "Nearest first" badges on the Places list match the same numbers on the map markers — eyeball clusters and stitch them into a route. |
| Daily digest | No | YesQuiet once-a-day summary of arrivals: "5 arrivals at 3 places — Home (×3), Canadian Tire, Tim Hortons." |
| Home-screen widget | No location-aware widget | YesGlance-based widget showing radar status + last event. |
| Quiet hours | No | YesGlobal time window when alerts stay silent. |
| Battery management | N/A — passive feature | Smart radar gearboxSleeps GPS at home, wakes on movement. Typical day = 1–3% battery. |
| Works offline | Note storage needed network sync | Radar runs entirely on-deviceMap tiles need network; alerts don't. |
| Encrypted local storage | Google cloud-hosted | SQLCipher-encrypted on-deviceKey wrapped by Android Keystore, device-bound. |
| Cloud backup | Implicit via Google account | Optional, encryptedYour own Google Drive AppData folder. AES-GCM encrypted with your passphrase. We can't read it. |
| Analytics / tracking | Google account telemetry | NoneNo Analytics, Mixpanel, Facebook SDK, advertising ID. Crash reports only on release builds. |
| Share a place with someone | Share the whole noteRecipient saw the note, not a place to add. | App Link shareRecipient with PazBy opens the save dialog with everything pre-filled. Recipient without PazBy sees a web preview + install link. |
| Platform | Android + iOS + webUntil the location-reminder removal. | Android only |
What Keep was better at
Honest is honest. Keep had things PazBy doesn't:
- iOS + web clients. PazBy is Android only. iPhone users have Apple Reminders' built-in location feature, which is fine — but if you cross-platform, Keep was one app for both.
- Free. Keep cost nothing because it was a Google product subsidised by everything else Google does with your data. PazBy is $2.99 because there's no other revenue model.
- Cross-device sync without setup. Keep notes synced because they lived on Google's servers. PazBy sync requires the optional encrypted Drive backup + a manual restore on the second device.
- Bundled with notes. If you also wanted plain text notes alongside your location pins, Keep did both. PazBy is dedicated to the location-reminder use case.
If those are the things you actually relied on, the productivity-suite tiers (Todoist Pro, TickTick Premium, Any.do Premium) match Keep on cross-platform sync — at $36–80/year. PazBy makes sense if you want exactly the location-reminder feature, on Android, without paying a subscription.
Try PazBy. $2.99 once.
If it doesn't replace what Keep gave you, you're out three dollars. If it does, you stop hunting for replacements.