I've just checked out hand writing to text conversion for 7NotesHD, Notes Plus and WritePad, my thoughts and some screenshots are here:
http://macademise.wordpress.com/201...-the-ipad-ii-hand-writing-to-text-conversion/
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Best iPad Note Taking app !!
- Thread starter fhd4
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I've just checked out hand writing to text conversion for 7NotesHD, Notes Plus and WritePad, my thoughts and some screenshots are here:
http://macademise.wordpress.com/201...-the-ipad-ii-hand-writing-to-text-conversion/
Wow. I am absolutely blown away by Notes Plus. I had tried it before, but got pretty impatient when I saw that weird bar on the side of the screen and their folders UI (I prefer a bookshelf layout like Noteshelf or Goodnotes).
But I finally got fed up with Noteshelf and Goodnotes, and went on the hunt. This time I was looking for an app that converts handwriting to text on a semi-accurate level. I write pages and pages of notes on a weekly basis, and would like for my notes to be searchable. With my crappy handwriting, that's not going to happen unless I can convert it to text.
I tried 7Notes HD Premium, which was a waste of money. I also tried WritePad, which wasn't good either.
I went back to Notes Plus because I read that they have an add-on you can purchase that will convert handwriting. I was a little hesitant to try it again, but I took the plunge. Thankfully I had already paid for it, so all I had to do was purchase the $2 add-on. And wow, does it work!
My handwriting, honestly, is terrible:
![photo1_zps6f8873af.png]()
The conversion (without any correction by me):
![photo2_zps38cc56b9.png]()
This feature alone is worth the $10 total you'll have to pay, but the handwriting realism and ink engine are superb as well, about as good as you'll get with Noteshelf. You'll probably notice that the text isn't exactly on the line in the paper, but that's easily fixed by a two-finger tap on the text and moving it to wherever you want; it will settle in nicely.
And no, I don't work for them or even know the guy. I'm just happy to finally have found a note-taking app that gets the job done.
But I finally got fed up with Noteshelf and Goodnotes, and went on the hunt. This time I was looking for an app that converts handwriting to text on a semi-accurate level. I write pages and pages of notes on a weekly basis, and would like for my notes to be searchable. With my crappy handwriting, that's not going to happen unless I can convert it to text.
I tried 7Notes HD Premium, which was a waste of money. I also tried WritePad, which wasn't good either.
I went back to Notes Plus because I read that they have an add-on you can purchase that will convert handwriting. I was a little hesitant to try it again, but I took the plunge. Thankfully I had already paid for it, so all I had to do was purchase the $2 add-on. And wow, does it work!
My handwriting, honestly, is terrible:
The conversion (without any correction by me):
This feature alone is worth the $10 total you'll have to pay, but the handwriting realism and ink engine are superb as well, about as good as you'll get with Noteshelf. You'll probably notice that the text isn't exactly on the line in the paper, but that's easily fixed by a two-finger tap on the text and moving it to wherever you want; it will settle in nicely.
And no, I don't work for them or even know the guy. I'm just happy to finally have found a note-taking app that gets the job done.
I like Evernote but it isn't worth the premium subscription.
However the cost of iA Writer is excellent. I believe I paid £0.69 for the iPhone/iPad app and £2.99 for the Mac app. It works perfectly with iCloud and the simple interface certainly invokes the notetaker in me!
At the minute, I use iA Writer for general note taking and Day One for everything else. If Evernote introduced an offline application which didn't involve a subscription and integrated iCloud, they'd win me over. Until then, I'm happy with this combination.
However the cost of iA Writer is excellent. I believe I paid £0.69 for the iPhone/iPad app and £2.99 for the Mac app. It works perfectly with iCloud and the simple interface certainly invokes the notetaker in me!
At the minute, I use iA Writer for general note taking and Day One for everything else. If Evernote introduced an offline application which didn't involve a subscription and integrated iCloud, they'd win me over. Until then, I'm happy with this combination.
I'm indeed impressed by this conversion. So what will be your next step? Continue to use the existing notebooks with Noteshelf, and start up every new notebook with Notes Plus? AFAIK there's no real way to exchange data from one into another.
As for me personally, I still can't stand a second of Notes Plus interface.
That's the sticky issue. I'm thinking that I'll probably just upload my Noteshelf notebooks and maybe even my Notes Plus notebooks in PDF format, and download them to this other app I'm using called pdf-notes for iPad. It's got a so-so UI, kind of like iBooks, and it's searchable by titles, author and, better yet, tags. It has super fast pdf rendering. The only bad thing is that I have to clear the cache occasionally because 300mb of pdf's will take up like 2GB of space in Settings/Usage, because it likes to open your pdf's 100% the first time, and keep the cache so that it renders fast every time you go back to it.
And yes, I agree on the Notes Plus interface. It's hideous, but the handwriting engine and conversion make up for it, in my opinion.
I just published an article about my experiences with Notability vs Goodnotes. Might be of interest to fellow note takers, perhaps teachers in particular:
http://www.pocketables.com/2013/02/...-to-replacing-goodnotes-for-me-but-didnt.html
http://www.pocketables.com/2013/02/...-to-replacing-goodnotes-for-me-but-didnt.html
Note Anytime for iPad is the best - hands down
There is only one Note taker that has all the abilities you are looking for and that is Note Anytime. It is a free app, but it seems they should be charging a lot for it.
I think it is a Japanese developer, but I have to say that it totally rocks. I can do PDF annotation, web page markup, all of my note taking etc - but the thing that blows me away is the vector graphics that allow me to create mindmaps of photos, typed text, high res graphics and all of my hand drawn sketches i an infinite amount of whitespace.
Other note takers make me feel constrained to small little spaces. Since it is a free note taker and it works on my iPad as well as my Windows 8 tablet, I love it. Also, support for my Android phone seems to be coming next month... at least check it out
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There are a lot of note takers on the voting list, but it seems really odd to me that you didn't include Note Anytime. I have been using it for a couple months and I think it is by far the most feature rich free app I have ever found.
If you want perfect curve correction for bad handwriting, exotic calligraphy pens, PDF annotation ability and social sharing functions - how can you find everything you need in a free app?
Free usually means crappy app - but Note Anytime has the sophistication of a $20 app. I don't know how they make their money - but it looks like their is an in-app store to buy extra stuff. I have been telling everyone I know to download it while it is still free...
There is only one Note taker that has all the abilities you are looking for and that is Note Anytime. It is a free app, but it seems they should be charging a lot for it.
I think it is a Japanese developer, but I have to say that it totally rocks. I can do PDF annotation, web page markup, all of my note taking etc - but the thing that blows me away is the vector graphics that allow me to create mindmaps of photos, typed text, high res graphics and all of my hand drawn sketches i an infinite amount of whitespace.
Other note takers make me feel constrained to small little spaces. Since it is a free note taker and it works on my iPad as well as my Windows 8 tablet, I love it. Also, support for my Android phone seems to be coming next month... at least check it out
----------
There are a lot of note takers on the voting list, but it seems really odd to me that you didn't include Note Anytime. I have been using it for a couple months and I think it is by far the most feature rich free app I have ever found.
If you want perfect curve correction for bad handwriting, exotic calligraphy pens, PDF annotation ability and social sharing functions - how can you find everything you need in a free app?
Free usually means crappy app - but Note Anytime has the sophistication of a $20 app. I don't know how they make their money - but it looks like their is an in-app store to buy extra stuff. I have been telling everyone I know to download it while it is still free...
Are you the developer or affiliated with the app?
The customization of the ink is great, but the UI is the most disgusting I have ever seen; the folders UI is awful, the zoom advance feature is slow even when you adjust it to the fastest speed, and it's not exactly free. With all the add-ons you have to pay for just to get it comparable to GoodNotes or NoteShelf, you're looking at spending much more than those two do.
So. . . . .
Totally NOT a developer or employed by Note Anytime but I must say that this really is the BEST note app for me! It really does do all the cool things that the previous post talks about. While there is a little bit of a learning curve, if you're anything like me and you've tried multiple note taking apps, it's not a big deal. And after spending a few days with the app I have yet to buy any add ons. Note Anytime is amazing and free!!!
Weird that both you and Bridgemakers registered this month, but I'm sure there's nothing to that.
But seriously, I just don't get it. It's so clunky.... Have you tried annotating pdf's? They take forever to render.
Oh well. To each his or her own.
Nice commercials there for Note Anytime!
A little more subtle next time, maybe?
No kidding. Have you actually tried it? I could believe "It's not quite there yet, but it's sure on its way!".
But "It's the best I've ever used"?
Eek!
Notable
Call me biased, but I created Notable for iPad and designed it as a product I use myself in University. Here's a link to the App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/notable/id621960785?mt=8
It has two methods of storing notes, one, a timetable of dates which can be shared across one appointment. So for example, say I had two of the same lecture in one week, no matter which date I select, all of the relevant notes are there.
The second is a bookshelf of notebooks. These notebooks are beautiful in my opinion (if I do say so myself).
It's easy to use and I've just made it free to use too!
There's also an update coming soon which includes full iPhone and iCloud support
I always love hearing feedback so please don't worry about sending me some!
![mzl.ggqlzsyq.480x480-75.jpg]()
![mzl.ivxytaez.480x480-75.jpg]()
Call me biased, but I created Notable for iPad and designed it as a product I use myself in University. Here's a link to the App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/notable/id621960785?mt=8
It has two methods of storing notes, one, a timetable of dates which can be shared across one appointment. So for example, say I had two of the same lecture in one week, no matter which date I select, all of the relevant notes are there.
The second is a bookshelf of notebooks. These notebooks are beautiful in my opinion (if I do say so myself).
It's easy to use and I've just made it free to use too!
There's also an update coming soon which includes full iPhone and iCloud support
I always love hearing feedback so please don't worry about sending me some!
Last edited:
Indeed, that looks lovely; I've downloaded it, will play with it later. One question for now: what formats does it open? Can I "open in Notable" RTF or Doc files? Images, PDFs?
As to some of the other applications listed so far.. I've tried most (been using iPod Touch since the first one and note taking has been my main use) and currently bounce among several.
I love AwesomeNote, esp for its Evernote & gDocs integration (though I wish it hadn't grown so much.. it's moving away from clean and simple in an attempt to DO EVERYTHING).
I love Notebooks, clean and easy to use with great Open From... integration. And it's really stayed focused on being a Notebook.
I use Byte2's Office suite, I find it does basic .doc editing Just Fine.
Textastic is my code ground of choice.
I have Circus Ponies' Notebook on both Mac and iPad but just can't embrace it.. feels like there's too many steps 'tween me and writing. I use Evernote for its insane cross-platformness, I toss content into gDocs whereever I am and then import it from each into AwesomeNote. I paste long text (or open text files from within Dropbox) into Notebooks.
And, with bluetooth external keyboard, you have that much more screen space free for reading/writing.
I'll look into Notable -- it's a pretty interface -- but it's got some serious company.
I've used countless others, these are the ones I keep coming back to.
As to some of the other applications listed so far.. I've tried most (been using iPod Touch since the first one and note taking has been my main use) and currently bounce among several.
I love AwesomeNote, esp for its Evernote & gDocs integration (though I wish it hadn't grown so much.. it's moving away from clean and simple in an attempt to DO EVERYTHING).
I love Notebooks, clean and easy to use with great Open From... integration. And it's really stayed focused on being a Notebook.
I use Byte2's Office suite, I find it does basic .doc editing Just Fine.
Textastic is my code ground of choice.
I have Circus Ponies' Notebook on both Mac and iPad but just can't embrace it.. feels like there's too many steps 'tween me and writing. I use Evernote for its insane cross-platformness, I toss content into gDocs whereever I am and then import it from each into AwesomeNote. I paste long text (or open text files from within Dropbox) into Notebooks.
And, with bluetooth external keyboard, you have that much more screen space free for reading/writing.
I'll look into Notable -- it's a pretty interface -- but it's got some serious company.
I've used countless others, these are the ones I keep coming back to.
No, it only manages its own type of document at the moment - but apart from branching out to different devices like the iPhone (including iCloud) I'm looking at some important features in terms of importing and other features.
What is the handwriting conversion add-on you refer to below...
I went back to Notes Plus because I read that they have an add-on you can purchase that will convert handwriting. I was a little hesitant to try it again, but I took the plunge. Thankfully I had already paid for it, so all I had to do was purchase the $2 add-on. And wow, does it work!
My handwriting, honestly, is terrible:
Image
The conversion (without any correction by me):
Image
This feature alone is worth the $10 total you'll have to pay, but the handwriting realism and ink engine are superb as well, about as good as you'll get with Noteshelf. You'll probably notice that the text isn't exactly on the line in the paper, but that's easily fixed by a two-finger tap on the text and moving it to wherever you want; it will settle in nicely.
And no, I don't work for them or even know the guy. I'm just happy to finally have found a note-taking app that gets the job done.[/QUOTE]
I went back to Notes Plus because I read that they have an add-on you can purchase that will convert handwriting. I was a little hesitant to try it again, but I took the plunge. Thankfully I had already paid for it, so all I had to do was purchase the $2 add-on. And wow, does it work!
My handwriting, honestly, is terrible:
Image
The conversion (without any correction by me):
Image
This feature alone is worth the $10 total you'll have to pay, but the handwriting realism and ink engine are superb as well, about as good as you'll get with Noteshelf. You'll probably notice that the text isn't exactly on the line in the paper, but that's easily fixed by a two-finger tap on the text and moving it to wherever you want; it will settle in nicely.
And no, I don't work for them or even know the guy. I'm just happy to finally have found a note-taking app that gets the job done.[/QUOTE]
Notes Plus has an add-on available, as an in-app purchase that enables handwriting recognition so it can be converted to text.
This is taken from their FAQ: Tap Tools (top-left wrench icon) > Purchase handwriting recognition. Tap on Purchase to confirm your purchase and follow the process. Make sure to enter your username/password that you used to purchase Notes Plus originally. Wait a while for the transaction to complete.
My vote for best note taking in iPad
Hi guys!
Your apps selection are insteresting, but personnaly, i use an other app for taking notes on my iPad, it's called Beesy. I discovered Beesy thanks to Evernote Blog few weeks ago now. If you are looking for an app for taking notes, import and annotate documents, and host all your data with Evernote or DropBox i advice you this one.
Hi guys!
Your apps selection are insteresting, but personnaly, i use an other app for taking notes on my iPad, it's called Beesy. I discovered Beesy thanks to Evernote Blog few weeks ago now. If you are looking for an app for taking notes, import and annotate documents, and host all your data with Evernote or DropBox i advice you this one.
Wow ... Things have changed with this thread. It used to be understood that this was a thread about handwriting apps only .... Perhaps it should have been named it handwriting apps. I can see how easy it is to include other apps given the current name.
Goodnotes is the best I've come across. UPad is a close second and DocAS is a distant 3rd. Notes Plus is WAY overrated.
Of course, this is just my opinion.
Of course, this is just my opinion.
My advice
Hi Gossip, I recommended a little higher to take a look at the app Beesy, you can access all your notes thanks to the synchronization with Evernote and Dropbox.
I hope my answer will be helpful.
What can you advice for noting and keeping these notes in the Cloud? Evernote? GoogleDrive? I need to have access to my notes from any device connected to the Internet.
Thanks
Hi Gossip, I recommended a little higher to take a look at the app Beesy, you can access all your notes thanks to the synchronization with Evernote and Dropbox.
I hope my answer will be helpful.