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Best note taking app compatible with iOS

S

sdimas

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 14, 2014
73
1
USA
I just purchased my 15" rMBP and am getting around pretty well, I'm customizing settings and adding apps and everything is going well.
Since I will be going off to college in the fall, I would like to find a good note taking app that I can become familiar with before then. I will also be given either an iPad mini retina, or an iPad air from the college I am attending. I would like an app that will synchronize on the MacBook and iPad. So what do you guys suggest and what are some other cool features of other such apps?
 
sdimas said:
I just purchased my 15" rMBP and am getting around pretty well, I'm customizing settings and adding apps and everything is going well.
Since I will be going off to college in the fall, I would like to find a good note taking app that I can become familiar with before then. I will also be given either an iPad mini retina, or an iPad air from the college I am attending. I would like an app that will synchronize on the MacBook and iPad. So what do you guys suggest and what are some other cool features of other such apps?
Click to expand...

Evernote all the way. It works on the Mac, iOS, Windows, Android, and a web interface etc... And syncs beautifully between them all. I use all the time and love it.
 
I don't know if you like the flashcard approach but Mental Case 2 is a great App for college students who want to take notes in addition to creating flashcards for exam prep. The App is in the App Store @ $19.99 - a bit pricey I know but great for studying. The iPad and iPhone versions are $4.99 each. Synching via iCloud is very smooth.

Also, there's is a 14 day demo period to gage if you like the app.
 
Last edited:
SandboxGeneral said:
Evernote all the way. It works on the Mac, iOS, Windows, Android, and a web interface etc... And syncs beautifully between them all. I use all the time and love it.
Click to expand...

I've been seeing Evernote everywhere and your post finally made me download it, I'm in the process of messing around and getting to know the features.

IGregory said:
I don't know if you like the flashcard approach but Master Case 2 is a great App for college students who want to take notes in addition to creating flashcards for exam prep. The App is in the App Store @ 19.99 - a bit pricey I know but great for studying. The iPad and iPhone versions are $4.99 each. Synching via iCloud is very smooth.

Also, there's is a 14 day demo period to gage if you like the app.
Click to expand...

I like flash cards for studying so I will definitely take advantage of the 14 day trial when the need arises. I'll put it off until I actually need it :p
 
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I've found that Microsoft OneNote is the best note-taking app for school.
Don't get me wrong, I think Evernote is a great app for quick notes on the go, but the workflow and organization of OneNote lends itself much better to being a digital notebook for schoolwork.

Just like Evernote, OneNote is available on all platforms (OS X, iPad, Android, etc).
 
GoingDark said:
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I've found that Microsoft OneNote is the best note-taking app for school.
Don't get me wrong, I think Evernote is a great app for quick notes on the go, but the workflow and organization of OneNote lends itself much better to being a digital notebook for schoolwork.

Just like Evernote, OneNote is available on all platforms (OS X, iPad, Android, etc).
Click to expand...

I have One Note on my PC and I played around with it, and it does seem to have very good organization, but I have yet to actually use it for note taking.

Keep the suggestions coming :D
 
Evernote can prolly be useful for you there.

I personally used google docs in college after I found out about it. I use Evernote mostly as a quick notes achieving tool but I don't see why you couldn't use it for what you want.

I just started using OneNote recently and it seems great but I can't speak much about it yet.
 
Matthew9559 said:
Evernote can prolly be useful for you there.

I personally used google docs in college after I found out about it. I use Evernote mostly as a quick notes achieving tool but I don't see why you couldn't use it for what you want.

I just started using OneNote recently and it seems great but I can't speak much about it yet.
Click to expand...

I've used google docs in high school for notes and switched back to notebook and pencil because I was able to organize my notes better on paper. But having something digital with good organization would be great. So I take it most people are using Evernote?
 
sdimas said:
I've used google docs in high school for notes and switched back to notebook and pencil because I was able to organize my notes better on paper. But having something digital with good organization would be great. So I take it most people are using Evernote?
Click to expand...

You mean with like getting things hard to do in a word processor like drawings added in? I can see the benefit of evernote there for sure. I just used notebooks for those classes.
 
Evernote is good but unless you pay for premium, you have no offline access using the iOS app (the device has to be connected to the internet for you to access your content).
 
I have grown to like OneNote. They need to more aggressively update the Mac and iOS apps, but I suspect some good improvements to come when Office:Mac 2014 is released.

I've been using the Mac/iOS duo for about 3 months and haven't had any problems.
 
Traverse said:
I have grown to like OneNote. They need to more aggressively update the Mac and iOS apps, but I suspect some good improvements to come when Office:Mac 2014 is released.

I've been using the Mac/iOS duo for about 3 months and haven't had any problems.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more. Since OneNote came out I have been using it a lot more over Evernote. Also since Office came out on the Mac I have began using Office a lot more over the iWork apps. I am really looking forward to Office on the Mac finally getting updated and as you said I suspect improvements to come to the iOS and Mac apps.
 
ScottNWDW said:
Couldn't agree more. Since OneNote came out I have been using it a lot more over Evernote. Also since Office came out on the Mac I have began using Office a lot more over the iWork apps. I am really looking forward to Office on the Mac finally getting updated and as you said I suspect improvements to come to the iOS and Mac apps.
Click to expand...

What I like most is the common UI across all the apps. If you already use Office on iPad and Office on Mac the UI is familiar. This was my knock against using Pages iOS for notes, they had so many options behind text menus and if you use a bluetooth keyboard then the quick tools don't show up.

Plus, this is the first real "notebook" type app I've used seriously and I like OneNote's free form format (ie. you don't have to write in a linear fashion). Some people hate Microsoft, but I haven't had a single problem yet so I'll continue to use it.
 
My favorite note-taker is Outline. I use it on my iPad 3 and Mac OS X 10.8. I started with iPad version for my studies. It was extremely convenient to create, say, one notebook for Economics and divide it into several sections that correspond to its branches. For each college subject I had a notebook. Now I do just the same for my work. Backup and sync via Dropbox.

As for tools, great, everything is there! I only miss tables, however, they announced this feature in the next update:
https://www.facebook.com/outlineapp...74588.290368711034835/698482736890095/?type=1
 
LeonC said:
My favorite note-taker is Outline. I use it on my iPad 3 and Mac OS X 10.8. I started with iPad version for my studies. It was extremely convenient to create, say, one notebook for Economics and divide it into several sections that correspond to its branches. For each college subject I had a notebook. Now I do just the same for my work. Backup and sync via Dropbox.

As for tools, great, everything is there! I only miss tables, however, they announced this feature in the next update:
https://www.facebook.com/outlineapp...74588.290368711034835/698482736890095/?type=1
Click to expand...

The 3.0 update should be really good.
 
I've tried Evernote before but didnt really use it much, I've moved into a new field of work and leaning towards Outline or One Note. With Outlines sleek interface its worth a test drive. :cool:
 
My go-to TEXT-only solution:
OSX=nvAlt, iOS=Notesy (storing the notes in DropBox)

alternative RichText solution:
OSX=OneNote, iOS=Outline+ (storing notes in OneDrive)
 
I prefer OneNote. It's available, for free, on pretty much every platform. The Mac app isn't bad, though the Windows version is of course quite a bit better. If you're looking for a program that can replace your notebook, OneNote is the best option out there.

If you'll be using it to collect a bunch of random notes, especially from the web, then Evernote might be a better solution for you. It has an excellent web clipper.
 
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