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eNote Taker - simple and powerful handwriting app (Close-up writing mode added!)
- Thread starter Steven.C
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Hi guys, for those who have used other handwriting apps (such as UPad, Note Taker HD, Notes plus, etc), what do you like or dislike about its auto-advance feature?
I have been thinking about the zoom writing box and the auto-advance feature for very long now, I just want to hear what you guys like/dislike and what you want to see in eNote Taker. Thank you very much!
I have been thinking about the zoom writing box and the auto-advance feature for very long now, I just want to hear what you guys like/dislike and what you want to see in eNote Taker. Thank you very much!
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I think the Notes Plus implementation is great. It superimposes the last thing you wrote on the left hand side of the screen so even if you are in the middle of a writing a joined-up word you can continue it pretty much seamlessly.
There should be no pause at all if possible so as not to interrupt the flow. Just move back to the left and carry on writing! There should also be a manual carriage return button.
Did anyone else notice the rendering on PDFs is also a little slow?
The thing I like the most about this app is the combination of note taking and the annotation of PDFs. Plus the price is really cheap compared to the rest and with future updates this app will only get better
The thing I like the most about this app is the combination of note taking and the annotation of PDFs. Plus the price is really cheap compared to the rest and with future updates this app will only get better
Looks good, but until I can take and insert photos from the iPad 2 camera directly into the app, I'll stick with Note Taker HD.
all i know is Upad and your app..
Upad zoom autoadvance is great..but there is a bit of a lag in the autoadvance, and maybe its there by design (ie to lift your pen and cross a t or dot an I), but sometimes it is frustrating because the lag sometimes makes you think you should write another letter, but then it skips ahead and you end up writing way to the right of your last word.
Ideally - no lag... or have it user adjustable..
I think it would be ncie to have autoadvance on the document itself instead of having the extra pop up zoom box as in upad, but idk..im just speculating
when do you think the auto-advance feature will be ready?
Thanks.
There will be an update with better graphics performance soon.
You are right, there is no way to insert images at the moment.
It is very hard to estimate the time it takes for software development, but it will be done...
I have used all of the above apps and I have to say Notes Plus really nailed the auto advance better than the rest. The idea of using the gray box on the left really makes making notes on the ipad feel authentic and speedy. I don't really know a good way to describe this functionality but if you have used either NP or NT HD, you'll know what I'm talking about. The reason I prefer NP over NT HD is because NP auto advances to a new line when you get to the end of the line. HT HD does not. I'm perfectly happy with the NP's auto advance system personally but if you could take a step further and improve on that I think would be pretty sweet. UPad's system is fine but I don't like the wait time that it takes to recognize the writing on the right gray area and then advance. It's slow and it also frequently jumps over twice unnecessarily, which forces you to manually reposition the writing area every time.
Now, more observations:
When I looked at a PDF file with a long file name in portrait mode I noticed the file name overlapped the "my notebooks" button. This should probably be fixed as it almost hides the button. The landscape mode had enough space to display the file name but you should probably limit the number of characters on the title bar in landscape mode as well just in case.
This, I forgot to mention last time. When in edit mode, either it's PDF or regular note, I noticed that you can almost bounce off the entire page to the outside the frame, in other words, I can throw the page with my two fingers to the outside the display frame. This really doesn't make sense to me why I'm allowed to do that. It makes sense to allow the page to overflow in all directions when in zoomed mode but I feel like the page shouldn't overflow almost entirely when you're zoomed out all the way.
Sorry for my English. I'm literally writing this in my bed with my eyes half closed so my brain isn't fully functioning.
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Just a plea to developers....don't forget 25% of the population is left handed...you should have a toggle for some features that move stuff to the other side of the screen.
I have used all of the above apps and I have to say Notes Plus really nailed the auto advance better than the rest. The idea of using the gray box on the left really makes making notes on the ipad feel authentic and speedy. I don't really know a good way to describe this functionality but if you have used either NP or NT HD, you'll know what I'm talking about. The reason I prefer NP over NT HD is because NP auto advances to a new line when you get to the end of the line. HT HD does not. I'm perfectly happy with the NP's auto advance system personally but if you could take a step further and improve on that I think would be pretty sweet. UPad's system is fine but I don't like the wait time that it takes to recognize the writing on the right gray area and then advance. It's slow and it also frequently jumps over twice unnecessarily, which forces you to manually reposition the writing area every time.
Now, more observations:
When I looked at a PDF file with a long file name in portrait mode I noticed the file name overlapped the "my notebooks" button. This should probably be fixed as it almost hides the button. The landscape mode had enough space to display the file name but you should probably limit the number of characters on the title bar in landscape mode as well just in case.
This, I forgot to mention last time. When in edit mode, either it's PDF or regular note, I noticed that you can almost bounce off the entire page to the outside the frame, in other words, I can throw the page with my two fingers to the outside the display frame. This really doesn't make sense to me why I'm allowed to do that. It makes sense to allow the page to overflow in all directions when in zoomed mode but I feel like the page shouldn't overflow almost entirely when you're zoomed out all the way.
Sorry for my English. I'm literally writing this in my bed with my eyes half closed so my brain isn't fully functioning.
Thanks, very good information here. I also noticed the title overlap problem today, will fix it soon. I have also removed the ability to move the page around in edit mode, will be available in the next version.
Thanks, I will keep that in mind.
Mad Mac Maniac
macrumors 601
He's still determining what exactly he wants it to do and how it will work. Then comes the coding part. I have a feeling it will be a bit. It was just released about a week ago or so. I guess it will depend how much dedicated time he has for this endevor. Steven, do you have a full time job with this on the side? or are you a full time developer?
I will work on the auto advance and return feature a few days later, working on Dropbox integration and many other small improvements at the moment.
Currently, I would say I am a near full time developer, working on eNote Taker most of the time and studying mathematics on the side.
Mad Mac Maniac
macrumors 601
hmmm... So you are saying you don't have access to view, edit, or import from dropbox. Well I guess the dev assumes you can use the dropbox app and "open in" enote taker.
But I see many many duplicates occuring. Every time you export to or from each other it will create a new copy, am I right? (I haven't had a chance to use the update yet, I am merely speculating)
Not sure what you mean? I can save a note in Dropbox, amend the original and overwrite the file in Dropbox. If you want to bring the file back into eNote Taker, you have to go to Dropbox first and open it from there.
You don't get duplicate files in Dropbox but you do get duplicate filenames in eNote Taker.
Dropbox integration works as follows:
The process requires deleting old copies on eNote Taker for each subsequent import (export will prompt "do you want to replace it" dialog box).
- On eNote Taker, hold the notebook for few seconds to bring export menu.
- Select Send Notebook to Dropbox.
- To edit, open a Dropbox app then go to eNote Taker folder.
- Select the notebook file then box arrow icon to "Open in eNote Taker".
- eNote Taker will import the notebook, creating a duplicate entry.
The process requires deleting old copies on eNote Taker for each subsequent import (export will prompt "do you want to replace it" dialog box).
Just tried it. Wow...beautifully done. Bravo, one of the best note apps in the AppStore. The only thing that's missing is in app dropbox sync to make it perfect.
Really great job. Blows the other note apps out of the water
Edit: only improvement I would make...probably should be an easy one..,is: currently when you tap two fingers the close up box appears with the center around your second finger. Ideal would be if it appeared with the center arund the first finger. That way you don't have to keep moving the box manually every time you two-finger-tap in order to align it with where you want to write.