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Notability's New Mac Catalyst App Adds Shape Detection, Apple Pencil Support for Sidecar, and More

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The developers behind the popular note-taking app Notability today announced a brand-new version of Notability for macOS, based on Apple's Mac Catalyst technology.

Notability-Feature.jpg

The latest version will bring popular features from Notability on the iPad to the Mac. Now, Notability on macOS supports shape detection, paper backgrounds, Apple Pencil for iPad when using Sidecar, and more. Marc Provost, the apps team director, calls the update "especially useful for students who take notes on iPad and also use a Mac for studying."
Mac Catalyst enables us to maintain feature parity across Apple devices, something we've wanted to offer for a long time. This can be especially useful for students who take notes on iPad and also use a Mac for studying. They can easily pick up where they left off with the same functionality and experience.
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Existing customers of Notability for iPhone and Pad can download the new Mac version of the app for free from the Mac App Store. New customers can purchase the new app for a discounted price of $3.99, compared to its regular $8.99 price tag.

Article Link: Notability's New Mac Catalyst App Adds Shape Detection, Apple Pencil Support for Sidecar, and More
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/03/11/notability-catalyst-macos-update/
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I have the Notability app on my iPad and the "old" "non-catalyst" version on my Mac. Weirdly enough, the "new" catalyst version is still priced at 5.49$ CAD even if I bought the app with the same Apple ID back then. Maybe they didn't update their pricing yet?
 
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ChrisFa said:
I have the Notability app on my iPad and the "old" "non-catalyst" version on my Mac. Weirdly enough, the "new" catalyst version is still priced at 5.49$ CAD even if I bought the app with the same Apple ID back then. Maybe they didn't update their pricing yet?
Click to expand...
Same, I presume the CDN hasn't updated yet.
 
As an existing Notability customer, I cannot figure out how to download the Mac (Big Sur) version for free. I'm logged into the Mac App Store (US) correctly, but am prompted to purchase the Mac version of Notability. I've browsed Ginger Labs' website (including support section for the Mac), but cannot find any indication that the Mac app is free for existing customers.
 
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I've bought the iOS and (previous) macOS version of Notability, but the new version wants €4,49 in the Mac App Store.

No problem though, great app!

Also weird: why isn't the the previous non-catalyst Mac app mentioned in the articles about this catalyst version? They're selling it as if it's the first time Notability is made for the Mac.
 
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MacRumors said:
Existing customers of Notability for iPhone and Pad can download the new Mac version of the app for free from the Mac App Store. New customers can purchase the new app for a discounted price of $3.99, compared to its regular $8.99 price tag.
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I have Notability on my iPad an iMac, but also see the discount price instead of a free upgrade.
 
Same with me - only see the discount, despite having bought the MacOS and the iOS version.
Could try to buy and see whether I will be charged - but that might not be clever ...
 
Same for me over here in the UK, £3.99 listed but I have the old macOS version, and iOS versions for iPhone and iPad. However, I decided to buy it anyway, clicked the Buy button and then it said something like This Update is Free, Click OK to download and I did that, so it was free in the end.
 
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drntgogol said:
Same for me over here in the UK, £3.99 listed but I have the old macOS version, and iOS versions for iPhone and iPad. However, I decided to buy it anyway, clicked the Buy button and then it said something like This Update is Free, Click OK to download and I did that, so it was free in the end.
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Also in the UK, it gave me a cloud download symbol and came for free, had previously purchased both versions, weird that it isn't working that way for everyone!
 
I get the message that I will be charged immediately if I click on the purchase button, in spite of having the iPad/iPhone versions of the app.
 
ChrisFa said:
I have the Notability app on my iPad and the "old" "non-catalyst" version on my Mac. Weirdly enough, the "new" catalyst version is still priced at 5.49$ CAD even if I bought the app with the same Apple ID back then. Maybe they didn't update their pricing yet?
Click to expand...
Just click on Buy and after confirming the App Store will tell you that you are entitled to a free upgrade as you already own the previous version and you won't be charged.
 
Catalyst applications look terrible on Mac, they are constrained, the user experience is much worse compared to original desktop applications - they are just ugly, similar as Universal Windows Platform (UWP) applications for Microsoft Windows.
 
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MacMediaNet said:
Catalyst applications look terrible on Mac, they are constrained, the user experience is much worse compared to original desktop applications - they are just ugly, similar as Universal Windows Platform (UWP) applications for Microsoft Windows.
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So, it seems you can upgrade for free. But is the catalyst version better, or in reality worse?
 
chrfr said:
The old Mac app was very far behind the features available to the iPad. The new version will be significantly improved.
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Now I downloaded myself. It is free to upgrade. And it is indeed much better. Notability has always been an iPad app first, and the previous Mac version was just a poor copy.
 
MacMediaNet said:
Catalyst applications look terrible on Mac, they are constrained, the user experience is much worse compared to original desktop applications - they are just ugly, similar as Universal Windows Platform (UWP) applications for Microsoft Windows.
Click to expand...
Actually on macOS 11 Catalyst has got a "Optimized for Mac" mode that will make it use the native macOS UI items, but it's up to the developers to make an app that doesn't suck.
 
ahostmadsen said:
So, it seems you can upgrade for free. But is the catalyst version better, or in reality worse?
Click to expand...

Depends on what you want to do with it, I think. I really only use the Mac version to quickly upload documents to my iPad, and for that the Catalyst version is better.
 
I search for Notability on the App Store - I can't find it but I don't have Silicon Mac (I have intel).

Below is what it looks like when I click on the app I already have installed in the App Store :p.

1615481359024.png



<shrug> Anyway. I love Notability - great great app. I've used it for many years. Nice to see development!
 
WOW it's UPDATED. And I'm running it on an Intel Mac :D Wooo hoo. Go Notability! Looks like the Mac OS version finally has all the features the iPad OS / iOS version does!
 
Here is the issue: the new version uses huge amount of CPU! It causes the fans to come on, and it's the greatest energy hog on my Mac! Right now it's using much more energy than Safari.
 
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