In the past years I have used quite a few note taking apps. I always type my notes, though I used Noteshelf with handwriting the past year. I went back to typing because for me it's faster and I can search (I know there are apps with handwriting recognition where you can search, but my handwriting is too bad for that
)
My favorite app for typed notes was Notability. But I also tried Drafts and I liked its simplicity, speed and the ability to take a note immediately. That made me look at the standard Apple Notes app.
While Apple Notes was only so-so in the past, it has made great improvements which I wasn't aware of. It now strikes (for me) the right balance between simplicity/speed and functionality.
Apple notes
- great for typed notes
- good text formatting options (but not as good as Notability on iOS)
- very good sharing functionality
- good integration with iOS share sheets
- Good and fast search function, I think it is a bit faster than Notability
- Search on attachments, very handy when searching for sketches or photographed whiteboards
- iPhone, iPad and iMac versions
- Sync works reliable and fast. I know sync wasn't that good a few versions ago, but this has been greatly improved
Apple notes minuses
- no palm protection for non-Apple styluses, makes writing/drawing a bit awkward
- iMac version does not show the number of notes in a map (iOS version does however)
Notability
- great for typed notes
- great text formatting options
- meanwhile seems good for handwritten notes. I always found handwritten notes only so-so in Notability, but this has greatly improved
- Had good sharing functionality from the start
- Has two levels of maps to store notes
- iPhone, iPad and iMac versions
- Good search function
- Sync works reliable, sometimes a bit slow though
- iMac version has zoom function (like iOS version)
minuses
- cannot resize the maps column on iMac (this would make the map names more readable)
- requires a bit more taps for some functions
Daily notes + tasks
- quick note entry
- very easy to use
- good for typed notes
- easy search function
- tags
minuses
- text formatting options so-so (only recently added bullets and numbering and bold/underline/italic only added in 2014)
- not many sharing options
- I always feel Fluid Touch is lagging behind when it comes to implementing new iOS functions
- only one level of maps for storing notes (but it has tags in addition)
- no iMac version
Noteshelf
- for me the best app for handwriting (Goodnotes close second)
- handwriting is very fluid and looks good
- Good pen options
minuses
- no iPhone or iMac versions
- not many sharing options
- I always feel Fluid Touch is lagging behind when it comes to implementing new iOS functions
- no search function for handwritten notes
Drafts
I tried Drafts for a short time. While it is a good app, it didn't fit my needs.
- Simplicity, very easy to use
- Speed
- ability to take a note immediately
- the best sharing options
- markdown support
Minuses
- Markdown support, but I prefer 'standard' format options
- full text only, so no adding of attachments etc..
- no iMac version
