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iPad Pro Pencil input - what note taking app to use

zhenya said:
Overall I don't know that there is enough here to get me to move from Goodnotes - the interfaces and capabilities are extremely similar - which is a good thing - they are both simple and intuitive. Too many apps get caught up in adding features every update that add bugs, clutter, and complication.

I prefer Goodnotes to Notability for most things except note organization. It's so nice to hop into Notability and just add a note and start writing. You can treat each note separately or keep one running notebook. Very flexible and very quick to navigate. I wish Goodnotes would let you pin open the categories list...

A quick plug for OneNote. It is really nice, just before a meeting, to send the meeting / email from my Desktop Outlook into OneNote to create the page with the email or the list of attendees, then start taking all of your notes below that. That's really handy...
Click to expand...
 
zhenya said:
I have been using Goodnotes and OneNote for years, with Goodnotes being my preference for handwriting quality. Last night I finally got curious enough to buy Notability as well because it gets consistently good praise. I must have gotten in just before the update was pushed to the store because I was not super impressed with the inking with the Pencil - it was good but too much lag. This morning I woke up and there was an update noting improved Pencil support. And as noted here already - this is a big improvement. Lag is entirely gone now and Notability is now on par with or possibly even slightly better than Goodnotes in terms of inking speed and quality. My only grumble is that I don't like the spacing options for the paper templates - one is too small the other too big. Goodnotes (and OneNote) have an option that splits the difference and is perfect.

Overall I don't know that there is enough here to get me to move from Goodnotes - the interfaces and capabilities are extremely similar - which is a good thing - they are both simple and intuitive. Too many apps get caught up in adding features every update that add bugs, clutter, and complication.



If you like Notability but want the writing to text, try Goodnotes. Very similar apps, but Goodnotes adds the writing conversion, and it sounds like it works pretty much as described in Notes Plus.
Click to expand...
Does Goodnotes have synced-to-notes audio recording like Notability?
 
judahde said:
Today was a good day for note taking. Plenty of meetings and only brought the IPP with pencil. Any docs I needed to retain I photographed into OneNote.

Later I did heavy typing with the desktop in OneNote. Went to the Bank and pulled up a note on the iPhone.

The system is working well. Well, almost. Lost the cap for the Pencil . Had toe retrace my steps and finally found it under a conference room table.
Click to expand...

http://www.amazon.com/PencilCozy-Ap...&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Other then OneNote do any note taking apps for iPad work in a web interface as well?
I would like to view my notes on a computer as well when at work without my ipad.
 
MullerC said:
Other then OneNote do any note taking apps for iPad work in a web interface as well?
I would like to view my notes on a computer as well when at work without my ipad.
Click to expand...

Penultimate is designed to work with Evernote. Goodnotes and Notability can be set up to automatically export notes in PDF format to cloud drives like Dropbox where you can view notes but not interact with them. Notability and the Apple Notes apps have Mac apps as well.
 
I may have a dozen or more different apps, prior to apple pencil I was always looking for a good combination of app and stylus. But since getting my iPP and Apple Pencil I have almost exclusively used Notability and OneNote. Both good for different reasons, notability is very basic with enough features to make it great but not too much to bog it down or make it hard to use. If you plan on printing out your notes later, Notability does a better job here and is probably the main reason when I use it over OneNote
 
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In addition to the various notes apps, I'm also looking at an app called MyScript Stylus.

http://www.myscript.com/stylus/

It's not a note-taking app per se, but rather a handwriting recognition keyboard that works in basically any app where you can type. It recognizes your handwriting and converts it to text as you write. It's very similar to the old PalmPilot stylus input system, only 1000x better, faster, and more accurate.

I've used it with Apple Notes, OneNote, and MS Word so far, and it works very well with the Apple Pencil. For those of you who would like to convert their handwriting to text, this might be a good option, and it's FREE! Since it is basically a keyboard addition, in order to use it you will have to enable it by going to Settings, General, Keyboards, Add Keyboard and selecting it. Once installed, you can choose it from the Globe menu on the keyboard.

NB: The developer MyScript has other apps in the app store that might also be useful for people who need to insert drawings or other objects, math formulas, musical notes, etc. Worth a look.

http://www.myscript.com/
 
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Cassady said:
Long-time Notability user, who downloaded the Notes Plus to check out the handwriting recognition feature (which appears to work quite well, IF I concentrate on keeping my handwriting neater (i.e.) write slower)...

Some thoughts about the two:

Notability PROs >>
A1) The interface is clean and intuitive to use [subjective opinion];

A2) Fully updated to support the Apple Pencil and all the new iOS multitasking features;

A3) Audio-recording, and the management/editing thereof, is well done;
>> In particular, the greying out of the underlying text, dependent on the audio-scrub. Since the audio is synced with the text/writing, you can quickly scrub along in the audio, to get to the part of the recording where you were writing down what you need to hear the audio about.
>> Individual audio-note "sections" can be retrieved from the back-up location, allowing for those sections to be sent/exported, as it were.

A4) With the companion app on the Mac, the iCloud sync works well, and allows effective sharing across all iOS/OSX devices;

A5) Multiple back-up options [Dropbox; Google Drive; Box; WebDAV], and back-up 'format' options;

A6) Integrates well with other apps/sources >> easy to get PDFs etc. into Notability; Easy to share/export them out;

A7) Nice set of "media" that can be easily added to the note [stickies; shapes; web-clip; photos etc.]

Notability CONs >>
B1) There are not as many features (which is why the interface is cleaner) >> but the basics are certainly there;

B2) Organisation of the notes, whilst adequate, can be improved;

B3) A bit lacking in 'interaction' features
>> Would be greater if it could have a two-finger swipe for 'undo' [similar to Procreate'] etc;

B4) Only allows for 3 'Favourites' i.r.o. typing/font settings >> wish more could be added
>> Related to B4, I wish they would introduce a 'Favourites' for colour/thickness etc. for writing with the Pencil

B6) Using the zoom-box across multiple pages, especially when wanting to jump from one page into another, and continue writing there, is sometimes a bit buggy(?)
>> i.e. There is a serious elastic that can get stretched between where you are scrolling to, and the small-text box that the "zoom-box" will write into... Sometimes will scroll from page x, and try and write on page z, only to get rudely yanked back to page x;
>> Depending on the position of the "zoom-box" [which is a nice feature for lefty's like me], the small-text box sometimes disappears below the "zoom-box", which requires some funky jump-arounds to get to where you need everything to be >> doesn't happen that often, but often enough to be noticeable.

Notes Plus PROs >>

C1) Plenty of features >> but see D4
>> Scratching through a word to erase it >> nice! [take note, Notability!]
>> circling word/section for auto-select >> nice!

C2) Built-in browser that can be swiped over to, is a nice-touch, especially with the built-in "clipper", that allows you to quickly grab anything off the browser-screen, and have that automatically imported into your note;

C3) Writing to Text works quite well, at least it does in my experience!
>> You can convert individual sections to text OR do a once-off of the entire page
>> You will need to work on your penmanship, and it would probably help if you wrote most in the "zoom-box" mode, to be able to get things neater [however, see D5];

C4) 'Invisible' scroll-bars is nice!
>> As is the "long-touch" in the margin to pull up the page-contents view;

C5) Nice "additional features toolbar" on the keyboard (date/time/tab/bullet icon/cursors);

C6) Nice "floating text/styles toolbar" that can be left visible, to quickly access different font/colour settings for text
>> Ditto, the floating "ink" styles option, to allow to quickly select different inking styles.

Notes Plus CONs >>
D1) Hasn't been updated yet to support the Apple Pencil OR iOS multitasking features (no Split-View, only Slide-over)
>> It also doesn't appear to have been updated for the iPP 12'9"(?) >> stretched keyboard

D2) Limited back-up options: Dropbox only

D3) Audi-recording, whilst ok, is not as feature-rich as in Notability.
>> There is no direct-sync between the audio and text, so (unlike in Notability), you cannot easily work out what writing/text is associated with which section of the audio. A hack will involve you jotting down the 'audio-"time"' at points in your notes >> i.e. if you've been recording for 45 seconds (which can be seen as a timer is presented when you are recording), then quickly jot down "45s" at the point where you might want to listen to what was being said about that topic. Later, when playing the audio back, you can scrub to more-or-less 45 seconds into the recording, to hear what was being said there...
>> Secondly, whereas it is useful to have the audio-recordings all presented under a "audio" section in the 'file-manager', this is not as useful to me, since the audio on its own, is less important than seeing it in the context of the note(s) that was being taken at the time.
>> That said - having the audio stored separately, does allow you to export them individually from within the app, which - in certain scenarios - can be very useful.

D4) Interface is a bit messy [subjective opinion]
>> some of the icons are hidden away, requiring scrolling through to find
>> AFAIK, these can be re-arranged though, so this is not necessarily a bad-thing AND, keep in mind that I am used to Notability – pretty sure long-time Notes Plus users can whizz around inside of it, quickly getting to what they need
>> That said, after several hours of use, still battling to work out how to arrange them!!

D5) The "zoom-box" writing mode is not done as well as in Notability, imo.
>> Again, might just be since I'm not used to it, but I struggle with the following:
** The auto-advance box/feature, it all-too-often sees my text being rewritten over an earlier section of the text (it works ok if you are "writing a word 'into' the grey-advance section", but if the word happens to end just before the grey section, and you try and start a new word in it, it often jumps back (or elsewhere) to what was written before, and overwrites in that area;
** The "next-line/paragraph" button all-too-often/always(?) takes me one line down, but NOT to the beginning of the line - it kind of just drops down below where I was, unlike the "typewriter" action that I expect, where it drops lower AND takes you all the way left, to the 'start' of a new line.

_______________________

In light of the above, personally I wish Notability could incorporate some of the key features of Notes Plus (hello writing-to-text conversion) >> but that's probably since I'm so used to Notability... Both are good apps, and each having certain features that the other lacks, is the key reason to why we have CHOICE in the app store! Choice is good!

But suffice it to say, each of them are very good in there own way - especially considering that Notes Plus is hopefully due an upgrade soon, which will remove several of the CONs from my list, almost instantly!

That said, hopefully this comparison will make it a bit easier for people to decide, since the choice between the two appears to hinge on the key features and what is more important to you: Audio-syncing to notes = Notability; Writing to text = Notes Plus!
Click to expand...

Very nice review. Does anyone have a good comparison like this between onenote and notability?
 
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MullerC said:
Other then OneNote do any note taking apps for iPad work in a web interface as well?
I would like to view my notes on a computer as well when at work without my ipad.
Click to expand...

Evernote allows you to directly ink within a note. They are accessible via their website as well.
 
Is anybody else one note freezing up or having problems?
Since the last update mine continuously freezes and quits unexpectedly.
It also always has draw with touch on so I have to go through and turn that off before attempting to scroll through my notes.
 
ahostmadsen said:
Very nice review. Does anyone have a good comparison like this between onenote and notability?
Click to expand...

Those are so different, that would be more difficult to do than just comparing to ios notetaking apps...

OneNote is a Microsoft Windows desktop class app with hooks into a lot of different things (Outlook, Web Clippers, built into Windows 10 / Edge). It added writing support as one of many features.

Notability (and GoodNotes for that matter) are ios note taking apps first and foremost.

If you are looking just for ios note taking, stick with one of those. If you need Windows desktop integration and all of the other features that you can find in the desktop app, then OneNote can be very powerful.

For me, I can use them both...

In OneNote Desktop, I have all of my customer accounts as sections in OneNote. If one of them emails me important information, from Outlook I can push that email into OneNote as a note. If I have a meeting with them I can push from Outlook (toolbar icon) the meeting info to OneNote. Then when I go to OneNote on my iPad, I can quickly navigate to that account section, see all relevant emails, meetings, etc. and now add a new note. So everything for that account is in one place and is accessible to me on my desktop, iPad or iPhone.

Notability or GoodNotes could never do that...

Now, with GoodNotess (which I prefer), I can have a meeting with that account and take notes. Then when done, I can "share" that note to OneNote, thereby creating a new note in OneNote under that account.

So, in my workflow I can either take the note in OneNote, or take it in GoodNotes and share it back to OneNote. I do prefer GoodNotes, but OneNote has been getting better as well. One of the advantages in my workflow that GoodNotes has vs Notability is that GoodNotes can "share" as an image, which flows well to OneNote. Notability can share as a PDF which is some cases is just more overhead for the file and doesn't play quite as nicely with OneNote.
 
I chose Notability after trying out GoodNotes. I simply liked the way Notablity set up the navigation. Notability allows continuous scrolling of the virtual paper while your are writing, while with GoodNotes you need to swipe with 2 fingers to change the page. It was just easier for me to keep writing rather than stopping to swipe.

Also, after the latest update to Notability, there is no noticeable lag when writing with the Apple Pencil
 
kevroc said:
Those are so different, that would be more difficult to do than just comparing to ios notetaking apps...

OneNote is a Microsoft Windows desktop class app with hooks into a lot of different things (Outlook, Web Clippers, built into Windows 10 / Edge). It added writing support as one of many features.

Notability (and GoodNotes for that matter) are ios note taking apps first and foremost.

If you are looking just for ios note taking, stick with one of those. If you need Windows desktop integration and all of the other features that you can find in the desktop app, then OneNote can be very powerful.

For me, I can use them both...

In OneNote Desktop, I have all of my customer accounts as sections in OneNote. If one of them emails me important information, from Outlook I can push that email into OneNote as a note. If I have a meeting with them I can push from Outlook (toolbar icon) the meeting info to OneNote. Then when I go to OneNote on my iPad, I can quickly navigate to that account section, see all relevant emails, meetings, etc. and now add a new note. So everything for that account is in one place and is accessible to me on my desktop, iPad or iPhone.

Notability or GoodNotes could never do that...

Now, with GoodNotess (which I prefer), I can have a meeting with that account and take notes. Then when done, I can "share" that note to OneNote, thereby creating a new note in OneNote under that account.

So, in my workflow I can either take the note in OneNote, or take it in GoodNotes and share it back to OneNote. I do prefer GoodNotes, but OneNote has been getting better as well. One of the advantages in my workflow that GoodNotes has vs Notability is that GoodNotes can "share" as an image, which flows well to OneNote. Notability can share as a PDF which is some cases is just more overhead for the file and doesn't play quite as nicely with OneNote.
Click to expand...
Interesting usage scenario. I think, though, that OneNote for Mac is very feature restricted, not at all like the Windows version. It seems the iPad version is more advanced than the Mac version (one example: you can insert equations on iPad, but not on Mac)!

Right now I'm using NotesPlus for handwritten notes, and OmniOutliner to keep track of projects as you do with OneNote. It would be nice to have one tool for both. But I'm not sure it possible with the feature-restricted Mac version of OneNote.
 
infantrytrophy said:
OneNote appears to have myriads of features, many I have not tried. It works well, but there are a few minor friction points. One example - when you cut-and-paste a handwritten selection to move it down the page, there is a bit of a delay.
Click to expand...

I'm glad OneNote finally offers lasso select/cut/paste. But as you mention, it's really laggy. If they fixed this, I'd completely switch to OneNote.
 
tgara said:
In addition to the various notes apps, I'm also looking at an app called MyScript Stylus.

http://www.myscript.com/stylus/

It's not a note-taking app per se, but rather a handwriting recognition keyboard that works in basically any app where you can type. It recognizes your handwriting and converts it to text as you write. It's very similar to the old PalmPilot stylus input system, only 1000x better, faster, and more accurate.

I've used it with Apple Notes, OneNote, and MS Word so far, and it works very well with the Apple Pencil. For those of you who would like to convert their handwriting to text, this might be a good option, and it's FREE! Since it is basically a keyboard addition, in order to use it you will have to enable it by going to Settings, General, Keyboards, Add Keyboard and selecting it. Once installed, you can choose it from the Globe menu on the keyboard.

NB: The developer MyScript has other apps in the app store that might also be useful for people who need to insert drawings or other objects, math formulas, musical notes, etc. Worth a look.

http://www.myscript.com/
Click to expand...
I went to the app store on my iPad to check it out and if you watch the demo video you can hear clanking background noise. LOL
 
tgara said:
In addition to the various notes apps, I'm also looking at an app called MyScript Stylus.

http://www.myscript.com/stylus/

It's not a note-taking app per se, but rather a handwriting recognition keyboard that works in basically any app where you can type. It recognizes your handwriting and converts it to text as you write. It's very similar to the old PalmPilot stylus input system, only 1000x better, faster, and more accurate.

I've used it with Apple Notes, OneNote, and MS Word so far, and it works very well with the Apple Pencil. For those of you who would like to convert their handwriting to text, this might be a good option, and it's FREE! Since it is basically a keyboard addition, in order to use it you will have to enable it by going to Settings, General, Keyboards, Add Keyboard and selecting it. Once installed, you can choose it from the Globe menu on the keyboard.

NB: The developer MyScript has other apps in the app store that might also be useful for people who need to insert drawings or other objects, math formulas, musical notes, etc. Worth a look.

http://www.myscript.com/
Click to expand...

Thank you for this, this is awesome and extremely accurate.

This is so helpful when unable to use the keyboard and faster then using a screen keyboard with one hand.
 
tgara said:
In addition to the various notes apps, I'm also looking at an app called MyScript Stylus.

http://www.myscript.com/stylus/

It's not a note-taking app per se, but rather a handwriting recognition keyboard that works in basically any app where you can type. It recognizes your handwriting and converts it to text as you write. It's very similar to the old PalmPilot stylus input system, only 1000x better, faster, and more accurate.

I've used it with Apple Notes, OneNote, and MS Word so far, and it works very well with the Apple Pencil. For those of you who would like to convert their handwriting to text, this might be a good option, and it's FREE! Since it is basically a keyboard addition, in order to use it you will have to enable it by going to Settings, General, Keyboards, Add Keyboard and selecting it. Once installed, you can choose it from the Globe menu on the keyboard.

NB: The developer MyScript has other apps in the app store that might also be useful for people who need to insert drawings or other objects, math formulas, musical notes, etc. Worth a look.

http://www.myscript.com/
Click to expand...



I cannot begin to explain what a huge game-changer this is for me! Since installing it this afternoon, I've been "writing" everything! Not only is it incredibly accurate, but it works well INSIDE Notability (which makes my reason for purchasing Notes Plus ⇒ writing-to-text, obsolete!).

I cannot believe is free! But what has really blown my mind, is the dictionary support for my 'obscure' (digitally-speaking) second-language!! This means I can now easily converse in both languages, and enjoy an element of spellchecking for both, whilst replying to emails etc, without having to jump through the hoops of switching languages in the system settings.

I am over the moon, and my Pencil has just taken on a whole new level of importance. Thanks again for the suggestion/recommendation!
 
MullerC said:
Thank you for this, this is awesome and extremely accurate.

This is so helpful when unable to use the keyboard and faster then using a screen keyboard with one hand.
Click to expand...

Cassady said:
I cannot begin to explain what a huge game-changer this is for me! Since installing it this afternoon, I've been "writing" everything! Not only is it incredibly accurate, but it works well INSIDE Notability (which makes my reason for purchasing Notes Plus ⇒ writing-to-text, obsolete!).

I cannot believe is free! But what has really blown my mind, is the dictionary support for my 'obscure' (digitally-speaking) second-language!! This means I can now easily converse in both languages, and enjoy an element of spellchecking for both, whilst replying to emails etc, without having to jump through the hoops of switching languages in the system settings.

I am over the moon, and my Pencil has just taken on a whole new level of importance. Thanks again for the suggestion/recommendation!
Click to expand...

Well, you are both welcome! I am glad you boys find this app useful. I know I do.

To be clear, I have no relations to the developer. I only found this application earlier this week and found it very useful in my workflows. I simply wanted to share my findings with everyone here.
 
tgara said:
In addition to the various notes apps, I'm also looking at an app called MyScript Stylus.

http://www.myscript.com/stylus/

It's not a note-taking app per se, but rather a handwriting recognition keyboard that works in basically any app where you can type. It recognizes your handwriting and converts it to text as you write. It's very similar to the old PalmPilot stylus input system, only 1000x better, faster, and more accurate.

I've used it with Apple Notes, OneNote, and MS Word so far, and it works very well with the Apple Pencil. For those of you who would like to convert their handwriting to text, this might be a good option, and it's FREE! Since it is basically a keyboard addition, in order to use it you will have to enable it by going to Settings, General, Keyboards, Add Keyboard and selecting it. Once installed, you can choose it from the Globe menu on the keyboard.

NB: The developer MyScript has other apps in the app store that might also be useful for people who need to insert drawings or other objects, math formulas, musical notes, etc. Worth a look.

http://www.myscript.com/
Click to expand...
I'm another using this app based on your recommendation. I've tried a bunch of these and this is the best by far.
 
Anyone know any notes apps that allows a custom background, with a pencil like nib and ruler support.

I'm currently using notability on my IPP and Apple Pencil; I love the way IOS Notes works, but I am an engineer looking to produce hand drawn details on a calculation pad,

Any advice?
 
I don't know of any others with a ruler like the Apple Notes app. I would love to see more. Goodnotes allows custom templates and has automatic shape detection, but no pencil, and not really the tools to do precision drawing. I think you need to look at drawing apps rather than notes apps. Let us know what you find!
 
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