Apple Notes app is my favorite overall app for writing. Paper is my favorite 3rd party thus far in terms of writing. The downside is Notability is okay too. The brush they use is too thick IMO. I hate that. It would be nice if the Note taking apps had lines on them so you could easily write on the lines if you wanted to.
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iPad Pro Taking notes
- Thread starter Jal217
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You can change the line thickness in notability by pressing on the pencil icon, you can also use lined paper by going into the settings.
Notability does and Zoom notes does. I think a lot of them do. You Just pick the paper you want to use out of the paper selection choices
I just put on a matte screen protector on my iPad Pro and it makes a world of difference when using the Pencil. There is still a sound, but it's more of a scratchy sound like you are writing on paper and not that "hitting glass" sound that it makes normally. That was a bit un-nerving for me, and the screen protector solves that (for me at least).
I'm not sure that's possible as "marking up" a PDF is adding an annotation layer and having an annotated PDF within a notes app would just be confusing
I just tried this with GoodNotes, and you can import a PDF, but you are "drawing" over it, not technically annotating it, so it's a lot like OneNote in that regard, but it does work.
LiquidText is cool, you add text notes to a side bar as you annotate the PDF.
It seems like Apple Notes is more for sketches versus note-taking. No paper choices, ruled lines, etc.
Where exactly did you stick the loop on?
I went with this similar item (though Microsoft's might look a bit better): Leuchtturm Black Pen Loop https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002RNRYN4/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_HIQtwbNBXX3M8
I felt that to avoid interfering with the Smart Keyboard I had to place it in an odd spot as shown in my video:
Now I'm thinking maybe I should have placed it along the left hinge -- that also probably wouldn't have interfered with the Smart Keyboard or interfere too much when the cover is folded around the back.
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Well, it's experimental at this point, but I've placed it dead center on the front edge of the keyboard. Basically where the trackpad would be if there was one. Once you get used to it, you don't even notice anymore. I've had it like that for 2 days now and don't give it a second thought. But, when I have to use the Pencil and I just slide it out and back in quickly it's a lifesaver. I never used the loop on the SP3, the SP3 stylus had too much friction to easily slide in and out of the loop. The Pencil on the other hand, is super smooth and glossy so it works perfectly.
I could optionally put it on the left edge of the iPad. I'm using the Logitech Create Keyboard case and it separates half way down the back of the iPad (to accommodate the folding function) so that might work as well.
Love the Pencil, but it has to be "attached" somehow or it doesn't make sense for me.
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I just watched your video, I think you found the perfect spot for it really.
A couple of notes...
It looks like your pen loop is just a tad smaller in diameter than the SP3 loop.
I personally don't like the look/feel of the Pencil, it's a bit slippery feeling for met and that all white glare against a black case is a bit odd looking. Not the end of the world or anything... I just used a piece of black duck tape wrapped around the end where you hold the Pencil while writing and it give's it a bit more grip and a little more comfort. It also reduces some of the whiteness of it.
I'm liking the Logitech keyboard, but my Smart Keyboard gets here Monday so I can compare them...
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Then you are better of copying them, going through them with that classmate or by creating your own notes from books, presentation, etc. that is available. What you are describing here is not only lazy but also stupid because by doing so little effort the content of the note won't stick. It's a useless exercise.
Still, there will be other occasions where you'd want to share your data (OneNote and the like aren't for note taking in class only!) and you can do this either via PDF (which usually is a very good format because others don't need or shouldn't be able to edit it) or by inviting them. In case of the latter you can simply copy the page to your own notebook and do whatever you want with it. When you put the OneNote notebook on SharePoint or a network drive you can use it with a group without having to share any page/section you create. Simply open the notebook from the location and you're done. It will function the same way OneDrive, Dropbox, etc. do: it will sync the notebooks to your local device. All edits are done in that local copy and synced back to wherever the notebook is actually stored. It will also show you who put a particular part of a note where it is (text, picture, drawing, etc.). You can't do any of this with Evernote or Notability so if you really want to use it with others then clearly you are better off with OneNote.
And speaking from both a student and instructors point of view: I'd like to use lecture stuff without having to go out and buy the same gear the instructor/student uses just to be able to use their data. PDF is what you should use for 2 simple things: you can lock it down so people can't edit it and thus it will always be exactly the same as how you intended it to be (from a student point of view I can tell you that this is a must have with any instructor as quite a lot tend to read with their mouse and accidentally delete stuff; PDF prevents this) and the other side gets to decide what they use to read/edit the file. Want to put it in OneNote? No problem. Same for iBooks, GoodReader, Evernote and so on.
Btw, Microsoft specifically targets OneNote at educational use and created some special tooling and marketing for this. I find it more difficult to find material on how to use OneNote in a non-education setting. It's one of the things Evernote does better.
Or in other words, anything that is an old skool paper notebook and pen is inflexible and restrictive because OneNote is based on good old paper. Notebooks in OneNote are the same as those physical ones (or binders). Sections in OneNote are the same as in those notebooks or binders and pages are no more like actual sheets of paper. That's why a lot of people use OneNote: it has a very easy to grasp way of doing things because it is no different than ordinary paper which they already know. It's just not as restrictive and inflexible as paper due to not having a size limitation plus you can incorporate things like video, audio and other files. Other tools are just as restrictive and inflexible because they either follow the same basics or because they have a more complex way of doing things.
Many of the alternatives you speak of come with the same set of restrictions and inflexibility as OneNote. The differences are all in the details plus personal preference. The biggest issue with any of these is that they are reinventing the wheel when it comes to file format. They all use their own proprietary format which means that sharing any data with anybody else 1 to 1 without any compromise requires the other party to use the exact same tool. Now imagine you have students with Windows laptops, Windows tablets, Android tablets, iOS tablets and/or a Mac...the only way to share data with them would be by using OneNote or Evernote because these are available for all mentioned platforms. Or you could use PDF files which anybody can read out of the box with any device right now.
When it comes to handwriting the same can be said. Most apps support it and support it quite well. The biggest problem here is the fact that it is digital and the quirkiness of the device that you use. The Surface Pro and Pro 2 use old Wacom technology which has a big offset, especially in the corners and it lags. That doesn't make handwriting a very pleasant experience. The iPad has the issue that it needs to have a non-Apple bluetooth pen and those are not always a breeze to use. A stylus is almost unusable. It seems that right now the best thing you can do is use the Apple Pencil (hard to get by atm). Do note that palm rejection is also quirky. Most of the times it'll work but sometimes it won't. Since PDF Expert is free app of the week I also highly recommend getting this one. You can pair it with Documents by the same manufacturer so you can use many more file formats (make sure Documents sees PDF Expert, it will activate the advanced PDF options; after that you can delete PDF Expert and just use Documents). The only other good alternative to Documents + PDF Expert that I've seen is GoodReader.
I am using it because I like the ruled paper, and easy upload to dropbox as a PDF. It's not as good as the native notes app, but it's not all that much worse. Totally usable.
I tend to prefer Good Notes, I like the fact that you can't markup with your finger so you don't get errant marks on the page. Notability however has a great feature where you can markup embedded images and the embedded image retains the markup as you are moving it around. With Onenote and Good Notes, you are marking up "over" the image, so if you move it the markups become out of place.
To make matters more confusing, bringing a PDF into Noteability, you can select a page from the PDF and not bring in the whole PDF. Good Notes on the other hand allows you to "markup" a PDF after you bring it in using actual PDF Markup like Highlighting and Strikeout.
Thanks everybody I went with notability for. Now. I'll just have to wait for my pencil
I got Goodnotes and think it's awesome so far. Very simple and clean, a few different paper types, pens, shapes etc. It tries to keep that stuff out of your face though but there if you need it. The focus definitely seems to be on getting your notes down as quickly as possible.
I'm loving it so far, the Apple Pencil works really well. I don't have good handwriting and used to use the Pencil by 53 previously. The nib is very thick compared and as my writing is small, it would look terrible. I'd usually have to write slowly and be zoomed in almost writing in block letters so it's legible. It got to a point where it just wasn't efficient to use the iPad for handwriting.
The Apple Pencil allows me to write at my usual speed and size and it hasn't had any problems keeping up yet. Very impressed with this.
I'm loving it so far, the Apple Pencil works really well. I don't have good handwriting and used to use the Pencil by 53 previously. The nib is very thick compared and as my writing is small, it would look terrible. I'd usually have to write slowly and be zoomed in almost writing in block letters so it's legible. It got to a point where it just wasn't efficient to use the iPad for handwriting.
The Apple Pencil allows me to write at my usual speed and size and it hasn't had any problems keeping up yet. Very impressed with this.
Except have you been able to write freehand with PDF Expert? I have it and while I can highlight a PDF with the Pencil, it refuses to let me write freehand with the Pencil (no "ink" is drawn), though I can with a finger or passive stylus.
I'm not sure why you have this issue. I have it and can write on a pdf with the Apple Pencil (not just highlight).
They are now going back to its original price (=$9.99). Currently it is priced at $4.99. If you do anything with PDF you ought to get PDF Expert. They do add new features to the app such as the default iOS9 Split View and Slide Over and they will add support for the Apple Pencil too.