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What's the best note-taking app?

B

bluewomble88

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 9, 2009
159
42
As the title suggests.

I like the look of noteshelf but it's iPad only. Is there a similar universal app that's recommended?

Thanks.
 
I'd like to write onto the iPad screen but have cloud sync with my iPhone when finished.
 
GoodNotes and Notability are universal apps, and both do what you need.
Notability already has a Mac version, GoodNotes is working on one.

Search the forum, you'll find many long threads about these apps (and others) being compared to eachother.
Most recent one
 
Notability.

Integrates photos, text, handwriting and syncs across my iPad, MacBook and iPhone using iCloud. It also backups as pdf to Dropbox so can print from the web client through work.

For the one off price it is is fantastic. It is the sort of app Apple should buy and replace the notes app with.
 
I used Notability extensively in medical school and found it very useful in conjunction with Google Drive. I was able to almost completely ditch the laptop in the classroom.
 
Recently I got an Adonit Jot Script as a gift. So, I set about seeing which note taking app was the best for me. Unfortunately some of them had to be paid for, and forking over $8 just to see if it works OK was a bit of an ask...

Anyway, after testing Notability, Penultimate and Good Notes I've settled on Notability.

Why? Because, I require something that's fairly basic but syncs to other iDevices. I don't know if I need to sync to a desktop or laptop as the notes can be exported to Dropbox or email.

Also, Notability seemed to be the better app when working with the Adnot. The others seemed to lag which made writing a bit difficult. ie. you start writing and nothing appears on the screen for a second or so. As frustrating as trying to write with a pen which has ink but isn't coming out of the ball point.

I use an iPad Air running the current iOS 8.something.

I also use Notability on the iPhone 6+. This is probably more relevant as I'm forever taking a notepad out of my pocket, fishing for a pen to write stuff down on. Having the iPhone with me all the time means one less thing to stuff in my pocket.

The Notability app sync's to the Adonit via Bluetooth. It has this feature called "Palm Rejection" so that you can rest your hand/palm on the screen without it upsetting things.

This feature seems to work better with Notability than it did with the other apps that I tried.

Finally, I wish that an Android developer would port his note app to iOS. It was called "ApMemo". It was a simple, basic app which worked well when I had my Android phone many years ago. These days they all seem to want to tart their apps up more than the next guy's app as none of the iOS apps that I've tried come close to this guy's app in terms of simplicity, lack of features and eas of use.

Flooding them with features and obscure commands doesn't make for quick and easy note taking when out in the field, particularly when they insist on splash screens on startup that take ages to go through.
 
OneNote if you use and like Microsoft products. It syncs with Onedrive. Have tried the handwriting feature because I just came from a Note 4 and nothing beats a no **** real stylus that the Note 4 uses and my Surface Pro. I just type the notes on my iPad.
 
I use Noteability. Its great for handwritten notes during meetings, then just email it to your work email account or share your work numerous different ways. Ive tried many. It is intuitive for me to use whereas some of the others require a bit of work to learn to use.
 
I use evernote as its simple & yet easy to use ..... also you can edit you notes anywhere on desktop & mobile .... available on all platforms too !!!
 
miketolsa said:
I use evernote as its simple & yet easy to use ..... also you can edit you notes anywhere on desktop & mobile .... available on all platforms too !!!
Click to expand...

Do you use Evernote in your browser, or as a client app on your device(s)?
 
Notability is not perfect but for me it seems the app I keep going back to. I think it is the best all-round when you are typing and writing notes. I like it that you can always scroll with two fingers and pinch to zoom (in Notes Plus you have to type a button to switch between palm protection and pinch to zoom). When choosing paper, you can choose the lining and paper color separately.

The past few years I have tried several note apps (Daily notes, Notability, OneNote, Supernotes, Goodnotes, Notes plus, INKredable, NoteLedge, NoteSuite, ActionNotes, Notebooks, and some others I forgot).
For typed notes I like Notability and Daily notes
For written notes I like Notability, Goodnotes, Notes Plus
 
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lexvo said:
Notability is not perfect but for me it seems the app I keep going back to. I think it is the best all-round when you are typing and writing notes. I like it that you can always scroll with two fingers and pinch to zoom (in Notes Plus you have to type a button to switch between palm protection and pinch to zoom). When choosing paper, you can choose the lining and paper color separately.

The past few years I have tried several note apps (Daily notes, Notability, OneNote, Supernotes, Goodnotes, Notes plus, INKredable, NoteLedge, NoteSuite, ActionNotes, Notebooks, and some others I forgot).
For typed notes I like Notability and Daily notes
For written notes I like Notability, Goodnotes, Notes Plus
Click to expand...

Impressed by the looks of ActionNotes, thanks for mentioning this one.
Care to comment some on it's pro's and con's?
 
GerritV said:
Impressed by the looks of ActionNotes, thanks for mentioning this one.
Care to comment some on it's pro's and con's?
Click to expand...

Sorry, I mentioned the wrong app. I meant Awesome Note instead of Action Notes. I mixed them up because the icon was similar a few years ago. I had looked at Action Notes in the App Store, but last year I decided to stop evaluating and spending money on note apps :)
 
lexvo said:
Sorry, I mentioned the wrong app. I meant Awesome Note instead of Action Notes. I mixed them up because the icon was similar a few years ago. I had looked at Action Notes in the App Store, but last year I decided to stop evaluating and spending money on note apps :)
Click to expand...

Does Awesome Note use iCloud to sync? It looks great. Syncing with iCloud would make it a "slam dunk" for me!
 
ron7624 said:
No iCloud sync is the chief complaint in the App Store reviews. So, no it doesn't.
Click to expand...

Oh, too bad. That feature would have made it truly awesome! I'll keep looking for a similar app with iCloud sync.
Thanks for the reply!
 
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