Yeah, Notability is the best I've seen, but it's mainly for typed-in notes. I believe the original poster was looking for a note-taking app that specializes in handwritten notes (via a stylus). Personally, I need my notes to be searchable, so typed-in is the way to go, in my opinion - especially since I'm using a ZaggMate w/keyboard!
Best note taking app for iPad
- Thread starter mach5k
- Start date
shanshuprophecy
iPF Noob
Notability is good to write in & has some excellent features - BUT - trying to read notes becomes an issue - there is no way to turn off the controls & simply read or revise notes - this is a big issue for me & I have contacted the developers who have advised that they will take it into consideration for future updates - which is great but - for the moment, it's far too distracting when trying to read my notes.
Besides trailing Springpad - which I already posted about - I am leaning more & more toward simply using Pages & then setting up folders in Readdle Docs for file management & search capabilities - Pages allows for great composition when adding pictures, has good font choices etc although it's obviously a no-go for handwriting.
For basic handwriting together with audio - audio note is pretty good & has a free lite version but for a combination app - handwriting, text, web clips, audio recording, graphics/photos etc with excellent handwriting capabilities - Whitenote is an impressive app- the UI isn't too pretty but it has email & Dropbox capabilities & you can also paste PDF's into a notebook - the 'notebook' motif is also useful & has possibilities for different books for different uses - eg lecture notes, meetings, assignments etc ... It's definitely worth a look if looking for a complete multi-capable app - audio is not as good as with dedicated audio recording apps such as Audio Memos - the paid version of audio memos allows for background recording however so this is yet another way to go? Audio Note has good recording plus text and handwriting and will highlight text during playback - very handy.
I have tried a variety of different note systems and I am beginning to think that there isn't one app that can meet all my needs all the time - at the moment I am dedicating different apps to different needs - eg meetings require audio so I use audio note or audio memos - if I want straightforward notes with some graphics then Pages is clean and pretty - more complex stuff - such as lecture design I use Whitenote. & writing assignments based on PDF's I will use Noterize as I can annotate plus add entire pages to my PDF's - file management is through Readdle/Dropbox as mentioned so that although I create documents in different apps, I store them in relational folders that make sense to me & ensure they are available through both iTunes to transfer onto my computer and/or Dropbox for both desktop access and access to my stuff if at a work computer ....
Apologies for the long post & if I have repeated apps mentioned elsewhere ... It's a subject I am passionate about- I spend a lot of time testing these apps as note taking/document creation & VGA output of said documents in class are the main reasons I bought my iPad.
Besides trailing Springpad - which I already posted about - I am leaning more & more toward simply using Pages & then setting up folders in Readdle Docs for file management & search capabilities - Pages allows for great composition when adding pictures, has good font choices etc although it's obviously a no-go for handwriting.
For basic handwriting together with audio - audio note is pretty good & has a free lite version but for a combination app - handwriting, text, web clips, audio recording, graphics/photos etc with excellent handwriting capabilities - Whitenote is an impressive app- the UI isn't too pretty but it has email & Dropbox capabilities & you can also paste PDF's into a notebook - the 'notebook' motif is also useful & has possibilities for different books for different uses - eg lecture notes, meetings, assignments etc ... It's definitely worth a look if looking for a complete multi-capable app - audio is not as good as with dedicated audio recording apps such as Audio Memos - the paid version of audio memos allows for background recording however so this is yet another way to go? Audio Note has good recording plus text and handwriting and will highlight text during playback - very handy.
I have tried a variety of different note systems and I am beginning to think that there isn't one app that can meet all my needs all the time - at the moment I am dedicating different apps to different needs - eg meetings require audio so I use audio note or audio memos - if I want straightforward notes with some graphics then Pages is clean and pretty - more complex stuff - such as lecture design I use Whitenote. & writing assignments based on PDF's I will use Noterize as I can annotate plus add entire pages to my PDF's - file management is through Readdle/Dropbox as mentioned so that although I create documents in different apps, I store them in relational folders that make sense to me & ensure they are available through both iTunes to transfer onto my computer and/or Dropbox for both desktop access and access to my stuff if at a work computer ....
Apologies for the long post & if I have repeated apps mentioned elsewhere ... It's a subject I am passionate about- I spend a lot of time testing these apps as note taking/document creation & VGA output of said documents in class are the main reasons I bought my iPad.
Thanks for taking time to reply, Jrooney. I picked up Notes Plus in a recent sale, and it seems to have the page management functionality I'd like, although the close-up and zoom handwriting is jerky and flashes (especially in landscape mode) which is very distracting to me. Also, I can't seem to resize the area on the page that is shown in the zoom box. That being said, I agree that the developer is on the right track, I just don't like the handwriting engine being used.
Have you tried the free UPAD Lite? If so, how do you find the close up and zoom handwriting in comparison?
I would also be interested in any direct comparisons of the handwriting engine in Noteshelf vs. UPAD and Notes Plus.
Thanks!
ajstan99
jsntrenkler
iPF Noob
I am a big fan of Evernote.
shanshuprophecy
iPF Noob
jtrosky said:
It's not just the toolbar - when the screen is touched to scroll down or zoom in etc .. the keyboard pops up as well - i find that 1/2 the screen is taken up with toolbars and/or the keyboard at all times - they need a 'read only' function obviously it's just my opinion but i find it a big drawback
shanshuprophecy
iPF Noob
jsntrenkler said:
If you like Evernote - check out Springpad -it's a similar concept but there is more to it than Evernote - I never did like the UI of EN very much & this provides an alternative plus some extras ....
shanshuprophecy said:
Ahh, I see... I use a blutooth keyboard - didn't even notice that. However, even without a Bluetooth keyboard, you just have to press the "keyboard-hide" button once and it goes away, allowing you to scroll and zoom with the full screen.
I think I would rather have it default to "note-taking" mode, like it does - otherwise, you'd have to "enable" the keyboard manually every time you wanted to add notes. Being that it is a note-taking app, i think it should default to the keyboard being open. I guess he could add an option for that though....
Wow! You guys have all been great. You have put forth a lot of options for me to try. I have quickly arrived at the same conclusion as Shansuprophecy about there being no one note-taking app for all my needs.
I am not going to give up on the handwriting apps. I still like taking notes by hand and can do it faster than I type. But I liked what I read about Audio Note and can see a lot of possibilities for that one. As I get more comfortable with the apps that are 'typing only', I may find I am OK with it after all. At my office a lot of folks do take notes on their laptops and I am starting to think that doing it on my iPad would be no more distracting to others than the laptop is.
I thought I would give Notability a try, as well, since it is on sale at the moment.
I am finding that the two I presently have on my iPad that I use the most are Penultimate for handwriting and Daily Notes for tracking many things - my "TO DO" list for work, my food journal when I am dieting, my grocery list and those great ideas that hit me when I am in the middle of something else.
This forum is just a wealth of information about getting the most out of the iPad and out of iPad apps. Thank you for all the carefully thought out responses.
I used to use Audio Note for all of my notes, then I found Mental Note (which is even better than AudioNote) and finally I found Notability, which is even better than Mental Note! The nice thing about typed-in notes vs. handwritten notes is that typed-in notes are fully searchable, which can be a huge benefit.
I really do suggest that you give Notability a shot - it does EVERYTHING! I love having different fonts, colors and the outline tool is just great...
Obviously, it's a personal preference, but I've tested ALOT of note-taking apps in a real work environment (for meetings), and Notability just seems to best. Mental Note is nice too though - just not quite as flexible as Notability...
I really do suggest that you give Notability a shot - it does EVERYTHING! I love having different fonts, colors and the outline tool is just great...
Obviously, it's a personal preference, but I've tested ALOT of note-taking apps in a real work environment (for meetings), and Notability just seems to best. Mental Note is nice too though - just not quite as flexible as Notability...
