Best note taking app for iPad

[marichards]

Evernote Issues

I recently loaded the most recent version of Evernote on my iPad and lost all my notebooks. Have not experienced the same problem on my iPhone or laptop. Any suggestions on what I should do?

 

[M325i]

Guys take a look at NotePlus it is an amazing note taking app it supports all different kinds of note taking methods, it cheap, it has a whole bunch of features I really recommend it.

 

[Luvntravln]

I recently loaded the most recent version of Evernote on my iPad and lost all my notebooks. Have not experienced the same problem on my iPhone or laptop. Any suggestions on what I should do?

Have you deleted it and reinstalled?

Your notes are actually on their server.

Send them a query.

 

[kenz0]

Is there a note taking app that utilizes both a stylus and the onscreen keyboard or pairing a Bluetooth keyboard?

 

[elektrobank]

Have read the specs on notesplus and notetaker hd but didnt find anything relating to cloud / sync..?

Am after a note app that can store files centrally so can access on ipad or iphone and save and make changes to the same note(s) across both devices.

 

[4phun]

Notability is still the best and getting better

Just thought I'd share my thoughts after reading previous threads and testing out a few apps. I was looking for an app like MSOneNote but one that I could share and edit my notes with others, plus be easy to manage a large number of them:

#1 Daily Notes – best notes app I have found so far that meets my needs.
Pros: It puts my notes into dates, so I can track against meetings, plus has search tool for when I have lots. Emailing notes works ok so I can collaborate after, as does attaching photos (useful for pics of white boards drawn in meetings) and it backs up to Dropbox in case I lose my ipad data.

Cons: The biggest drawbacks so far - you can’t draw on it (maybe important to others on this thread, but I don’t use a stylus – yet) plus you can’t edit in full screen in landscape mode, and it costs £2.99 but it seems you have to pay for anything good these days.

Others:
Evernote –
Pros: Okay at organising notes, and the online sync to the PC app is good
Cons: CRASHES when you try to email notes! (also doesn’t use the full screen in landscape mode) – so no good for me until they fix that.

uPad -
Pros: mostly good, virtually everything you could look for in terms of creating a note
Cons: it can ONLY export/email your notes out as pdf or image files, so no good if you want to share editable content

MobileNoter -
Pros: in theory would have been great, as I love OneNote
Cons: the onenote sync doesn’t work! At least not for me as it conflicts with my OneNote2010 and so is quite expensive for what it is, esp if you subscribe (plus it only uses part of the screen to edit notes)

OmniFocus -
Not tried yet but I'm listing as it looks like what I need in theory
but @£24 it’s a bit of a risk just to test out – unless someone else can vouch for it?

Good luck in your search!

I went down all you wants and looked at a variety of other requirements in post I see after this one.

Notability does it all and there is even a more powerful release waiting on Apple to drop according to their email. Apple has bought hundreds if not thousands of copies of Notability for their own staff. IMHO that says a lot.

I share my RTF Docs with a Mac since Notability saves files to the cloud. I use DropBox but I would assume Apples new cloud will be included too.

I bought an adapter that allow me to feed the FM audio from an auditorium audio system directly into Notability so I can record clear sound with my notes with out coughing and sneezing.

I can enhance my notes since Notability will run in the background while I look up things in other apps. Either a screen shot or copy and paste gets my data into Notability ($5).

Notability for iPad on the iTunes App Store

A similar app but without some of the extras Notability has is Apple's own Pages ($10). The advantage of Pages is that it can work on the iPhone as well as the iPad for the same price. Pages exports data in Microsoft Doc format if you set it to that and works well with the cloud too.

IMHO some waste too much time trying to figure out which is the best note taking app instead of learning all the advanced features hidden in the two apps I just mentioned. IMHO over the last year I have looked at most note taking apps for the iPad and they do not meet the standards found in these two apps.

I expect Ginger Labs to drop their big July update some time this next week. The last update was April 11, 2011.

TIP

Learn that screen shots are useful for placing data in your notes. You do not need the whole screen shot? Then use Notabilities and Pages CROP feature to
narrow it down to exactly what you need. Also remember you can draw and write on images, just as you can add figures etc on their own.

 

[Gabriel1]

Have read the specs on notesplus and notetaker hd but didnt find anything relating to cloud / sync..?

Am after a note app that can store files centrally so can access on ipad or iphone and save and make changes to the same note(s) across both devices.

Have you tried Simplenote?

The Archangel

 

[mobi1]

I have tried these 3

Notes Plus - was not impressed in spite of rave reviews. The hand writing bit is buggy. If you write fast, if just misses few strokes! It does have some nice features like shape recognition, moving notes around, audio recording etc. but since its core functionality is so buggy I had to discard it.

Notetaker HD - handwriting was smoother. It contains good shape library in case you want to insert them in your note. The notes can be selected and moved. This is actually quite good app.

UPAD - handwriting blows out all others. Very smooth and no lag at all. It also auto advances. Only and issue, I couldn't find any option to move note around pages once it is written. This one has a free lite verson as well (limited to max 5 notes but no page limit inside them). This exports notes to Dropbox as well. My personal choice is UPAD.

 

[donka]

Have read the specs on notesplus and notetaker hd but didnt find anything relating to cloud / sync..?

Am after a note app that can store files centrally so can access on ipad or iphone and save and make changes to the same note(s) across both devices.

If you just want basic text notes then Plain Text does this very well via Dropbox.

 

[No1zeppelinfan]

Can't get Notability in the UK app store can we?

 

[elektrobank]

Thanks!

Plain Text looks perfect - minimalistic, yet stylish, although only gripe is can't seem to move notes or folders around.

Edit: can move files around directly within Dropbox, but only on the web, not via iphone / ipad dropbox app.. Is that right?

 

[DM51]

Can't get Notability in the UK app store can we?

Yes, it's there - price £0.59, last time I looked.

 

[No1zeppelinfan]

Ah, Just looked on my iphones app store and it never came up. Check itunes when I get home, Thanks

 

[searle1230]

I have soundnote and am trying to figure out how to save a long PDF. When I send my notes as an attachment, I only get the top of my notes (approx one page length) however my notes are about three pages long. How do I save the entire document as a pdf?

 

[Evilteacher34]

I have been trying the last few days various apps, penultimate, notetakerhd, and some others all of them recommended from this thread, thanks by the way.
I was looking for an app to take notes during class in the university I currently attend and I decided to stick to Note plus it has the autoscroll feature, dropbox, and typing, if you're looking for this kinda note taking I recommended, I'll be starting my semester on Monday and I'll post how the app worked during actual classes. Hope this helps.