Best note taking app for iPad

[AlunReynolds]

Favourite note taking app

If I just want handwritten notes that I can refer to later I use Penultimate. But if I want to do something with the text I use WordPad from Phatware. It converts my handwritten text into editable typescript. Takes a little while for it to learn your handwriting. But it learns very quick.

 

[memmons]

I'd like to put Audiotorium Notes for iPad out there. I'm the creator and am very responsive to user suggestions.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEdHa-0N0I[/ame]

 

[4phun]

I'd like to put Audiotorium Notes for iPad out there. I'm the creator and am very responsive to user suggestions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEdHa-0N0I

is this you in this YouTube video?

Audiotorium


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEEVqMhA9yU[/ame]

 

[memmons]

Indeed it is. Such nostalgia watching that video. Audiotorium has come a long way since then.

I'd like to put Audiotorium Notes for iPad out there. I'm the creator and am very responsive to user suggestions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEdHa-0N0I

is this you in this YouTube video?

Audiotorium


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEEVqMhA9yU[/ame]

 

[Glock Girl]

Wow! I'm a new IPad user and this threadbis JUST what I needed. I am looking for a note taking app that will do boh typing and hand written. To find an app that also records audio is like adding gravy to a beautifully cooked roast.

Does anyone know if any of these apps can convert the handwritten note to text?

Great forum you have here!

 

[donka]

If I just want handwritten notes that I can refer to later I use Penultimate. But if I want to do something with the text I use WordPad from Phatware. It converts my handwritten text into editable typescript. Takes a little while for it to learn your handwriting. But it learns very quick.

Confused??

 

[Hasty]

Glock Girl I think Notes Plus deserves a look.
Scribble, type and yodel...

 

[bdegrande]

Wow! I'm a new IPad user and this threadbis JUST what I needed. I am looking for a note taking app that will do boh typing and hand written. To find an app that also records audio is like adding gravy to a beautifully cooked roast.

Does anyone know if any of these apps can convert the handwritten note to text?

Great forum you have here!

Underscore Notify has the usual (typing drawing, audio) and will convert handwriting to text if you buy a $3 in app purchase.

 

[atinoue]

Notebook for iPad

Circus Ponnies Note Book for iPad would be the best in the near future.
It takes too much memory and has some minor bugs, however it's functinalities are splendid.

 

[chowdown]

Wrist protection doesn't work for me, so, Note Taker HD.

Wrist protection doesn't work for me and that's probably the main reason I use Note Taker HD. You can do all your writing at the bottom of the screen, thereby allowing you to rest your hand harmlessly on the iPad's bezel. Your handwriting can be positioned easily anywhere in the document, and even if you write big in the editing panel the resulting text in the document can be as small as you want (microscopic, even!). It also has an extremely useful auto-advance feature.

Using Note Taker HD I can write very quickly, small and legibly. I use it for notes and mathematical work and even draw diagrams (with the help of an invention of mine, a thin-bit-rigid metal "bridge" that spans the screen which I use to rest my drawing hand on. Notes can be tagged.

The developer, Dan Bricklin, is the real thing; he co-wrote VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet for personal computers, more than 30 years ago. He seems to be very committed to the app.

What it doesn't do? Type-written text, picture import, audio. It doesn't do cut/copy/paste either, but that may change in a future update.

If Dan Bricklin can get cut/copy/paste into Note Taker HD, I for one will be a very happy camper because as far as I can tell this functionality is absent from all current handwritten note-taking apps on the iPad. (Happy to be proved wrong).

 

[DDustiNN]

I'm looking for a good app to take notes during class and there are so many to choose from. Unfortunately, many of these posts are rather old now so I'm not sure of their relevance, as new stuff is constantly coming out. So far the video for SmartNote looks really nice. I'm thinking of ordering a stylus and would like something that can take decent hand-written notes. My biggest concern is the touch screen of course... Meaning, can you write naturally? Or do you have to keep your hand/wrist elevated? I usually have to write rather quickly so I don't really have time to mess around with extra lines/smudges from my hand resting on the page. Do the apps ignore this at all, and just recognize when you're writing?

 

[chowdown]

Dustin, did you read the post directly above yours?

 

[DDustiNN]

Dustin, did you read the post directly above yours?

Thanks for the response, chow. I did read that post, but while it's a similar subject, I don't think it specifically answered my question. The reason is that I'm not sure what is meant by "wrist protection" there. Is that a physical item? Or is it an in-app object that you place on the paper to ignore your wrist touching the screen? And I'm more worried about my hand than the wrist, actually. While I'm writing (right-handed), in addition to my wrist on the paper, my pinky finger's knuckle also rests on the paper ahead of where the pen writes. I'm curious if that would register as "writing" or if it would be ignored by any of these apps.

Please let me know if I'm not explaining this clearly enough. Does what I'm saying make sense? And if so, do you have any idea if that's an issue with any of these apps?

I wish I could try out these apps without the purchase being permanent
On my Android, if you buy an app, you can get a refund within 24 hours if you don't like it. I just got my iPad last week and I really wish the store had this feature.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[chowdown]

When you write or draw on an iPad screen you've got to be careful that only the tip of the stylus (forget about finger!) touches the screen. If not, you'll get extra unintended marks or other unwanted results like zooming/panning.

So what do you do? Write with your hand floating above the screen? Boring, painful, untenable.

Many note-taking apps have a feature called "wrist-protection" which, when activated within the app, supposedly allows you to rest your hand/palm/wrist/pinky/whatever on the screen without causing any problems.

Here is a summary of what I have learned about wrist-protection over the last three weeks in four different apps: it is shite.

The app Note Taker HD (which incidentally offers wrist-protection; I ignore it) circumvents this problem brilliantly by offering the input method that I describe above.

 

[Mickey330]

...[snip]You can do all your writing at the bottom of the screen, thereby allowing you to rest your hand harmlessly on the iPad's bezel...[more snippage] ...

It is for this reason alone I keep coming back to Note Taker HD for my college class note-taking. The ability to rest my hand/wrist/fingers/whatever on the bezel makes it so I can write naturally and easily (and rapidly).

I have tried a LOT of handwriting apps - and still use some for other reasons. But, in my books, THIS is the app you want for consistent, legible notes.

Marilyn