Do you love the tactile experience of taking notes on paper but prefer the organization features of digital note-taking apps? We do, too.
And until recently, the best compromise we’d found was taking notes on paper and then scanning them into an app like Evernote.
While this approach worked, it wasn’t as seamless as we wanted. So for a while now, we’ve been experimenting with ways of taking handwritten notes with an iPad. And we’re excited to share that we’ve finally found a method that combines the best parts of writing by hand with the best parts of digital note-taking.
As easy to use as a word document or bulleted list, and as powerful for finding, collecting, and connecting related ideas as a graph database. Collaborate with others in real time, or store all your data locally. Best Note taking apps for Windows, Mac, Android & iPhone / iPad 1) OneNote OneNote is one of the best note taking apps with a number of features and majority of them are for free. Since OneNote comes from Microsoft, it integrates with Office tools like Ms Word, Excel etc.
What’s The Best Note Taking App For Mac? The first reliable note-taking application for Mac is Apple Notes. Since Apple Notes is a part of. Evernote is another popular cross-platform note taking application. The clean notebook based UI of Evernote.
The key is to use a quality stylus, a screen protector that mimics paper, and, most importantly, the right note-taking app.
In this post, we’ll show you six of the best note-taking apps for the iPad. With a bit of practice, these apps will give you all the benefits of writing by hand without sacrificing the convenience of digital organization.
Note: All of the apps below work for both the iPad Pro and Classic, though the Pro’s larger screen size makes note-taking easier.
1. Notability
If we had to recommend just one iPad note-taking app, it would be Notability. The app offers a delightful writing experience, yet it also makes it easy to embed images, annotate PDFs, and even record voice memos.
Sketching and drawing in Notability is easy and downright delightful. Being able to doodle and quickly sketch out illustrations is one of our favorite things about taking notes on paper. Notability does an excellent job of emulating this experience, while also allowing you to do things you can’t do on paper such as resizing and moving your drawings.
In addition, Notability includes a variety of flexible layout options. This allows you to, for instance, have a slide or reference material open on one side of the page while you take notes on the other.
And beyond the layout of individual pages, you can also organize your notes using digital “Dividers” (which is perfect if you’re used to taking notes in a physical binder).
Finally, Notability gives you plenty of options for exporting and sharing your notes, including Google Drive, Dropbox, and AirDrop.
Price: $8.99
Check out the video below to see Notability in action:
2. Noteshelf
Noteshelf was our favorite note-taking app for the iPad before we discovered Notability, and it’s still a superb option.
It has many of the features we love in Notability, including the option to annotate PDFs and multitask with the iPad’s split screen. You can also record voice notes to go along with your handwritten notes, which is perfect for recapping a lecture or meeting at a later date.
If you speak/write multiple languages, you’ll also be pleased to know that Noteshelf can recognize handwriting in 65 different languages. This makes it a powerful tool whether you’re taking a language class or learning a language on your own.
Finally, Noteshelf lets you export your notes to iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Evernote. The option to export to Evernote is noticeably missing from Notability, making Noteshelf our top pick for serious Evernote users.
Apple Watch users will also benefit from the app’s ability to record voice notes using the Noteshelf Apple Watch app.
Price: $9.99
3. GoodNotes 5
Up next, we have GoodNotes 5. This app has everything you want for taking notes, including the ability to switch between typing and writing. Plus, you can choose from several built-in note layouts and templates, as well as import your own.
Notably, GoodNotes 5 lets you adjust the sensitivity and palm recognition of the pen to match your writing style. This is perfect if you’re like me and tend to press very hard when writing.
Finally, GoodNotes 5 includes a “Presentation Mode” that lets you turn your iPad into a digital whiteboard. Using either AirPlay or an HDMI cable, you can project what you’re writing onto a larger screen while still being able to see the GoodNotes interface on your iPad. This is handy whether you’re giving a class presentation or pitching a business idea.
Price: $7.99
Want to learn how to take better notes? Check out our guide to the best note-taking systems.
4. Apple Notes
We couldn’t discuss iPad note-taking apps without mentioning Apple Notes. The app comes free with macOS/iOS devices, and it does a great job of letting you type or take notes by hand. The app’s drawing features are also solid, making it easy to add sketches and illustrations to your notes.
Aside from being free, the biggest advantage of Apple Notes is its deep integration with iOS. If you use iCloud and other Apple devices, you can effortlessly switch between taking notes on your iPad, iPhone, and Mac.
Plus, everything you create is automatically backed up to iCloud, and you can even create voice notes using Siri while you’re on the go.
Price: Free
5. Penultimate
Developed by Evernote, Penultimate is designed to be the go-to note-taking app for Evernote users. It has all the standard note-taking features you want, including a variety of layouts and the ability to search your handwritten notes with optical character recognition.
If you already use Evernote, then you can seamlessly add Penultimate to your workflow. Once you sign into the app with your Evernote account, all your notes will automatically sync to the Evernote notebook of your choice.
While the additional writing features of Noteshelf still make it our preferred note-taking app to use with Evernote, Penultimate remains a solid choice (especially if you’re looking for a free app).
Price: Free
6. Microsoft OneNote
Odds are, you’ve used (or at least have access to) Microsoft OneNote at work or school. But did you know that the OneNote iPad app allows you to take handwritten notes?
OneNote lets you write notes either on a blank page or a layout that emulates a sheet of lined paper. The general setup of the app mimics a physical binder, allowing you to organize your notes by topic.
OneNote for iPad also offers a variety of multimedia features. You can type text, insert graphics, and even include voice recordings. You can also search notes for specific words and view your notes across devices. And everything you create in OneNote is automatically backed up to OneDrive.
If you’re already a serious Microsoft app user, then OneNote will integrate seamlessly into your workflow.
Price: Free (with a Microsoft Account)
Start Taking Notes With Your iPad Today
I hope this article has shown you the exciting options you have for taking notes with your iPad. It’s now easier than ever to get the benefits of writing on paper without sacrificing the organization features of digital apps.
Of course, to benefit from taking notes, you need to make it a habit. If you’re looking to build the habit of taking notes (or another productive habit), you’ll love our latest course.
Click the button below to learn how you can take it (and thousands of other classes) for free:
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Are you scouting for some of the best Note Taking apps for macOS? Don’t worry anymore as in this article we have listed some of the most feature-rich note-taking apps for macOS.
macOS is a feature-rich computer OS and it’s used by millions of users across the globe. Well, there are many note taking apps available for macOS but choosing the right one can be quiet difficult. Consequently, in this article, we have compared some of the best note taking apps for mac.
So in no particular order, these are the five helpful note-taking apps that are worth checking out.
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What’s The Best Note Taking App For Mac?
1. Apple Notes
The first reliable note-taking application for Mac is Apple Notes. Since Apple Notes is a part of Apple’s productivity suite it comes pre-installed on every modern-day mac computer. You can attach all sorts of media files like photos, videos, documents scanned from your iPhone, hand-drawn sketches, audio recordings, and much more to your notes.
If you are very well adapted to the Apple ecosystem then Apple Notes won’t disappoint you. All of your notes will be automatically synced across all of your Apple devices. Another major highlight of Apple Notes is its close integration with Safari, Mail, and Apple Maps.
Unfortunately, there are no tagging tools available on Apple Notes. That said, you can use folders to keep your notes well-organized. Overall, Apple Notes is a great note taking app for macOS.
2. Evernote
Evernote is another popular cross-platform note taking application. The clean notebook based UI of Evernote looks minimalistic. Evernote offers a plethora of features to customize and organize notes. You can insert in-line images, tables, file attachments, and checklists in your notes.
Evernote offers a good collection of templates and the app also allows users to add reminders within their notes. The Evernote web clipper can be used to capture entire web pages. The free version of Evernote is perfect for casual users.
That said if you heavily rely on Evernote then getting the premium version will be worthy. The premium version unlocks many useful features like 10 GB of monthly uploads, offline notebooks, and automatic OCR scanning of documents.
3. Simplenote
As the name of this application suggests, It allows users to simply note down their thoughts. Using Simplenote you can even create to-do lists and shopping lists. Similar to other apps on the list, Simplenote offers great formatting tools.
Simplenote doesn’t allow users to add any kind of images or attachments to their notes. The only way to input notes is via text. Simplenote has a web-client and it can also be downloaded as an app on both Android and iOS smartphones.
Simplenote organizes notes using tags and all of the notes show up in the sidebar on the left. Lastly, Simplenote also offers a dark mode for macOS.
4. Bear
The next best note taking app for macOS is Bear. You can consider Bear as an upgraded variant of Apple Notes. Bear sports a very well-developed UI and everything from the default fonts to the colour schemes look visually impressive.
You can organize your notes in Bear using hashtags. These hashtags appear on the left side of the screen and they are arranged alphabetically. Some of the major highlights of Bear are the availability of multiple themes, the ability to export notes to Word, and hashtag organization tools.
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It is worth noting that Bear is free to use but getting the premium version for $15/year unlocks many nifty features like syncing across all of your devices.
5. OneNote
If your work involves regular switching from macOS to Windows then OneNote might be the perfect note-taking app for you. Similar to Apple Notes, OneNote allows users to drag and drop images, add tables, record audio clips, embed videos, and attach documents to their notes.
The colourful UI of OneNote helps it stand out from the crowd. All of your notes are synced via OneDrive. Similar to Evernote, OneNote also provides a web clipper extension for main-stream browsers like Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.
Overall OneNote is a great note taking app and it’s available for both computers and smartphones.
Also Read- 3 Ways To Force Quit An App In Mac
CONCLUSION
So these were some of the best note-taking applications for macOS. Do share any of your personal recommendations for the best note-taking apps in the comments section below.
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