What's the best note-taking app?

[Benjamin Frost]

I do use the iOS defaults note app for almost everything. It is searchable and easy to use. You're right Benjamin Frost
It's s a shame we cant organize it though, but i use it the most.

I think I heard that we'll be able to sort by name and date in iOS 9. Long overdue. I hope we'll be able to create folders in iOS as well. You can on the Mac, but not on iOS, which seems silly.

But all said, Notes is a very handy app. The way everything syncs between my iPad, iMac and iPhone is very pleasing.

 

[GerritV]

As much as I would like to make the best use of all OSX built-in apps, I fail to see the greatness of a notetaking app that has close to no organization methods.

I'm involved in about 6 or 7 major ongoing projects that I need to take notes for.
How would you handle notetaking in this situation? Right now, I use Notebooks: notes, web clippings, pdf's, images, annotations, sketches, tasks etc etc. Dropbox sync on all of my devices, import/export to Dropbox, Google Drive etc etc.

I would love to hear your tips and tricks Benjamin. Show me how to make better use of Apple's Notes.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

As much as I would like to make the best use of all OSX built-in apps, I fail to see the greatness of a notetaking app that has close to no organization methods.

I'm involved in about 6 or 7 major ongoing projects that I need to take notes for.
How would you handle notetaking in this situation? Right now, I use Notebooks: notes, web clippings, pdf's, images, annotations, sketches, tasks etc etc. Dropbox sync on all of my devices, import/export to Dropbox, Google Drive etc etc.

I would love to hear your tips and tricks Benjamin. Show me how to make better use of Apple's Notes.

Notes supports images. It doesn't support pdf or sketching, though I believe it will support sketching in iOS 9. Folders are supported, though you can only create and edit them on the Mac. iCloud syncs everything instantly. I use Reminders for Tasks. One tip: if you have a long list, you can copy and paste it into Reminders and it will automatically create a list of checkable items.

I would stick to what you have, as you are managing projects, not notes. You could, however, incorporate Notes into your workflow. It supports Share Sheets, so notes can be moved between apps easily.

 

[GerritV]

Notes supports images. It doesn't support pdf or sketching, though I believe it will support sketching in iOS 9. Folders are supported, though you can only create and edit them on the Mac. iCloud syncs everything instantly. I use Reminders for Tasks. One tip: if you have a long list, you can copy and paste it into Reminders and it will automatically create a list of checkable items.

I would stick to what you have, as you are managing projects, not notes. You could, however, incorporate Notes into your workflow. It supports Share Sheets, so notes can be moved between apps easily.

Thanks Benjamin. I decided to give Notes a try for at least a week.
Already found out you can drag-and-drop pdf files into a note.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

Thanks Benjamin. I decided to give Notes a try for at least a week.
Already found out you can drag-and-drop pdf files into a note.

Oh, sorry!

Didn't realise you could. Good to know.

The Mac version has a lot more functionality than the iOS one. You can change font, text size etc. I think you can even use bullet points.

I have lots of long lists in Notes. If you copy them and paste them into a new list in Reminders, it turns it into a proper list automatically.

 

[Razeus]

Vesper. It's pricey though.

I think Apple ripped them off for Notes in iOS 9 however.

 

[GerritV]

Oh, sorry!

Didn't realise you could. Good to know.

The Mac version has a lot more functionality than the iOS one. You can change font, text size etc. I think you can even use bullet points.

I have lots of long lists in Notes. If you copy them and paste them into a new list in Reminders, it turns it into a proper list automatically.

Still working with Apple's apps on both MacOS and iOS

 

[Razeus]

BF makes good points. I tried using Notes when I did my "all in with Apple" phase a few weeks ago. Notes worked great, but it lacked certain things that Simplenote did, mainly sorting and searching.

I'm hoping they add sorting and searching with iOS 9. That way I can kill 2 apps with 1 stone by getting rid of Simplenote and Evernote.

 

[lexvo]

Recently I noticed that not all apps have PDF continuous vertical scroll. I find it very handy to have when reading and annotating a PDF.

Apps with continuous vertical scroll:
- PDF Expert
- Notability
- Notes Plus

Apps with no PDF continuous scroll:
- Goodreader
- Goodnotes
- Zoomnotes

I don't know about Noteshelf.

 

[GerritV]

Recently I noticed that not all apps have PDF continuous vertical scroll. I find it very handy to have when reading and annotating a PDF.

Apps with continuous vertical scroll:
- PDF Expert
- Notability
- Notes Plus

Apps with no PDF continuous scroll:
- Goodreader
- Goodnotes
- Zoomnotes

I don't know about Noteshelf.

Not sure if I understand you correctly, but I see no difference in handling a 25 page pdf document in Goodnotes, PDF Expert, PDF Forms and Noteshelf: they all show the pages one next to the other. Scrolling is horizontal, page per page.
I think I remember what you describe as a Notes Plus feature though.

 

[lexvo]

Not sure if I understand you correctly, but I see no difference in handling a 25 page pdf document in Goodnotes, PDF Expert, PDF Forms and Noteshelf: they all show the pages one next to the other. Scrolling is horizontal, page per page.
I think I remember what you describe as a Notes Plus feature though.

When you have a PDF open in PDF Expert, you can set vertical scroll on (default is horizontal scroll I think). (Press the Aa button and choose vertical scroll).

When annotating a PDF, I am almost always zoomed in. Switching to the next page is seamless with vertical scroll. With horizontal scroll you have to do more handling to arrive at the start of the next page.

Continuous means that you can have both pages together on the screen (for a part) and annotate simultaneously.

But I like vertical scroll also when just reading a PDF.

 

[GerritV]

When you have a PDF open in PDF Expert, you can set vertical scroll on (default is horizontal scroll I think). (Press the Aa button and choose vertical scroll).

When annotating a PDF, I am almost always zoomed in. Switching to the next page is seamless with vertical scroll. With horizontal scroll you have to do more handling to arrive at the start of the next page.

Continuous means that you can have both pages together on the screen (for a part) and annotate simultaneously.

But I like vertical scroll also when just reading a PDF.

Gotcha, I never tapped the Aa until now - great tip.

 

[Toltepeceno]

ONenote bar none, plus since free office lens came out you can "scan" stuff like business cards or anything and send them directly anywhere in onenote. I have uninstalled all of my "scan" apps and only use it.

 

[lexvo]

Can anyone tell me if Noteshelf has vertical scroll?

 

[GerritV]

Can anyone tell me if Noteshelf has vertical scroll?

Noteshelf does not have vertical scrolling nor continuous scrolling.
I already reported this a few posts ago in this thread, but downloaded the app again to make sure.

Pdf pages line up next to each other, and when I drag left-right and let go half way between two pages, either the left or right page will zoom to the screen, instead of having a 50-50 view.

I'm still thankfull for your Aa tip in PDF Expert, but I searched for a Noteshelf equivalent in vain.

 

[lexvo]

Noteshelf does not have vertical scrolling nor continuous scrolling.
I already reported this a few posts ago in this thread, but downloaded the app again to make sure.

Pdf pages line up next to each other, and when I drag left-right and let go half way between two pages, either the left or right page will zoom to the screen, instead of having a 50-50 view.

I'm still thankfull for your Aa tip in PDF Expert, but I searched for a Noteshelf equivalent in vain.

Thanks very much for finding this out! I guess I somehow overread this in your previous post.

For myself, I find vertical scroll very nice to work with. It is almost a knock-out feature for selecting an app.

Nogmaals dank en groeten uit Nederland!

 

[GerritV]

Thanks very much for finding this out! I guess I somehow overread this in your previous post.

For myself, I find vertical scroll very nice to work with. It is almost a knock-out feature for selecting an app.

Nogmaals dank en groeten uit Nederland!

Geen dank, Noorderbuur ;-)

 

[kaotichd]

Personally, I like NoteLedge. I have lots of photos and videos in my notes, and it's a great app to organize everything in one place. Then I can add annotations on the photos or just make some quick sketches. It's visually appealing and very straightforward to use. There's a free version, worth to try it out! https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/noteledge-cloud-omni-notebook/id493913166?mt=8

 

[WeatherMate]

Evernote is the best note taking app that I have come across. It syncs with your cloud storage pretty smoothly. The note taking is quite brisk. You can even insert bullets, check boxes or other attachments as well as set up alarms and reminders. What else would you ask of a note taking app I wonder!

 

[Abazigal]

Evernote is the best note taking app that I have come across. It syncs with your cloud storage pretty smoothly. The note taking is quite brisk. You can even insert bullets, check boxes or other attachments as well as set up alarms and reminders. What else would you ask of a note taking app I wonder!

Faster load times and a less clunkier interface. That's why I stopped using Evernote - it was getting too slow and bloated for what I needed - the ability to quickly take down notes and reference them.

 

[jnaeve]

I'm late to this thread. Have been using Notability for a very long time until recently when my company implemented new Security Policies so that being said, I can't sync using iCloud any longer and as far as syncing, Box.com is our only alternative. I can use one device (my iPad) with Notability but I can't access the notes taken from my Mac unless I access via Box Sync in the Notability folder but its cryptic at best. Since this new policy, I have bene searching high and low for an alternative that allows me to sync via Box or - possibly open and edit documents on Box. I'm finding that most apps either use iCloud or their own Cloud-based system for syncing which is out.

My request is this... has anyone seen or used an app that allows syncing across devices via Box.com?
I need to be able to take handwritten notes on iPad
View the notes on iPhone
Type real-time notes with MacBook Pro into the handwritten notes from the iPad

Pipe dream maybe.