Goodnotes Adds New Features That Work With Apple Pencil Pro

[MacRumors]

Popular note taking app Goodnotes today announced new features that are designed to work with the Apple Pencil Pro that launched alongside the 2024 iPad Pro models. The Apple Pencil Pro supports a squeeze gesture with haptic feedback, as well as a barrel roll for better control over shaped pen and brush tools.

Palette is a set of tools that pops up in Goodnotes with a squeeze of the Apple Pencil Pro. It allows users to swap between essential tools, undo, and change ink stroke, thickness, and color. Normally these features would need to be accessed through a tool panel, but the Palette makes it much quicker to swap between options without interrupting a workflow.

Goodnotes' Fountain Pen now includes Dynamic Ink with an ink flow that is able to respond to the rotation of the Apple Pencil. Instead of just responding to pressure sensitivity, the Fountain Pen is able to make thinner or thicker lines based on the orientation of the Apple Pencil, for a more natural pen-like feel.

Strokes will vary with calligraphic flourishes as a physical fountain pen would, which Goodnotes says can bring more personal expression to digital writing. Rolling the barrel of the Apple Pencil Pro can also provide more precise control over stroke thickness, and stroke preview is available using Apple Pencil hover.

Goodnotes 6 can be downloaded from the App Store for free, but it costs $9.99 per year after a free trial. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Goodnotes Adds New Features That Work With Apple Pencil Pro

 

[Japan Ricardo]

A lot of student use Goodnotes, and the way they use it is just the same as what they can do with the native Notes app.

Apple are really bad at explaining what their native apps can do. So many people use things like Fantastical, 1Password, OmniFocus, Scanner Pro, Evernote etc - and when you look at what they do with them, they just don't need to use them...

 

[cornycopier]

A lot of student use Goodnotes, and the way they use it is just the same as what they can do with the native Notes app.

Apple are really bad at explaining what their native apps can do. So many people use things like Fantastical, 1Password, OmniFocus, Scanner Pro, Evernote etc - and when you look at what they do with them, they just don't need to use them...

I think you'd find that the apps that you listed go above and beyond ANY of the stock apps on iOS/iPadOS.

Whether an individual uses 3rd party apps to their full potential or exactly as if they're stock apps really isn't your choice or business. You enjoy your stock apps and we'll enjoy our 3rd party apps. It's all good.

Side note: To be sure, as a daily user of Goodnotes for many years (seriously, all day every day at work), Apple Notes isn't even remotely in the same ball park.

 

[Japan Ricardo]

I think you'd find that the apps that you listed go above and beyond ANY of the stock apps on iOS/iPadOS.

Whether an individual uses 3rd party apps to their full potential or exactly as if they're stock apps really isn't your choice or business. You enjoy your stock apps and we'll enjoy our 3rd party apps. It's all good.

Side note: To be sure, as a daily user of Goodnotes for many years (seriously, all day every day at work), Apple Notes isn't even remotely in the same ball park.

I agree, apart from your last sentence. They do go way beyond what the stock apps do in most cases (not sure about Scanner Pro?) and it's only 'my business' in the sense that it's an interesting debate - but most people don't use them to their full potential. There's always the risk that these companies will go bust, hike their prices, get hacked etc.

I used to use OmniFocus, but I spent more time fiddling with it than Getting Things Done. Fantastical didn't do anything FOR ME that the stock Calendars app doesn't do, and Scanner Pro is entirely redundant now.

If you can be bothered, why is Apple Notes so inferior to Goodnotes? Genuinely interested... I particularly need to be able to share notes with other iOS and Mac users, and collaborate on them.

 

[coolfactor]

Apple must approach these app developers in advance and secretly offer prototype devices to support development of these new features. How else can such support be rolled out so quickly after the announcement?

 

[mrr]

Now, if only the iPhone Pro Max would support the Apple Pencil.

 

[JustinePaula]

Goodnotes is a terrible app, they never update with useful features, there is no password protection, honestly it feels like the app is a light scam, I don't trust Goodnotes..

 

[MaximizedAction]

Goodnotes has a one-time payment option too btw.

 

[entropys]

I use Nebo (no subscription) and one note ( part of office 365 subscription) myself.
Neither yet take advantage of the pencil pro though. All I get in Nebo or Onenote is undo/redo instead of the palette

 

[svish]

Good to see the app supporting the new features of Apple Pencil Pro

 

[purplerainpurplerain]

Now your Goodnotes can be Goodernotes.

 

[cornycopier]

I agree, apart from your last sentence. They do go way beyond what the stock apps do in most cases (not sure about Scanner Pro?) and it's only 'my business' in the sense that it's an interesting debate - but most people don't use them to their full potential. There's always the risk that these companies will go bust, hike their prices, get hacked etc.

I used to use OmniFocus, but I spent more time fiddling with it than Getting Things Done. Fantastical didn't do anything FOR ME that the stock Calendars app doesn't do, and Scanner Pro is entirely redundant now.

If you can be bothered, why is Apple Notes so inferior to Goodnotes? Genuinely interested... I particularly need to be able to share notes with other iOS and Mac users, and collaborate on them.

There's always a risk that ANY company (including Apple someday) could go bust. There's also always a risk that someday the entire planet could go cold. I'm not sure that the iOS world is abuzz with debate over stock vs third party apps. People use what people use to whatever potential they use them. I don't have the time nor an interest in worrying about whether or not my colleagues are using the scheduling feature in Fantastical. I'm not paying for the apps they use on their devices. It doesn't concern me.

I happen to agree with your anecdote re: OmniFocus, as well as several other GTD apps. In this case I have landed back on the stock Reminders app. Why? Because it works better for me in my particular case usage.

And that brings me to your last question - the idea of case usage. Some have problems with it but I've been quite happy with Goodnotes. In MY case, it does exactly what I need it to do in an easy and sensible way. The inking and manipulation thereof, as well as PDF annotation is just superior... FOR ME. There are modes that allow it to be used in a presentational setting so that one can lecture, annotate, etc without the audience seeing any color pickers or other controls - only annotations.

I'm not going to get into a feature for feature comparison of Goodnotes vs Apple Notes. You can use Google to find any number of articles/videos doing that. I'll say that it works better for ME in MY professional arena. Is that the case for everybody? Nope. Is it a concern for me? Nope. If Goodnotes suddenly goes bust, yes, it would suck but I would find an alternative.

I will say that, for me, one stock app that is interesting, which I've been playing with, because I do see some potential for use in my setting, is Freeform. But it isn't quite ready to replace Goodnotes - FOR ME. I need that presentation mode first and foremost.

 

[Remy149]

A lot of student use Goodnotes, and the way they use it is just the same as what they can do with the native Notes app.

Apple are really bad at explaining what their native apps can do. So many people use things like Fantastical, 1Password, OmniFocus, Scanner Pro, Evernote etc - and when you look at what they do with them, they just don't need to use them...

I use GoodNotes daily I use apple notes for all my personal stuff however for work I can make individual notebooks with endless number of pages in GoodNotes.

 

[Remy149]

Now, if only the iPhone Pro Max would support the Apple Pencil.

I use an Apple Pencil daily I couldn’t imagine using it on any phone comfortably.

 

[prwnr]

Goodnotes is a terrible app, they never update with useful features, there is no password protection, honestly it feels like the app is a light scam, I don't trust Goodnotes..

Usefulness of a feature request depends on a person. I personally never needed a password protection on a note, cause I have my iPad password protected. But I can see that someone sharing iPad with others may need this - however, as I said, usefulness depends on what someone needs, for me it would be useless feature.

 

[xSushi]

A lot of student use Goodnotes, and the way they use it is just the same as what they can do with the native Notes app.

Apple are really bad at explaining what their native apps can do. So many people use things like Fantastical, 1Password, OmniFocus, Scanner Pro, Evernote etc - and when you look at what they do with them, they just don't need to use them...

I'd like to think that our stock apps are generally fine for most people under a number of scenarios. Their simplicity and lack of bloat is why I genuinely enjoy them and utilize them between personal / work / and Volunteer Work.

Each of the apps you suggested (and many more) go above and beyond in some-way. That's what makes the App Store so great, if I need something more nuanced or feature-rich, I can find something that suits me. As someone who has been using legal pads since 6th grade - Creating books of notes and marking up documents in Goodnotes is an experience 2nd to none. It's genuinely the only app that makes my iPad a daily necessity.