Best note-taking apps for iPad and Apple Pencil

Pros and Cons of Apple Notes, Notability, GoodNotes 5, OneNote, Noteshelf and Nebo to find you the best note-taking app for iPad and Apple Pencil.

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🎥 VIDEO CHAPTERS
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00:00 Intro
00:59 What note-taking equipment do I use
01:38 Apple Notes is best for Quick Note Access
03:16 Handwriting and Text Conversion comparison
12:25 Drawing Feature comparison
15:35 Audio Recording Feature comparison
16:57 Cloud Sync and Backup comparison
17:43 Note Organization comparison
18:22 Digital Journal support comparison
20:52 Verdict

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[silkrc]

CollaNote is one of the good options which has most features from notability and good notes, and is completely free! It should be considered by any new iPad users 🙂

[lizardsever]

Hey, really enjoyed the vid, I think I'll be switching my note app based on it! I found it a little confusing which app you were talking about though, as you jumped around: would be helpful to have it shown on the video somewhere (light text). Thanks!

[aknighton]

As a student, the Notability recording/playback feature he mentions for lectures is THE BEST tool I could ever imagine. I use the Blackboard app on my iPad, which allows me to download a copy of the professor's pdf or PowerPoint lecture slides directly onto a Notability Note. Then I take notes onto the slides as I record lectures, and I play the lecture back later while watching my notes populate in real time (you can speed up the playback up to 2x). This is incredibly helpful for learning.

I also download homework pdf worksheets from Blackboard and use the Apple Pencil to select and copy one problem at a time by pasting it as a screen clipping. Then I show my work below each problem. (BTW, the Apple Pencil has a double-tap feature. You can double tap the pencil with your finger to switch between pen and eraser, so you don't need to reach over to the eraser icon all the time.)

I can also text screenshots of notes or worked problems directly with classmates. Zooming out allows me to select a pretty big area with the Apple Pencil, and the text button is a one-click operation. Super convenient.

The ONLY thing that could be improved about Notability is a direct connection to upload notes onto Blackboard, so I could turn in my homework directly from the app. (Notability does have this kind of link with Canvas, so if your school uses Canvas, you're golden.) I work around this by uploading my homework to Google Drive and then using my Windows machine to save it as a pdf to my laptop. Then I turn it in to Blackboard from my laptop. This is a bit cumbersome, but it's manageable.

All told, Notability is just amazing for students. The lecture recording/note-playback feature is invaluable and, in my opinion, makes this the absolute best app.


P.S. I use the PaperLike screen protector--I love the feel of this, compared to the unprotected screen.

[starstuff]

For STEM students or anyone who has to work with mathematics in their notes, I highly recommend Nebo

[isaac]

The feature of highlight behind text on Goodnotes and Notability only works with light papers but on darker papers does not work because it uses the Apple Pencil API to enhance the contrast.
Another thing to note with the drawing feature on Notability though that provides a lot of features, the grid system they use is quite stiff and usually I had to battle around for a few moments trying to move my lines to an specific place because they will snap to other points. It is important to note that the grid system for drawing is the same used when you use the highlight-to-line-shortcut: if you hold and press, it will not snap to where you are pressing but to the nearest anchor and if you try to move it, it is all ill-conditioned as the line feature. Drawing is powerful but not a smooth experience. Drawing and highlighting is smoother on Goodnotes BUT you are lacking some serious features: dotted lines, editing filled figures, changing the line thickness with ease and so on.

[dswartze]

The only Apple product I have is an iPad. I use Windows 10, ChromeOS, and Android. Looking for the best option that works with all that!

[Eismaus]

In GoodNotes you can change the size of the box if you select the shape tool an then select the shap you Wand to edit. Also if you draw colorfilled shape and hit the back button one, you remove the color outline and have only the infill left.

[arthurmarek]

Good content, subscribed, I love that I can concentrate on what you are saying without the 'music' that most people seem to think is needed. I use Apple notes and notability, but am always looking for more, Always improving workflow. Thanks.

[natsax]

thanks for this video, I was actually trying to decide what fits better for me

[dasfaultierdeslebens]

I am really surprised how useful the original apple reminder and note app are ! The Original Apple Note App has OCR on Images :) + Handwritting Recognition + good format style to show my notes on iPhone :)

[Paumadolescente]

I'm looking for a new note app, but I just can't find it. I want something like notion but being able to handwriting freely, typing a text and add handwriting notes on top of it. What I've found is being able to type but when I want to handwrite I have to add a separate part, recognized as a picture. Can u help me?

[robertevelyn]

I just spent a couple of hours reviewing your videos. I've also watched your Best Note Taking 2022 Video. Which of the applications provide better functionality for us left handers ? I usually will turn my notepad to be portrait and write down the page (if that makes sense). Most of the demos show you writing left to right across the page vs o the page in portrait and you writing down the page ... I hope this makes sense....

[BillTorg]

I’d like to go from handwritten notes and diagrams to pdfs I can share / email. Still don’t know how to proceed in that direction. And, if I wanted to watch this video and take notes as I listened, would one of the apps u listed be good for that?

[stephentaranto]

A lot of good info in your video, but honestly too quick for me. I could not keep up with which app you were in. I wish you had a small spreadsheet with all the features in the left column and on the top row list all the apps across the top. Then you could check off which app had what feature for visual comparison. Excellent video, I'm just a little slow it seems. ;-)

[tark]

amazing video, all the others online was talking too much but giving no further insight

[kristineguarinello]

is the standard iPad fine to take notes, using the pencil OR should I upgrade to the iPad air? or Pro?

[Eba]

Do you have a video on how to add your digital journal in to Evernote that would allow editing on a tablet/the app?

[maarrsseelli]

does scribble convert any words or letters? or it must be in english or common language ? because i write in short and my mother tongue is rare and want to know if it will work for my class notes

[mauro.orlando]

Very good analysis. Concise, clear, straight to the point. Perfect balance between giving personal opinions and providing information about alternatives.

[codephil]

I've been looking for a notetaking app that has the 'pencil' feature that apple notes have. I am referring to the actual writing style. I find the 'pencil' tool far superior compared to the 'pen' style which is available in most other tools. Does anyone have suggestions for notetaking apps that have this writing style available?