iPad Note Taking
Overview
The arrival of the iPad brings the potential for going paperless. Taking notes is a natural activity for this device. From handwriting, drawing, and typing, the following note-taking apps are worthy of consideration.
Essential Apps
-
Free
Simplenote
by Codality
When all you need are simple text notes, look no further than SimpleNote. While all you can do is type text, it has the killer feature of wireless sync. Creating a free SimpleNote account means access to all of your notes on any computer. Back on your Mac, you can use Notational Velocity to access and create more notes. Syncing is fast and automatic. Due to its quick note entry, search capabilities, background syncing, and free price tag, SimpleNote is an essential app. Sometimes all you need is the kitchen sink.
Notable Apps
-
Free
Evernote
by Evernote
Evernote has been a mainstay in note-taking on the Mac and iPhone for the past several years. The iPad app offers the same cloud storage and search capability as its counterparts. In addition to text notes, you can import photos and record voice notes as well. As a note taker it doesn’t allow for much formatting or handwriting, but the syncing service still makes this a staple on my iPad.
-
Free
Noterize
by Robert Stretch
In addition to providing many tools for taking notes, Noterize allows users to import PDFs and PowerPoint files for annotation. The app integrates with Box.net, Dropbox, and Google Docs for online importing and exporting. Documents can be annotated with typed text, sticky note formatted text boxes, as well as freehand pen and highlighting. Notes may be many pages in length and reordering of pages or insertion of PDF files is easy. Completed notebooks may also be shared via Twitter, Facebook, and email.
-
$3.99
TakeNotes
by Kishore Tipirneni
TakeNotes allows for a lot of control over text and handwritten drawings. The tools are easy to use and intuitive. In addition to emailing, notes can be transferred via webserver in PDF or JPG format. As a PDF annotation tool this app could be great. As of right now the exported PDF files are not high enough resolution.
-
$8.99
Notebooks for iPad
by Alfons Schmid
Notebooks for iPad (and iPhone) is unique for its organizational abilities. Notes can be nested within other notes, like chapters in a book. In addition to new typed text notes, all popular file types can be imported, including Microsoft Office, PDF, iWork files and media. It also plays nice with other apps on your iPad such as TextExpander support, WePrint, and sending notes to popular to do list apps such as OmniFocus. Notes can also be backed up to WebDAV, including MobileMe. Hopefully DropBox support will come in the future.
-
Free
Sundry Notes
by inZania LLC
UPDATE: I have removed Sundry Notes from being an Essential App due to the bugs in the current release. Backup and sync are not functional and I ended up losing all of my notes from the app, with no way to restore them. I still believe this app has great potential and I hope the developers work out these issues soon. In many ways, Sundry Notes Pro includes everything but the kitchen sink. Of course it has text boxes and hand drawing, but also includes importing PDF’s, Google Books, Wikipedia import, webpage snapshot, symbols, import from camera roll, and voice notes. You can backup your notes online and send via email. Despite its “Pro” name, it doesn’t have a “Pro” price tag. The combination of flexible note-taking features and the free price makes this an essential app.
Decent Apps
-
$4.99
myTexts
by Michael Göbel
MyTexts is a companion app for the Mac version of MyTexts. If you enjoy a simple text editor on the Mac, like WriteRoom, this may be what your looking forward. No bells and whistles, just down to business text editing. If you already use MyTexts on the Mac, then this one is a no-brainer.
-
Free
PaperDesk LITE
by WebSpinner, LLC
Paperdesk Lites’ editing features are limited. While you can import a PDF document as a background, you can’t zoom in for annotation. Lined paper backgrounds are common among these apps, but in Paperdesk the typed textboxes don’t align to the printed backgrounds. The sharing features are also limited in this Lite version.
-
$7.99
Notes Plus - Handwriting, Note Taking, Shape Drawing, and Sound Recording
by Viet Tran
If you want flexible note taking abilities, combining handwriting with text, Notes + is an app to keep your eye on. The interface for switching between handwriting and typed text is intuitive and allows for detailed handwriting with the zoom window. Text is organized with text boxes and there are many formatting options. The handwriting is greatly improved with palm detection and line smoothing. The app has limited note paper backgrounds, no sound recording abilities, and no interactivity with imported pictures or screenshots from the web. I would like to see the ability to import a PDF as a background. I will be watching updates for this app with great interest.
-
$4.99
ableNote
by TapWorx, LLC
If you are graphically inclined, you will enjoy working with ableNote. From imported pictures from your photo album, to maps and web clips, ableNote provides a flexible workspace to layout your ideas. Text is handled via text box with access to built-in fonts and colors. You can also tag your notes for easier searching, which is a good thing, since note organization is not its strong suit. Notes may be emailed as PDF or images.
Handwriting Apps
-
$4.99
Note Taker HD
by Software Garden
Note Taker HD focuses on handwriting over typing. For best results you would want to get a stylus like the Pogo Sketch to use with this app. The app will allow you to write in large script and then shrink to fit to your notebook, allowing for a lot of detail on each page. It utilizes a unique user interface to allow a lot of detail on a single page, which is unique to other hand written note applications. A pending update to the program include many useful features including the ability to change colors and transcription functionality for exporting your notes via the clipboard.
-
$0.99
Penultimate
by Cocoa Box Design LLC
Penultimate also caters to hand writing. Strokes are smoothed out automatically to help with legibility. While Note Taker HD seems capable of large notebook paper, Penultimate seems more designed for smaller scale note taking.
-
$9.99
WritePad for iPad
by Stan Miasnikov
WritePad combines the best of both worlds. It provides hand-writing recognition, which is then transferred into typed text. Once the text is captured, formatting options are limited with customizable presets for the entire page. The program attempts to learn your handwriting gestures and even supports shortcuts similar to TextExpander. My handwriting results were mixed. The accuracy improved over time especially when I used larger handwriting and was more deliberate. This is an app to keep on eye on because of it's hand-writing recognition potential. For those who have a stylus (Pogo Sketch) and are used to printing versus typing, this app fills a gap on the iPad.
Notes With Sound Recording
-
$4.99
AudioNote - Notepad and Voice Recorder
by Luminant Software, Inc
Before the iPad came out I was considering getting a Livescribe Pen, which allowed for handwritten notes in a notepad that synced recorded audio back to your computer. Now the iPad is filling that need. AudioNote allows for handwriting as well as typing, but it's key strength is in it's recording ability. Once text and audio is recorded, while listening to the playback you can tap on a word and hear what was said when the note was taken. The text even highlights during playback. The PDF and audio can then be emailed or transferred to a computer.
-
$4.99
SoundNote
by David Estes
SoundPaper also fills the Lightscribe Pen abilities on the iPad. The interface is clean and easy to use. Pinch and zoom works in handwriting mode so you can write smaller and get more handwriting on a page. In many note-taking apps, once you have written by hand, the marks are immovable, but in SoundPaper you can tap on the handwritten text and then drag it or delete it with the popup delete button. During playback you can jump around by tapping on handwriting or typed text.
