Universal App for work notes/organization

[davidg4781]

I’m trying to get organized at work. I guess I should’ve done this years ago.

I’m a department manager at a retail store. There are times I need to make notes to follow up with an employee or customer, take pics to send to another department manager, or a reminder for me to do something.

I’m trying to use my Notes or Reminder app but I feel there may be a more robust and all in one app out there.

I believe we may use SalesForce in the background of our systems, and I think there are some features in it that may help me, but it’s been clunky for me. For example I just use the website in Safari rather than the app.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Kraizelburg]

Try maybe OneNote with microsoft to-do. Onenote is a powerfull note taking app, the weakest point is probably pencil supp but other than that is great and has many features.
Microsoft to-do is simple but powerfull enough for reminders and task.

 

[MrReview]

I love GoodNotes for note taking. But it has no reminder or todo functionality.

 

[GerritV]

Perhaps check out Notebooks.
It has notes, reminders, pdf annotation... and is available for macOS and iOS.

 

[djs71a]

Google Keep is also something to look at. You can set reminders for individual notes.

 

[MrReview]

Perhaps check out Notebooks.
It has notes, reminders, pdf annotation... and is available for macOS and iOS.

Does it support Apple Pencil?

 

[GerritV]

Does it support Apple Pencil?

You can use the Apple Pencil to:
- navigate through the app (just as a replacement for your finger)
- draw in a "sketch" document - but very limited (no fancy functionalities)
- annotate pdf documents (but this is an IAP)

 

[BigMcGuire]

I've spent a lot of time thinking about this and trying out all the different applications.

Apple Notes is a really good (free) application that doesn't get a lot of credit. If you're looking for something else, there are a lot of things that cost money. Works well with Apple Pencil too.

1. ToDoIst (great to do list application, but not so great for note taking).
2. Bear (Great note taking application).
3. Notability (Great note taking application if you use Apple Pencil).
4. Microsoft OneNote (OK to do list app, great note taking application, Ok Apple Pencil support and can be used on any device not just Apple).

I use OneNote for work (since I work with Windows). I use this for note taking and to do lists.
I use Apple Notes for personal note taking.
I use Notability for college class notes, long work notes (rare), church notes, thinking out loud - all with Apple Pencil entirely.
I use Apple Calendar for my dates that I have to remember - work calendar and personal.

All of these can be accessed via iPhone.

 

[djs71a]

I use Apple Notes for personal note taking.

I have also started using Apple Notes. But one thing concerns, me is the lack of ability to export notes that can imported into another service. Has this concerned you or do you have a work around?

 

[BigMcGuire]

I have also started using Apple Notes. But one thing concerns, me is the lack of ability to export notes that can imported into another service. Has this concerned you or do you have a work around?

Definitely concerns me. This is probably the biggest failing of Apple Notes. This is why I only use it for my notebook. Day One is for my thoughts and journaling - and I export that every month to a PDF. Notability for Handwritten data (exporting to pdf).

I see data I put into Apple Notes as somewhat expendable. 1Password has my important info/passwords and important work data (not secret) is stored in a text file for backup and duplication.

I consider Apple Notes as my notepad/post it notes. Quick tidbits go here, saved data from web, shared shopping lists/to do lists with my wife, etc. Anything important gets copied out to Day One, Notability, or OneNote.

 

[GerritV]

I have also started using Apple Notes. But one thing concerns, me is the lack of ability to export notes that can imported into another service. Has this concerned you or do you have a work around?

Not sure I understand. Apple Notes does have the Share button that allows to not only export or copy (*) to other apps including p.e. Dropbox, but also to create a pdf at the spot - offering more Share options from there on.

My main problem, since there are no real "pages" in a Note, there's no way to export a certain part of your note (like, say, pages 4 to 7).

(*) Anyone knows what's the difference??

 

[sracer]

Not sure I understand. Apple Notes does have the Share button that allows to not only export or copy (*) to other apps including p.e. Dropbox, but also to create a pdf at the spot - offering more Share options from there on.

My main problem, since there are no real "pages" in a Note, there's no way to export a certain part of your note (like, say, pages 4 to 7).

(*) Anyone knows what's the difference??

Exporting to PDF is only half of what @djs71a is needing. Once it is in PDF format, even if an app can import PDF, that app most likely won't be able to allow editing of the content of that PDF.

If a Note in Apple Notes contains text *and* sketches, COPYing that note results in separate files... .txt files for the text, and .PNG files for the sketches. It's a mess.

I'm a fan of Apple Notes but it is extremely limited in its ability to export to anything that can be used elsewhere.

 

[GerritV]

Exporting to PDF is only half of what @djs71a is needing. Once it is in PDF format, even if an app can import PDF, that app most likely won't be able to allow editing of the content of that PDF.

If a Note in Apple Notes contains text *and* sketches, COPYing that note results in separate files... .txt files for the text, and .PNG files for the sketches. It's a mess.

I'm a fan of Apple Notes but it is extremely limited in its ability to export to anything that can be used elsewhere.

Thanks for clarifying. As much as I’d like to switch to Apple Notes, I agree it has it’s quirks (quite some).
That being said, my own specific notetaking needs have lead me to Paper by Wetransfer

 

[djs71a]

Exporting to PDF is only half of what @djs71a is needing. Once it is in PDF format, even if an app can import PDF, that app most likely won't be able to allow editing of the content of that PDF.

If a Note in Apple Notes contains text *and* sketches, COPYing that note results in separate files... .txt files for the text, and .PNG files for the sketches. It's a mess.

I'm a fan of Apple Notes but it is extremely limited in its ability to export to anything that can be used elsewhere.

Exactly. I am using Apple Notes similar to how @BigMcGuire uses it. Almost like a temp space for quick notes. I use Google Drive for long term storage. Each week I export my Google Drive files. Docs are converted to Word documents, Sheets to Excel. I think it provides the maximum portability.

One reason I don't use it exclusively is it is cumbersome to enter data into Sheets / Docs while on my phone. So much easier to quickly send something to the Notes app.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Not sure I understand. Apple Notes does have the Share button that allows to not only export or copy (*) to other apps including p.e. Dropbox, but also to create a pdf at the spot - offering more Share options from there on.

My main problem, since there are no real "pages" in a Note, there's no way to export a certain part of your note (like, say, pages 4 to 7).

(*) Anyone knows what's the difference??

Apple Notes has a great export functionality, for one note. But say you want to export your 300+ notes for backup? That's where the line stands for me. Only one at a time. It is a great application and works great on my Apple devices. Just hope someday it has a real backup/data output feature.