Best iPad Note Taking app !!

[Donka]

Unfortunately, the Notability zoombox doesn't do it for me. Even if I write like a four year old, the result on the page is way too small writing for me. Also, unless moving the zoombox way up, there's not even palm rejection within the zoomed area. Not a good experience IMHO
I tried writing directly on the page, but the palmrest is primitive compared to, again, NoteShelf.

Too bad, but I'm not convinced to take the jump. Unless some Notability users have tips for me...

Had a quick play with this on my mini here at work. Have you tried expanding the size of the target text box on the page? This directly affects the text size. While using the zoom box, if you use a two finger stretch gesture anywhere above this on the page it will increase the size of the target text box and therefore the size of handwritten text.
As for palm rejection, I'm a little lost. You can turn on the palm rest and slide the zoom box half way up the page and everything below this will be ignored by the app. There isn't palm rejection in zoomed area for obvious reasons as that is where you are writing unless I am missing something?

 

[diane143]

I've been using Noteability for over a year now. Really like it but there are shortcomings for me:

No way to link to a calendar
No way to make a list of things to be checked off. I end up highlighting things I need to do and then just crossing them off as if I were writing on actual paper
I recently discovered what I type is not picked up in searches from the iPad search screen?

I absolutely love the recording feature though. And the fact you can draw in it, and import files.

I'd love to find an app that works like a planner, where you flip pages rather than scroll down the screen.

I've downloaded LifeTopix recently and while it's got some cool features, I'm not sure its notetaking capabilities are like Noteability.

 

[GerritV]

Had a quick play with this on my mini here at work. Have you tried expanding the size of the target text box on the page? This directly affects the text size. While using the zoom box, if you use a two finger stretch gesture anywhere above this on the page it will increase the size of the target text box and therefore the size of handwritten text.
As for palm rejection, I'm a little lost. You can turn on the palm rest and slide the zoom box half way up the page and everything below this will be ignored by the app. There isn't palm rejection in zoomed area for obvious reasons as that is where you are writing unless I am missing something?

I did expand the target box to it's maximum, if not the zoom factor is way too big for me. But at the same time, the zoom writing area spans 3 whole lines. While writing on the top line, my hand is touching the bottom part. The Noteshelf zoombox is one line high with everything below protected, much easier really.
I'll keep practicing, but I fear this could be the deal breaker for me.

 

[GerritV]

Here's an attempt to compare my three contestants.

L2R:
Notability using the pen (the only writing tool option)
Noteshelf using the pen and the pencil (other option is caligraphy)
Notes Plus using the pen with default ink style and the new fountain pen style

I tried to do the same on all tests, but depending on the app's inking quality, my handwriting changes (for the better or worse...).
To be honest: Noteshelf is my daily app, I'm getting back into Notes Plus since their update, while I'm new in Notability.

Any other questions, just ask.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7919533/notes.jpg

 

[Donka]

Looking at your image, I'm guessing because you are wanting the resultant output to be larger text and still write on a line? If that is the case, why not just adjust the paper and use one with a greater gap between the lines so that there is just a single line near the bottom of the zoom window?
If you make the target text box larger for larger text, you would want to change the paper for one with larger gaps between the lines to compensate. Alternatively, you can move the target text box so it sits with a line at the very bottom and you are therefore writing at the bottom of the zoom box although it can be hard to position on the box on the very top line of the page depending on zoom size.

 

[GerritV]

Looking at your image, I'm guessing because you are wanting the resultant output to be larger text and still write on a line? If that is the case, why not just adjust the paper and use one with a greater gap between the lines so that there is just a single line near the bottom of the zoom window?
If you make the target text box larger for larger text, you would want to change the paper for one with larger gaps between the lines to compensate. Alternatively, you can move the target text box so it sits with a line at the very bottom and you are therefore writing at the bottom of the zoom box although it can be hard to position on the box on the very top line of the page depending on zoom size.

Thanks for all the good tips Donka, looks like I have some homework to do.

 

[Donka]

You're welcome. Not trying to sell Notability to you, just trying to help you explore different ways of getting the most out of it. Let us know how you get on.

 

[GerritV]

Noteshelf version 8 is released!
PDF annotation (finally), redesigned toolbar, favorite tool palette, custom covers, many improvements all around...

The Noteshelf writing experience is still the best I ever had, by a long stretch. YMMV

 

[Donka]

Noteshelf version 8 is released!
PDF annotation (finally), redesigned toolbar, favorite tool palette, custom covers, many improvements all around...

The Noteshelf writing experience is still the best I ever had, by a long stretch. YMMV

Just tried it - had it previously. I like the handwriting but no audio recording is a deal breaker for me. It is a good app though.

 

[iLeopard87]

Nite Taking could be done in different ways. Try Evernote. Try it.

 

[GerritV]

Nite Taking could be done in different ways. Try Evernote. Try it.

I prefer handwriting my notes instead of typing. For the Evernote workflow, that would come down to using Penultimate - not exactly my favorite app for a number of reasons.
And even if, Evernote's latest version has become way to complex interfacewise.
Of course, that is just my opinion.

 

[smithydan]

Noteshelf version 8 is released!
PDF annotation (finally), redesigned toolbar, favorite tool palette, custom covers, many improvements all around...

The Noteshelf writing experience is still the best I ever had, by a long stretch. YMMV

Wouldn't say the best, but it is a damn good app! I like the update.

 

[Outline Team]

All the power of digital note-taking app on your iPad!



Hey there,
We just came across this post and want to introduce you to the one which seems to meet your expectations.
Outline app takes you to the intuitive note-taking experience which is literally a tap away.
Your class notes, business documents, recipes and drafts can be placed anywhere on a page
and annotated with our colourful highlighters.When it’s something that you can’t put in words…draw!
With a variety of inks offered by Outline
you are free to express creativity.
Now your notebooks with their genuinely unique style are always on the go.

With Outline for iPad you can:
- Place your notes and images anywhere on a page
- Modify your notes with the help of built-in styles
- Organize your notebooks with their hierarchical structure
- Highlight the most prominent ideas
- Export to PDF
- Sync with iTunes, SkyDrive, Dropbox and Box
- Get your OneNote files on iPad

With the update 2.6. you’ll be able to:
- Add tags customized to your themes
- Copy and paste all sorts of content within a page (like multiparagraph texts, images, tables etc.)
- Protect your sections with a password
- Sync with SharePoint
Stay tuned to get some news from us!
https://www.facebook.com/outlineapp
https://twitter.com/OutlineApp

 

[StuBeck]

Does it have palm recognition?

 

[GerritV]

Does it have palm recognition?

In case you refer to Outline, it doesn't even have handwriting. So palm recognition isn't a must.
What it does have -IMHO- is a very complex interface.

 

[yeef]

Notability

I have tried a lot of note taking apps and found that Notability is probably the best of all.

You can import PDF files from Dropbox, Box, Google Drive and a lot other cloud services.

The most amazing part of this app that I like is that I can write on files instead of always just typing everything.

 

[abookin]

Noteability is very helpful app!

I am using Noteability for a long time and I am completely satisfied! I like the way it illustrates my pictures, zoom window is rather useful, because all the the written details looks brilliant!

 

[GerritV]

Notability is really popular over here, that much is sure.

Anyway, Noteshelf just went on sale, 80% off!
I say: "Do yourself a favor lads"

 

[TJ61]

Anyway, Noteshelf just went on sale, 80% off!
I say: "Do yourself a favor lads"

Done! Thanks for the "Head's Up"!

 

[marc.garcia]

Done! Thanks for the "Head's Up"!

Done too!!! Thanks for that!!

 

[AlliFlowers]

Gonna give Notes Plus a try. For the last year I've been using Zoom Notes and absolutely love it. It's been a life saver at meetings when I want to handwrite notes, but be able to easily return to a specific point (bookmarks).

 

[GerritV]

Gonna give Notes Plus a try. For the last year I've been using Zoom Notes and absolutely love it. It's been a life saver at meetings when I want to handwrite notes, but be able to easily return to a specific point (bookmarks).

The inking effect in the pen style (ON by default) may take a bit off the responsiveness, but it makes the writing look so much more natural, organic and dynamic. IMHO this is a feature quite unique to Notes Plus. Check my attachment in reply 354 above, hope it helps.
Best of luck, and let us know your findings.

 

[Baklava]

Notability! Best iPad app ever!

 

[resting]

Does anyone knows of any apps that has a extremely large canvas?

Something that can be used to draw mindmaps or flow charts in.

I'm not sure if this is considered a sketching or note taking app.

 

[Donka]

Does anyone knows of any apps that has a extremely large canvas?

Something that can be used to draw mindmaps or flow charts in.

I'm not sure if this is considered a sketching or note taking app.

There are apps specifically for mind mapping or flow charts. For a technical app that does flow charts look up Touchdraw. For basic mind mapping look up Idea Sketch. Both have an unlimited canvas.