For easy sharing in Notability what I do is auto-backup to PDF format to OneDrive, from which I can share the PDF notes with other team members. Not everyone that I work with has OneNote experience so I find PDF sharing easier. OneNote has its infinite canvas setup which isn’t conducive to PDF sharing so I don’t use it. Generally I find Notability quite powerful.
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iPad Pro Best Note Taking App - iPad Pro - 2020
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For easy sharing in Notability what I do is auto-backup to PDF format to OneDrive, from which I can share the PDF notes with other team members. Not everyone that I work with has OneNote experience so I find PDF sharing easier. OneNote has its infinite canvas setup which isn’t conducive to PDF sharing so I don’t use it. Generally I find Notability quite powerful.
I just recently got back to the iPad Pro scene. I had the first iPad pro several years ago. I actually used Notability at the time. I recalled it would sometime have issues taking in large PDF files? say 50-70MB? there was something that really bothered me at the time. I think it suffer from having hard time dealign with large pdf and writing sync issues on it? The other one I have is PDFExport. I think I got it for very cheap several years ago, just got it back last time and it still works very well.
Yeah I can’t really speak towards importing of large PDFs like that. I generally don’t do it, but I do import small PDFs, things like handouts and powerpoints to take notes on and don’t have any issues.
My experience with PDFs in general on the iPad is ok for general use but when I try to review plan sets (I’m a civil engineer and do roadway/utility design) that have complex topography within them things can get dicey. I’ve had some files that I just couldn’t open in various applications without major lag issues moving around. It wasn’t always a large file either though it coulld contain a TON of vectorized graphics. So yeah I know what you mean. In a pinch a few times I’d import troublesome PDFs into Notability and they’d sometimes work better (but not great).
My experience with PDFs in general on the iPad is ok for general use but when I try to review plan sets (I’m a civil engineer and do roadway/utility design) that have complex topography within them things can get dicey. I’ve had some files that I just couldn’t open in various applications without major lag issues moving around. It wasn’t always a large file either though it coulld contain a TON of vectorized graphics. So yeah I know what you mean. In a pinch a few times I’d import troublesome PDFs into Notability and they’d sometimes work better (but not great).
Unfortunately still an issue. I tried once or twice to import such big files and it failed. I ended up with over 200! empty pages that I had to delete manually as you cannot delete multiple pages in Notability with one action. Quite annoying really.
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True that if you want to export in PDF OneNote is not the best option due its infinite canvas. However at work we all use OneNote so I do not need to do export. I just share the OneNote notebook itself and that's it. In this sense Notability way is slower (having to export to PDF and then share manually and you have to do it whenever something new is added).
Both have their perks and I use both apps for different purposes. OneNote is great for typing meeting minutes. You can have the template, you can use tags and add TO DOs and you can with one action share with others for the whole life cycle of the notebook. Notability is about handwritten notes that I do not need to share for example with all of my team and that I can share only once the need arises.
I am also looking for a school notes app and your cost reference for OCR got me curious. With Notability you pay once and that is it (plus an addition for OCR also a one time payment). With Goodnotes I read that every version update there is a cost. If the latter is true It may be cheaper to get the Notability + OCR app with no update costs. Would this be correct??
Nebo is excellent as well with no subscription. In my opinion, it has better features and better hand recognition.
For the time I have been using GoodNotes there have been two versions - 4 and 5. I was able to upgrade to 5th version for free (from 4th). I might have been left with the wrong impression but the way I understood it within a certain period of time you can upgrade from older to newer version for free. After that I assume you have to pay additionally. Mind you, I was informed about the new version by pure luck (either this forum or something else) and I am not sure that I would have been able to upgrade for free if I had not stumbled upon on this.
I do not know Notability's politics when it comes to new versions. I assume that it is like you said - you pay once and then you get to use it and upgrade it.
This is definitely a factor and it needs to be checked. You mare really a great point!
i use Notes for most of my typed note taking, but if i am doing anything with the pencil I prefer to use OneNote, it lets you keep expanding the canvas, and you can edit your scribbles later on whereas Notes has a fixed size canvas and bakes anything drawn with the pencil after closing the note taking session.
Notability hands down. Taking notes while recording a lecture is what did it for me. I have 0 complaints
Somebody on this forum recently suggested Nebo and I downloaded it a few days ago and I have to say that I am enjoying it. I have left-handed-chicken-scratch for handwriting and I drag my hand across the iPad when I write and the Nebo software picks it up flawlessly and changes it to type.
I like what they did with Sticky Notes within OneNote - except they are a complete mess when you try to use them with Apple Notes.
Which app comes closest to having composition books? I think GoodNote has an option where you can have different notebooks with customizable covers.
As iPad software remains a great value...I opted to start checking out Goodnotes. I saw things in both this app and Notability that I liked. My courses are all on line and I tend to like to compartmentalize areas of study within a course and often later use quizlets or flashcards to help retain and enforce concepts and information. I may later try a couple of the other named software here. I admit I wish that they would allow a 5 day trial or something of that sort before a purchase but again, none of these really break the bank.
Personally I use Notes for all my day to day notes, and Notion as a long term project planning and task manager. I have tried Notability but with the iPadOS 14 updates, Notes does everything I need. Notion is a very interesting app, with a lot of powerful functionality. It does not use the pencil for much other than just point and click is my biggest complaint about it.
Although more for artists , I do like Concepts but it is stylus or pencil only. Infinite canvas but lined paper too with excellent colours make it easy to look nice with drawings too. Annual sub but worth it. Downside is no iCloud sync yet else satisfying to use and PDF Export works well.
I'm not pushing Paperlike (because apparently it sucks from the reviews I've read/seen) but they have a good chart that compares both your apps:
paperlike.com
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I've also read some issues with Notability where folks have lost ALL their notes. PAINFUL. For me, I'll probably be getting Goodnotes.
Best iPad Notetaking App: Goodnotes vs Notability
The GoodNotes vs Notability debate has been around for a while. Both are powerful tools for students and business professionals who want to use their iOS devices like a digital whiteboard to capture handwritten notes and compile detailed documents.How do they compare to one another, and which...
paperlike.com
I've also read some issues with Notability where folks have lost ALL their notes. PAINFUL. For me, I'll probably be getting Goodnotes.
Apple Notes lets you do this at least in iPadOS 14. I tried with Notability but could not find a way to do it. I can't comment on the others.
Multi-Note and Note Switcher
Multi-Note lets you open and work on two notes at once. With the Note Switcher, you can switch between notes quickly. Ideas for Using Multi-Note Highlight terms in a textbook and summarize concep...
Notability can do it - what I like about notability is, the split notes is in app, so I can take things from one note to another if I cut, etc.
GoodNotes' split view is nice too (harder to take something from one note to another tho, if you do that sort of thing).
I’ve used it some. Their conversion engine is amazing. I mostly use it for creating mathematical text for insertion in other documents. I don’t need to take a lot of notes so I do my scribbling in Concepts. If I was back in school I would probably give this a hard look because it does work so well with handwriting.