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iPad Pro Best Notetaking app for ipad pro?

alanderp

alanderp

macrumors regular
Sep 15, 2016
240
231
I used Notability for about a year until this semester for school. I looked into getting the Mac version for Notability and was scared off by the terrible reviews about automatic cloud syncing via iCloud.

This was my chance to try out GoodNotes5 and realized the iPad app included the desktop version and the syncing was instant. After a few days writing with GN5, I prefer it over Notability although I miss Notabiliy’s ability to generate a straight line by holding down my drawn line.
 
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BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,032
Notability! I use it for all of my handwritten notes. Onenote for typed notes (work) and iaWriter for personal typed notes.
 
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Rainycats

Rainycats

macrumors newbie
Dec 15, 2017
5
13
ii used pdf expert, Microsoft One note, apple notepad and the like, something that for me was very important, was the pen function, did it really really write well, as well as highlighting and using it as paper. Without a doubt, after trying so many, GoodNotes is the best!!!
 
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odonnelly99

macrumors regular
Jan 9, 2013
174
256
Austin, TX
npolly0212 said:
Hey All, my ipad is going to be arriving tomorrow. Trying to get ahead of myself with it - what is your favorite note taking app to use with the apple pencil?
Click to expand...

I use my preferred note taking app for anything from journal writing to grocery lists. But i’m not gonna tell you what I use, instead I’m going to say:

Start with the native apple notes app. Use it for a week or two to get the hang of things, especially if you’re going to be using the pencil a lot. After that 1-2 weeks, you might find out that apple notes does everything you need. It’s a good app. If not, then you can branch out from there to other more feature packed note taking apps.

The goal here is to find a notes app that works for you, and stick with it. You don’t want to get into the bad habit that myself and many others have, which is always searching for the “perfect“ notes app. You end up spending more time searching for your white whale than actually getting any writing or note taking done. You also end up with stuff you’ve written scattered across a dozen note taking apps.

So, yeah. Just start with Apple notes, and have a lot of fun using the pencil and learning it’s tricks.


You’ll thank me later : )
 
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GerritV

GerritV

macrumors 68020
May 11, 2012
2,266
2,742
odonnelly99 said:
I use my preferred note taking app for anything from journal writing to grocery lists. But i’m not gonna tell you what I use, instead I’m going to say:

Start with the native apple notes app. Use it for a week or two to get the hang of things, especially if you’re going to be using the pencil a lot. After that 1-2 weeks, you might find out that apple notes does everything you need. It’s a good app. If not, then you can branch out from there to other more feature packed note taking apps.

The goal here is to find a notes app that works for you, and stick with it. You don’t want to get into the bad habit that myself and many others have, which is always searching for the “perfect“ notes app. You end up spending more time searching for your white whale than actually getting any writing or note taking done. You also end up with stuff you’ve written scattered across a dozen note taking apps.

So, yeah. Just start with Apple notes, and have a lot of fun using the pencil and learning it’s tricks.


You’ll thank me later : )
Click to expand...

I think this is very good advice, if not the best.
 
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sky87

macrumors regular
Nov 7, 2015
165
124
My current notetaking app is Notability for the vast majority of my notes. However I use Goodnotes5 for certain things (particularly reading pdf textbooks) as I find it a lot easier to highlight, make annotations, and navigate large pdf files in Goodnotes5. Both sync across very nicely between my devices (iPad, iPhone, Macs).

Since I upgraded to my iPad Pro a few months back I have tried out Evernote (my previous default), OneNote, Notability (which I used to use before going to Evernote), and Goodnotes5 (completely new to me). They are all good for different things so it really depends on your use case!

Evernote
Pros - good cross platform (Windows compatible - which is why I was using it), handles drawings/diagrams in line with text well, prints out notes nicely.
Cons - heavy use requires subscription, notes tend to refresh when I open the app

OneNote
Pros - good cross platform, infinite canvas
Cons - infinite canvas, typed notes need to go into textboxes which don't always align well

Notability
Pros - handles text and typing well (can type both with and without textboxes)
Cons - limited to Apple devices, doesn't deal well with page sizes, doesn't deal well with drawings/diagrams in line with text, folder organisation is limited

Goodnotes5
Pros - good folder organisation option, can set default page sizes, nice highlighting/markup options
Cons - does not handle text and typing well (can only use textboxes, no easy bulletpoints), limited to Apple devices

Ultimately I went with Notability for my notes because I type a lot and the ability to handle text well was important to me. The "limited to Apple devices" thing is no longer an issue now that all my devices are Apple (I held out for ages against switching to a Mac so this used to be a issue). I found some workarounds for the cons (page sizes, drawings/diagrams) so I can live with them for now. I really liked Evernote but didn't feel it was worth the cost of the subscription.
 
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phrehdd

phrehdd

Contributor
Oct 25, 2008
4,507
1,463
npolly0212 said:
Hey All, my ipad is going to be arriving tomorrow. Trying to get ahead of myself with it - what is your favorite note taking app to use with the apple pencil?
Click to expand...

Take a moment to check out Youtube as some people do some fairly nice review and comparison of the more popular note taking apps. Goodnotes 5 and Notability seem quite popular these days but you may find another quality note taking app more to your liking. One thing I admit I really do like about iPad and such is the price of the apps in that often for a couple of 10's or so, you can have two apps to play with. As you noticed, some like to use more than one note taking app depending on what they are doing.

You never did say what you were using a note taking app for with respect to say school (types of courses) or maybe some lectures etc. Easier to recommend knowing more of your needs.

Some allow for a fast copy-paste from an ebook or similar while others do fantastic of understanding your handwriting and changing it to print yet others resized your scribbles and allow you to re-arrange easier and of course, once you create all these notes you'll want a system to access them again (perfect example where Notability and Goodnotes differ).
 
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Precursor

Cancelled
Sep 29, 2015
1,091
1,066
Istanbul
sky87 said:
Goodnotes5
Pros - good folder organisation option, can set default page sizes, nice highlighting/markup options
Cons - does not handle text and typing well (can only use textboxes, no easy bulletpoints), limited to Apple devices
Click to expand...

Another HUGE pro for Goodnotes is that you can search for a text and it will browse through your handwriting and find it
I have been using it for taking notes for the last 4 years and it is incredible to be able to search through my handwriting from 4 years ago!
 
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