I'm glad I am not the only one who is bugged by this. I hate that I can't resize photos. This is something I absolutely love in OneNote (and use all the time). Bugs me to no end that I can't resize a MASSIVE image (that in real life is tiny) because Apple Notes decided it needs to take up the whole screen.
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Evernote alternative
- Thread starter MacBH928
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I just noticed that Microsoft Notes is completely free. Really powerful and amazing tool, wonder why Microsoft didn't make it part of the 365 package. Too powerful for what I want though.
Maybe the world has changed but I don't trust taking notes in eletronic devices with a stylus. To each his own, but I feel real pen and paper is where it is as I also find flipping through real pages is easier/faster than to dig through a ton of files. I never tried Apple Pencil if it can give that real pen feedback.
Maybe the world has changed but I don't trust taking notes in eletronic devices with a stylus. To each his own, but I feel real pen and paper is where it is as I also find flipping through real pages is easier/faster than to dig through a ton of files. I never tried Apple Pencil if it can give that real pen feedback.
Apple Pencil 2 with an iCarez Matte screen protector comes pretty close. The advantage of Notability/OneNote/Good Notes is that the notes are always with you (iPhone) when you need them vs a notebook/pad that you have to carry around everywhere. Also, they can be shared a lot easier too. These apps also have the ability to search your handwritten text as well - imo - making finding stuff a lot easier than a paper notebook. But I've used Notability and Apple Pencil for years.
i never tried it, Apple Pencil is too expensive. I can see the advantage of being able to cut/paste/copy and insert items. Does OneNote accept stylus writing just as good as Notability?
Notability, IMO, is better but OneNote isn’t far behind. It is expensive, agreed.
This may sound a bit weird, but I've started using Apple Numbers as a research gathering/note collecting app.
The tabs are basically huge zoomable pages that you can dump anything into (text, images, audio, video, links, tables, shapes, drawings, etc.). Good for scrapbooking, brainstorming, and stuff like that.
It's very versatile.
The tabs are basically huge zoomable pages that you can dump anything into (text, images, audio, video, links, tables, shapes, drawings, etc.). Good for scrapbooking, brainstorming, and stuff like that.
It's very versatile.
Thanks to this thread, I learned about Bear. I've used Apple Notes for sometime and really liked it. The problem for me was I couldn't reconcile the fact that there was no viable way to get my important data out of it other than painfully one note at a time.
So finally I committed to move all my notes to Bear. It took a week working an hour or two per day. Not only do I prefer Bear, but I have a feeling of relief that comes from a sense that I own my data again. I can backup and always have archives of my notes, or export in multiple formats easy and quick. My notes are local, yet syned via iCloud to my phone, so I retain custody of them while having them available between devices.
Thanks to those that mentioned Bear, it is a great product. I wish I would have found it much earlier.
So finally I committed to move all my notes to Bear. It took a week working an hour or two per day. Not only do I prefer Bear, but I have a feeling of relief that comes from a sense that I own my data again. I can backup and always have archives of my notes, or export in multiple formats easy and quick. My notes are local, yet syned via iCloud to my phone, so I retain custody of them while having them available between devices.
Thanks to those that mentioned Bear, it is a great product. I wish I would have found it much earlier.
I use Apple Notes for small text files and to quickly reference things, but I don't find it perfect. It drives me nuts that I can't reorder a bulleted list by drag and drop, for example. But for "notes" it does the job well.
For more extensive notes (i.e., "research binder") I stick with OneNote. It is easy to use, syncs well, and most importantly, it is cross-platform and made by a massive software company (I generally like smaller developers better but not in this case). While I have exclusively used Apple products for the last 13 years, my research notes are far too important to me to ever risk having to leave them behind should I, for whatever reason, leave iOS & MacOS. I have not tried any of the other options because I am more confident that 20 years from now, regardless of platform I am on, Microsoft will be around and I will be able to access the notes I am making today.
I was upset with Numbers when I learned it had difficulty opening large files. I hear stuff like Excel can load 100K entry spread sheets no issues.
I think locking user data should be illegal. This is one of my biggest issues with proprietary files and no export options. An HTML file will work anywhere but a .docx is another issue. There is also the export to another app.
I was surprised that Google had an export emails features, if it didn't have that no one will move out of their Gmail inbox and leave their message history. Now Apple Notes join the team of not relying too much on it.
Good point that it's cross-platform. Just wondering how you back up your OneNote on the Mac. Last time I looked there was still no offline back-up feature in the Mac app (there is in the Windows version). You're supposed to be able to export from OneNote online though I've read this can take a long time and may require several attempts for large notebooks.
Otherwise you are reliant on it being sync'd to your OneDrive and much as I love MS it's not too hard to imagine something going wrong with that (whether technical glitch or accidental user deletion). On reddit etc. you see a lot of people losing their notes.
It's a genuine question – I looked at OneNote for a new project and feature-wise it was good, but for valuable research notes I would want local as well as cloud back-up.
That is an advantage when working with markdown/text apps like 1Writer and IA Writer: all notes are stored as plain text files. When switching to another markdown/text editor you only have to point the new app to the folder(s) with the notes.
I hear you on not trusting cloud syncing, my friend. My notes are backed up to Time Machine since I don't use OneDrive's "files on demand" feature, and once a week (or after major changes) I copy them to a USB drive as well. I'm sure there are better solutions, but it gives me peace of mind while using MacOS and keeps a cross-platform copy that I should be able to attach to any computer.
This is such a bad design that should never be implemented. Saving should always be local, once done it should be sent to the cloud. Internet packets are too finicky to rely on changes like this.
Has anybody here had a good look at Atom editor?
It has modes (and previewers) for Markdown and LaTeX (amongst many others, but these are document, not coding, modes).
It saves in plain text.
You can define one or more folders as Project folders, with each project in a separate folder in it, so you can keep track of your work.
If you sign up for DropBox or MEGA, it will synchronise the folders with it's servers, so you have a copy on each computer you sign into, as well as copy in the "cloud".
You can then use pandoc to export from Markdown or LaTeX into PDF, or ODT, or DOCX, or whatever.
It has modes (and previewers) for Markdown and LaTeX (amongst many others, but these are document, not coding, modes).
It saves in plain text.
You can define one or more folders as Project folders, with each project in a separate folder in it, so you can keep track of your work.
If you sign up for DropBox or MEGA, it will synchronise the folders with it's servers, so you have a copy on each computer you sign into, as well as copy in the "cloud".
You can then use pandoc to export from Markdown or LaTeX into PDF, or ODT, or DOCX, or whatever.
I’m a former heavy OneNote user on MS at my previous employment. It was a great note taking app, and so when I was evaluating my move from Apple Notes I looked at it. My concerns were much like yours. No data custody, and archival and export did not appear to be sufficient. Essentially the reason I was leaving Apple Notes.
Thanks. Which files do you copy to the USB drive - from the online version? The thing I wasn't 100% sure about with Time Machine is if the online version goes bad, what's to stop it syncing again to that after you restore.
Yes. Seems inexplicable except as a deliberate crippling of the Mac app.
Thanks, I will take a look at Bear too.
I have a Synology NAS and use Note Station. It has client apps for pretty much all platforms including mobile and a web clipper for Chromium-based browsers. I have used it for years when I transitioned from Evernote. I store so much information in there. A NAS can do so many things - I run Nextcloud, Bitwarden, Plex and AdGuard Home on mine and use it as a calendar/contacts server and cloud file storage. My philosophy is to have small, fast drives in computers and large drives in a NAS for file storage. Well worth the money!
thats an overkill, you are running your own cloud service. Can you access it away from home?
Yes. There's a Nextcloud app for iOS and Android which allows you to access your Nextcloud filesystem just like iCloud, OneDrive or Google Drive. The contacts and calendar on my iPhone syncs with my NAS wherever I am and Bitwarden works anywhere too. NoteStation too. It's all accessible from anywhere. It's seamless and absolutely as good for me as using Google services. The best thing, of course, is that my data is stored on my system and is not monetised by a company. It really isn't overkill - it's very straightforward. You can even set up Nextcloud on a Raspberry Pi with a few users.
I’m late to this but Notion
I freaking love it!!! Please give it a try. It’s free
I freaking love it!!! Please give it a try. It’s free
Always love these kinds of discussions.
Admittedly an Evernote fanboy (and subscriber!) for a very, very long time. But I have in last few years had brief moments where I wanted to stop using it. (Both of these moments occurred when they did major upgrades, that slowed the app down a lot... eventually they patched it up again, but infuriating each time).
Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that each time I tried to quit, there was nowhere to go. You see, in those moments I discovered I actually don't just use Evernote for notes. I primarily use it for clipping webpages and online articles, for my research. Nothing beats Evernote for this. Sure, there are dedicated apps like Pocket, that kind of work for this purpose. But for markup and adding notes, Evernote is in a separate class.
Ironically, while I do use Evernote also for dumping receipts, important emails, blood work, various scraps of paper, and some key notes (including like my month to month financial tracking and planning), I don't use it for the following:
1. Diary and daily to-do management: DayOne
2. Academic notes, longer-form writing: Ulysses
3. PDF markup: PDF Expert (hoping to transition all my academic PDF work soon to ReadCube Papers, as that's been really improving lately... and there may be Ulysses integration coming this year)
Big surprise of the last year? Oh, I stopped using Things!! I was using Things for a lot of stuff. But it was "work" you know? For some reason it just wasn't "easy," and I found I was always jotting down to-dos on paper, or in other apps. Then I realized that the Apple Reminders App is now basically addressing all my needs in a way I find much more usable. And I haven't looked back. I love how it handles.
Back to Evernote, I could imagine maybe leaving Evernote for OneNote, but the couple of times I've looked, I just haven't felt pulled in. Admittedly, the new version of Evernote has introduced some MAJOR changes, and created some challenges for me, and I need to sit down and really take the time to figure them all out. But overall, I actually like using Evernote. I have a kind of intuitive grasp of what I need it for, and that just works for me. Of all my subs, it is greatest value for money.
EDIT: OK, you guys just sent me down a rabbit hole... came across this rather persuasive argument for Bear!
UPDATE: I can't believe I'm writing this. But I think Bear looks amazing, and ... well, my Evernote subscription is ending on Feb 18... The webpage clipping is WAY better than Evernote. Nuts! I think I'm gonna do this! 😮 (Just need to be sure I can get all my notes out of Evernote and into Bear... )
Admittedly an Evernote fanboy (and subscriber!) for a very, very long time. But I have in last few years had brief moments where I wanted to stop using it. (Both of these moments occurred when they did major upgrades, that slowed the app down a lot... eventually they patched it up again, but infuriating each time).
Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that each time I tried to quit, there was nowhere to go. You see, in those moments I discovered I actually don't just use Evernote for notes. I primarily use it for clipping webpages and online articles, for my research. Nothing beats Evernote for this. Sure, there are dedicated apps like Pocket, that kind of work for this purpose. But for markup and adding notes, Evernote is in a separate class.
Ironically, while I do use Evernote also for dumping receipts, important emails, blood work, various scraps of paper, and some key notes (including like my month to month financial tracking and planning), I don't use it for the following:
1. Diary and daily to-do management: DayOne
2. Academic notes, longer-form writing: Ulysses
3. PDF markup: PDF Expert (hoping to transition all my academic PDF work soon to ReadCube Papers, as that's been really improving lately... and there may be Ulysses integration coming this year)
Big surprise of the last year? Oh, I stopped using Things!! I was using Things for a lot of stuff. But it was "work" you know? For some reason it just wasn't "easy," and I found I was always jotting down to-dos on paper, or in other apps. Then I realized that the Apple Reminders App is now basically addressing all my needs in a way I find much more usable. And I haven't looked back. I love how it handles.
Back to Evernote, I could imagine maybe leaving Evernote for OneNote, but the couple of times I've looked, I just haven't felt pulled in. Admittedly, the new version of Evernote has introduced some MAJOR changes, and created some challenges for me, and I need to sit down and really take the time to figure them all out. But overall, I actually like using Evernote. I have a kind of intuitive grasp of what I need it for, and that just works for me. Of all my subs, it is greatest value for money.
EDIT: OK, you guys just sent me down a rabbit hole... came across this rather persuasive argument for Bear!
UPDATE: I can't believe I'm writing this. But I think Bear looks amazing, and ... well, my Evernote subscription is ending on Feb 18... The webpage clipping is WAY better than Evernote. Nuts! I think I'm gonna do this! 😮 (Just need to be sure I can get all my notes out of Evernote and into Bear... )
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Always love these kinds of discussions.
Admittedly an Evernote fanboy (and subscriber!) for a very, very long time. But I have in last few years had brief moments where I wanted to stop using it. (Both of these moments occurred when they did major upgrades, that slowed the app down a lot... eventually they patched it up again, but infuriating each time).
Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that each time I tried to quit, there was nowhere to go. You see, in those moments I discovered I actually don't just use Evernote for notes. I primarily use it for clipping webpages and online articles, for my research. Nothing beats Evernote for this. Sure, there are dedicated apps like Pocket, that kind of work for this purpose. But for markup and adding notes, Evernote is in a separate class.
Ironically, while I do use Evernote also for dumping receipts, important emails, blood work, various scraps of paper, and some key notes (including like my month to month financial tracking and planning), I don't use it for the following:
1. Diary and daily to-do management: DayOne
2. Academic notes, longer-form writing: Ulysses
3. PDF markup: PDF Expert (hoping to transition all my academic PDF work soon to ReadCube Papers, as that's been really improving lately... and there may be Ulysses integration coming this year)
Big surprise of the last year? Oh, I stopped using Things!! I was using Things for a lot of stuff. But it was "work" you know? For some reason it just wasn't "easy," and I found I was always jotting down to-dos on paper, or in other apps. Then I realized that the Apple Reminders App is now basically addressing all my needs in a way I find much more usable. And I haven't looked back. I love how it handles.
Back to Evernote, I could imagine maybe leaving Evernote for OneNote, but the couple of times I've looked, I just haven't felt pulled in. Admittedly, the new version of Evernote has introduced some MAJOR changes, and created some challenges for me, and I need to sit down and really take the time to figure them all out. But overall, I actually like using Evernote. I have a kind of intuitive grasp of what I need it for, and that just works for me. Of all my subs, it is greatest value for money.
EDIT: OK, you guys just sent me down a rabbit hole... came across this rather persuasive argument for Bear!
UPDATE: I can't believe I'm writing this. But I think Bear looks amazing, and ... well, my Evernote subscription is ending on Feb 18... The webpage clipping is WAY better than Evernote. Nuts! I think I'm gonna do this! 😮 (Just need to be sure I can get all my notes out of Evernote and into Bear... )
If you are looking for an Evernote alternative, I found Nimbus to me most like Evernote. I am not recommending because I don't use it but its like an Evernote copy cat.
Honestly, Evernote is great for what it is. I like to this of it as the MS Office for notes. They only reason I don't want to use it is because they are bothering me with subscription requests and it feels bloat -for me- because it has too many powerful features that I do not use.
Nimbus looks great!! But, while I am considering it, the fact of the matter is that Evernote has me on some kind of legacy plan, where I pay only $45/year for their pro package. So, looks like Nimbus would be MORE expensive for me to use, than Evernote.
Meanwhile I am currently migrating all my notes into Bear, as it DOES seem to be kind of nifty! I very much like the way it strips down formatting of clipped articles into its own markup theme. However, the migration seems to be taking forever. Even tho I have broken down my Evernote library into smaller notebooks. Also, the synchro with iOS seems to be really bad. But I have read it can be like this at first, if you are moving in large amounts of stuff from Evernote (which I kind of am).
I may yet decide not to move to Bear. But, at that price point, and if it turns out to sync ok, I think I could see myself moving.
EDIT: Reporting back after a couple of days. Decided not to do Bear. At least, not any time soon. It can't handle large syncs. It just can't. Importing to Bear takes FOREVER to show up on the phone. And once you have 5000+ notes (less than half of what I have in Evernote) the editor on the iPhone really slows down. I have an iPhone 12 Pro. It shouldn't be this slow, using a notes app. You want a notes app to just work. Evernote just works. I pay $44 a year for it, because I'm on some kind of legacy deal. Bear would be a lot cheaper, but at least with Evernote I can get my work done and not have to battle the software.
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Hmm...you give a bullet proof attempt at privacy. I wonder if one can do his emails like this too. But the NAS is expensive isn't it? Also how do you do backups? Can you do encrypted backups to a cloud service?
How does Bitwarden and NextCloud make money if its free to implement?