Universal Great Notes App for IPad, iPhone and Mac.

[jaybar]

Hi

Looking for alternatives to Apple Notes.

I am looking for a great notes app that has the following features:

Easy to use.
Easy Handwriting to text.
Use on Mac, iPad, iPhone
Support Apple Pencil
Support ASK
Supports iCloud synchronization and storage.

I already have an office 365 subscription. I am not co side ring One Note.

Would be willing to pay for the App, but I would prefer non-subscription.

 

[lexvo]

Goodnotes is a nice app and available on iOS and MacOS.

Same for Notability, but I think it doesn't have handwriting to text conversion.

 

[jaybar]

Goodnotes is a nice app and available on iOS and MacOS.

Same for Notability, but I think it doesn't have handwriting to text conversion.

Thanks

Does Goodnotes have handwriting to text? Any thoughts on Nebo?

Jay

 

[lexvo]

Yes, Goodnotes has handwriting to text. You can even search in you handwriting.

I don't know Nebo.

 

[zhenya]

I vote for Goodnotes. Long track record with a responsive developer who releases regular updates and bug fixes. Nebo looks promising, but it is a new app with little track record. Keep in mind that any note app you choose will effectively lock you into their format - you can typically export only as pdf or jpeg - so choose wisely.

 

[richpjr]

Hi

Looking for alternatives to Apple Notes.

I am looking for a great notes app that has the following features:

Easy to use.
Easy Handwriting to text.
Use on Mac, iPad, iPhone
Support Apple Pencil
Support ASK
Supports iCloud synchronization and storage.

I already have an office 365 subscription. I am not co side ring One Note.

Would be willing to pay for the App, but I would prefer non-subscription.

Out of curiosity, what do you not like about OneNote?

 

[GerritV]

Another vote for GoodNotes. It seems to fit your needs - but still a note about how it's handwriting to text works:
1- write text by hand
2- select it and long-tap to get access to the contextual menu
3- there you pick "Convert to text"
4- in the dialog where the text is being typed, you can then send (share) it to other apps or copy it
5- in that last case, close the dialog and paste the text from your clipboard to your notebook page.

The reason I wanted to point that out is that Nebo works very different:
1- write text by hand
2- just above your scribbles the typed text appears almost immediately as a visual control (so you can go back and rewrite)
3- double-tap your handwritten text and the typed text falls onto it's spot (where you can still edit it)

Nebo has some cool pen strokes to create a space, a carriage return...

IMHO Nebo is great if all (most) of what you do is write - and of course if you want that to be converted to typed text right away. However, if you're like me and need to draw/sketch in between your scribbles and perhaps throw in some images, GoodNotes is much more up to that. Nebo will have you fiddling with the page layout all the time.

I heard rumors of Notability having added text conversion recently, but I can't seem to find it in the app.


EDIT
One more thing: both Nebo and GoodNotes are using MyScript for their text conversion.

 

[jaybar]

Another vote for GoodNotes. It seems to fit your needs - but still a note about how it's handwriting to text works:
1- write text by hand
2- select it and long-tap to get access to the contextual menu
3- there you pick "Convert to text"
4- in the dialog where the text is being typed, you can then send (share) it to other apps or copy it
5- in that last case, close the dialog and paste the text from your clipboard to your notebook page.

The reason I wanted to point that out is that Nebo works very different:
1- write text by hand
2- just above your scribbles the typed text appears almost immediately as a visual control (so you can go back and rewrite)
3- double-tap your handwritten text and the typed text falls onto it's spot (where you can still edit it)

Nebo has some cool pen strokes to create a space, a carriage return...

IMHO Nebo is great if all (most) of what you do is write - and of course if you want that to be converted to typed text right away. However, if you're like me and need to draw/sketch in between your scribbles and perhaps throw in some images, GoodNotes is much more up to that. Nebo will have you fiddling with the page layout all the time.

I heard rumors of Notability having added text conversion recently, but I can't seem to find it in the app.


EDIT
One more thing: both Nebo and GoodNotes are using MyScript for their text conversion.

Does Nebo have a Mac version?

 

[GerritV]

Does Nebo have a Mac version?

Not to my knowledge, and the website doesn't mention it. I plan on figuring out the Dropbox connection later.

 

[jaybar]

Hi

I have a question about Apple notes. Me and my husband share an Apple ID. Given that, is there any way to separate our notes?

My husband uses Apple notes. I currrntly use notability. Life would be easier, if we could both use Apple notes, if we can separate them.

 

[sean000]

Hi

I have a question about Apple notes. Me and my husband share an Apple ID. Given that, is there any way to separate our notes?

My husband uses Apple notes. I currrntly use notability. Life would be easier, if we could both use Apple notes, if we can separate them.

You can each have your own folder (or folders) within Apple Notes, but all notes will be synced between your devices and his. Using a separate note app is one way to keep things totally separate. On the other hand, it must be really easy for you to share notes with each other

Honestly your best bet is to each have your own Apple ID, for reasons that go way beyond Notes. Apple IDs and Google accounts (for Android) just aren't meant to be shared by multiple individuals. iOS offers Family Sharing, which allows you to share app store and iTunes purchases between the two of you using separate Apple ID's (as well as other family members). It works well.

Why note just keep using notability or a different third party note taking app? I'm not a fan of the native Notes app in iOS. Perhaps iOS Notes will finally be the note-taking app it should be in iOS 11. My wife and I are currently taking and sharing notes with Google Keep on our iOS devices. I also use OneNote for work, and I still have some notes in Evernote since I used to use that.

Sean

 

[jaybar]

Thanks Sean

The issue is the use of the iMac. Sean, correct me if I am wrong, but I thought that having two Apple ID's would require each of us to have a separate log in for the iMac my husband prefers the convenience of a single log in for the iMac. That is what has held us back. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? If so, in what way?

Thanks

 

[sean000]

Hi

Looking for alternatives to Apple Notes.

I am looking for a great notes app that has the following features:

Easy to use.
Easy Handwriting to text.
Use on Mac, iPad, iPhone
Support Apple Pencil
Support ASK
Supports iCloud synchronization and storage.

I already have an office 365 subscription. I am not co side ring One Note.

Would be willing to pay for the App, but I would prefer non-subscription.

What is ASK? I'm curious

If you haven't tried it, I would consider OneNote. It's a powerful note-taking app that is surprisingly easy, but I will definitely say it's not my first choice for an iPhone. I only mention it because you're an o365 subscriber (although the OneNote app and online version are available for free as well), because it does integrate well with Office 365 and you might really like it (assuming you haven't already tried it). It actually scales down better than I would expect, and it might have the best search capability of any note-taking app I've used, but it still isn't something I like to use on an iPhone. This could be due to the complexity of my work notes though. I work in an organization that uses Office 365, and OneNote is the most widely used platform for storing and sharing information. I love the fact that I can easily find information in OneNote from my iPhone, but many of the notebooks we use at work have many sections and many pages (sometimes even sub-sections and sub-pages). Even on an iPhone it isn't difficult to navigate those big notebooks, but I guess that's the thing: OneNote is great if you work within complex notebooks, but sometimes you just want a simple and elegant note-taking app that doesn't have too many features... but has the ones that matter most to you. OneNote's problem is that it is primarily a desktop application. Microsoft has done an excellent job of making it work on a small device, but in my opinion it's better on the iPad than it is on the iPhone.

I used to be an Evernote user, but I don't think Evernote grew or aged gracefully. Over the years it seemed to get slower and more complex, while OneNote just kept getting better. Still, OneNote is not my favorite to use on the iPhone. Lately I have been using Google Keep because my wife and I both have Google accounts and Keep's simplicity makes it really attractive to her. Since it is important for me to share notes with her, I'm happy to use whatever she is happy to use. Keep looks good and is totally simple to use. No handwriting to text support though, so it wouldn't work for your purposes.

Sean
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Thanks Sean

The issue is the use of the iMac. Sean, correct me if I am wrong, but I thought that having two Apple ID's would require each of us to have a separate log in for the iMac my husband prefers the convenience of a single log in for the iMac. That is what has held us back. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? If so, in what way?

Thanks

It depends on what you want to sync to your iMac. If you have information on your personal Apple ID that you want to sync to the iMac, then yes the ideal would be to have your own iMac login. You can both be signed in to the iMac at the same time, and switching between users is fast and easy (and I like the animation Apple uses to switch between user profiles).

If you only care about having access to some information on the iMac, it might be information you can share with your husband (calendar, photos, etc.). But if you haven't tried switching users on an iMac, it's really fast and easy. Nobody needs to shut down apps. You just switch back and forth by clicking your name in the upper right corner.

Sean

 

[AllergyDoc]

What is ASK? I'm curious

Sean

Apple Smart Keyboard, for iPad Pros.

 

[sean000]

Apple Smart Keyboard, for iPad Pros.

Ah... thanks! I should have known since I have an iPad Pro (the 9.7-inch), but I don't have the Smart Keyboard or the Pencil.

Wouldn't the Smart Keyboard work with any app, or are there special features of the keyboard that only some apps support?

 

[AllergyDoc]

Ah... thanks! I should have known since I have an iPad Pro (the 9.7-inch), but I don't have the Smart Keyboard or the Pencil.

Wouldn't the Smart Keyboard work with any app, or are there special features of the keyboard that only some apps support?

I’ve only had mine a day, but I’m pretty sure it works with any app. It functions much like the keyboard on my MBP. A bit overpriced, but, what isn’t with Apple?