iPad Pro Note taking speed, paper v iPad Pro?

[TJ82]

I take notes now and again for work, but when that happens it's usually in a bit of a hurry (like at a random point in a Team's meeting or whatever).

Looks like you can now take notes on iPad from the Lock Screen which to me just transforms the device. The only bottlenecks I see now is speed and texture.

How quick are you at writing on the Notes app on the iPad Pros and do you think Apple will implement convert to text soon? I know other note taking apps have it, but it's the ability to write from Lock Screen that interests me most. Can you get close to or match speed on paper yet?

 

[cupcakes2000]

Convert to text exists in many apps already, including Apple Notes. I use Paperlike 2 matte screen protector (there are others you may prefer that offer a similar experience). I think I can write about the same on my ipad v paper.. but I am used to it which likely has a bearing.

EDIT: To clarify, I’m talking iPadOS 15

 

[PandaPunch]

I don't have an iPad Pro, but even on the budget iPad with the Logitech Crayon, it feels like writing on paper to me, aside from the glass texture. And Apple does have the Scribble feature which is writing to text but I've had the best success with it on Pages.

 

[ascender]

I've been using my iPad Pros for notes in meetings for a while now. The fact I can change colours, correct mistakes etc so quickly means I prefer it to paper now. Depending on the audience for the notes, I will often just convert to PDF and send that out to people afterwards. If its an informal technical meeting with just some actions and notes, I won't even bother typing them up - its also great for diagrams, processes etc - am interested to see the convert to text in iOS 15 though.

I'm planning switching to a Mini and will try Paperlike as I've heard great things about it.

 

[PandaPunch]

I've been using my iPad Pros for notes in meetings for a while now. The fact I can change colours, correct mistakes etc so quickly means I prefer it to paper now. Depending on the audience for the notes, I will often just convert to PDF and send that out to people afterwards. If its an informal technical meeting with just some actions and notes, I won't even bother typing them up - its also great for diagrams, processes etc - am interested to see the convert to text in iOS 15 though.

I'm planning switching to a Mini and will try Paperlike as I've heard great things about it.

Bolded for emphasis, I totally agree with that part. The iPad + Pencil combo means not carrying highlighters, pens, colored pencils, ink, paint, etc. My mom draws out her crafting ideas, I really can't wait to see her reduce the tools she needs.

 

[Avenger]

One thing I noticed is that I tend to write sloppier on the iPad. Not due to the technology but I tend to write faster than with a pen or pencil on paper.

 

[TJ82]

Bolded for emphasis, I totally agree with that part. The iPad + Pencil combo means not carrying highlighters, pens, colored pencils, ink, paint, etc. My mom draws out her crafting ideas, I really can't wait to see her reduce the tools she needs.

Maybe a silly question but how fast can you change colour - can you kinda change colour with free hand between finishing sentence and moving onto next, if that makes sense?

 

[PandaPunch]

Maybe a silly question but how fast can you change colour - can you kinda change colour with free hand between finishing sentence and moving onto next, if that makes sense?

I think it’s better to show you. I’ve attached a video of me writing and changing colors all with my Crayon. I personally can change colors or writing tool with my writing hand. But the color changer floats and can be moved closer to your free hand, I’m right handed, so I keep it on the right hand side.

 

[TJ82]

I think it’s better to show you. I’ve attached a video of me writing and changing colors all with my Crayon. I personally can change colors or writing tool with my writing hand. But the color changer floats and can be moved closer to your free hand, I’m right handed, so I keep it on the right hand side.

View attachment 1835330

That looks fab and thanks loads for taking the time to do that!

Definitely looks really tempting. I'd love to totally ditch all the pens and notebooks from the desk. Do you still have pens and paper sitting around or have you totally managed to transition to the tablet?

I saw another cool video of note-taking just before I watched yours. It was a student who could resize and move the text around. Can you do anything like that on the native Notes app, or is that just 3rd party stuff apps which don't work from Lock Screen?

 

[sracer]

How well an iPad will serve as a note-taking device depends highly on the app one uses.

I've been using iPads as my primary note-taking device since the 1st gen 12.9 Pro + Pencil.

I have found Apple Notes to be very clunky for that purpose because it still cannot share handwritten notes or diagrams with typewritten text on the same note page.

I have very neat penmanship (from the days of having to write out program source code on coding sheets) but writing on the iPad was significantly sloppier... that was due to the slipperiness of the screen. By applying a matte screen protector, not only did my handwriting look as neat as it does on paper, but it greatly cut down the glare.

I use GoodNotes. Others use Notability. Both are excellent note-takers.

 

[PandaPunch]

That looks fab and thanks loads for taking the time to do that!

Definitely looks really tempting. I'd love to totally ditch all the pens and notebooks from the desk. Do you still have pens and paper sitting around or have you totally managed to transition to the tablet?

I saw another cool video of note-taking just before I watched yours. It was a student who could resize and move the text around. Can you do anything like that on the native Notes app, or is that just 3rd party stuff apps which don't work from Lock Screen?

I've moved almost exclusively to tablet handwriting. I haven't seriously used pen and paper since I left high school 10/11 years ago. And even in high school I still did way more typing than handwriting.

With Apple Notes, I can select text, even make new calendar events or tap on phone numbers to call them through my iPhone and of course move it around but I can't seem to resize my writing.

 

[cupcakes2000]

Goodnotes here too. Excellent app.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Note taking on the iPad has become just as quick and easy as paper for me and many others.

 

[PandaPunch]

How well an iPad will serve as a note-taking device depends highly on the app one uses.

I've been using iPads as my primary note-taking device since the 1st gen 12.9 Pro + Pencil.

I have found Apple Notes to be very clunky for that purpose because it still cannot share handwritten notes or diagrams with typewritten text on the same note page.

I have very neat penmanship (from the days of having to write out program source code on coding sheets) but writing on the iPad was significantly sloppier... that was due to the slipperiness of the screen. By applying a matte screen protector, not only did my handwriting look as neat as it does on paper, but it greatly cut down the glare.

I use GoodNotes. Others use Notability. Both are excellent note-takers.

Yea, Apple Notes is usable, but other apps do have better features. I personally like how Apple Notes actually looks like my real handwriting, when I printed out my notes my family couldn't believe I printed it from my iPad. Not sure if the others fixed that but that was my main issue with Notability.

 

[sracer]

Yea, Apple Notes is usable, but other apps do have better features. I personally like how Apple Notes actually looks like my real handwriting, when I printed out my notes my family couldn't believe I printed it from my iPad. Not sure if the others fixed that but that was my main issue with Notability.

GoodNotes and Notability accurately represent my handwritten notes and diagrams.... onscreen and when printed.

If you are referring to the printout of a page in Notability looking indistinguishable from the same thing written with a physical pen and paper, then that depends upon how much pressure you use with the physical pen/pencil. Anything printed will have a smooth surface, whereas a physically handwritten paper will have a bit of texture from the writing.

 

[BigMcGuire]

For me it's not having to later take my notes and put them into my digital storage that makes the Apple Pencil so worth it for me.

I use Notability with the pressure sensitive tip setting (second to smallest width) for the most pen like feel. I've been using an Apple Pencil for years now so it's second nature to me. Every now and then I go back to paper and while it's nice at first, having to deal with paper, scanning it in, and securely disposing of it makes me go back quickly to the iPad.

I could never get used to the Apple Pencil feel of Apple Notes - the pencil setting comes closest to me but makes reading it difficult.

Probably doesn't help that I write with a slant and write really fast. My wife, which has near laser printer handwriting does really well with the Apple Notes / Good Notes pen settings.


Edit: I can get Good Notes close to Notability's feel but I like the larger canvas feel of Notability.

 

[ascender]

Forgot to say, I use GoodNotes as well.

 

[PandaPunch]

GoodNotes and Notability accurately represent my handwritten notes and diagrams.... onscreen and when printed.

If you are referring to the printout of a page in Notability looking indistinguishable from the same thing written with a physical pen and paper, then that depends upon how much pressure you use with the physical pen/pencil. Anything printed will have a smooth surface, whereas a physically handwritten paper will have a bit of texture from the writing.

Based on that, I might give Notability another shot. Thanks.

 

[Mr. Awesome]

Apple Notes is more than adequate for quick note taking, especially in iOS 15. The Lock Screen feature is very nice. Quick Notes are good, and work well for me on the Beta, but I personally haven’t found many use cases for them yet. I do love how you can tuck them away behind the edge of the screen, though.

The advantage to the built in Notes app is that not only can you use Scribble to convert your handwriting to test, but you can also select and copy your handwriting as plain text, as well as search through all your handwritten notes for specific text.

 

[cupcakes2000]

Apple Notes is more than adequate for quick note taking, especially in iOS 15. The Lock Screen feature is very nice. Quick Notes are good, and work well for me on the Beta, but I personally haven’t found many use cases for them yet. I do love how you can tuck them away behind the edge of the screen, though.

The advantage to the built in Notes app is that not only can you use Scribble to convert your handwriting to test, but you can also select and copy your handwriting as plain text, as well as search through all your handwritten notes for specific text.

And system wide hashtags. Can search a hashtag in spotlight and it brings up the note. You can put the hashtag anywhere within the note.