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Notes App vs Evernote vs Notational Velocity

R

robertpolson

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 24, 2011
162
152
I haven't tried mount Lion yet.

Those of you who have the developers preview, can you please tell me about your experience with the new Notes App?

I am looking for a hybrid mix between Evernote and Notational Velocity. Evernote is a great idea, but it is too slow and too cluttered. Notational velocity is fast but it is text only and I want to have a few pictures from time to time.

Do you think that the new Notes app can replace these two?
 
Evernote's strength comes in its cross-platform capability. Personally, I downloaded it thinking "wow, I could use this!" and then hardly ever touched it. For weeks.

I think ML's "Notes" will suffice for my needs, but it's not for everyone.
 
I'm the same as the guy above, I downloaded Evernote thinking, this is awesome! But never use it... whereas I use notes on my iPhone/iPad all the time for things like Wifi Passwords, songs to download and obviously any other notes - on Mountain Lion you can add pictures so I think we can safely assume photos will be coming to iOS 6 Notes and with it's syncing across iCloud to the Mac I know I'll be using it quite a bit more. :)
 
kirky29 said:
I'm the same as the guy above, I downloaded Evernote thinking, this is awesome! But never use it... whereas I use notes on my iPhone/iPad all the time for things like Wifi Passwords, songs to download and obviously any other notes - on Mountain Lion you can add pictures so I think we can safely assume photos will be coming to iOS 6 Notes and with it's syncing across iCloud to the Mac I know I'll be using it quite a bit more. :)
Click to expand...

Yea, at first evernote takes some time to get into using. But once you start using it, its amazing to have. Evernote is 1000x more powerful than the standard notes app. Categories, collaboration, cross platform, encryption for text, ect...

I love how I can setup shared notebooks with other users, and we can
collaborate. However by using the notes app, you will be more integrated with the apple iCloud system. So question is this

Do you want power or better integration?

There is not rule that says you can't use both, but it might be kinda disorganized.
 
I personally use nvALT, a fork of Notational Velocity. I can't say how good or bad it will be for you, but it certainly is not anything like Evernote. On the plus side, you have an amazing interface, blazing fast searching and note creation, wonderful keyboard shortcuts and SimpleNote sync. As for images, nvALT supports (multi)markdown, so you can add images. And with custom CSS you can format it as you like it.
 
I have tested the Notes App on Mountain Lion and I can simply say that it sucks. It may be sufficient for casual users who make notes from time to time but for anything a little bit more serious it is not good.

1. I really do not like to look at the linear yellow pad all the time. Might have been cool a few years ago, but now I just want plain white.

2. No tags and no folders.

2. Inserting images is very basic.

After using nvALT for a while I think I might be switching to Evernote and use nvALT for short term notes and writing workflow.
 
robertpolson said:
It may be sufficient for casual users who make notes from time to time but for anything a little bit more serious it is not good.
Click to expand...

Frankly everything Apple has done for the Mac since Lion is for casual use. The only Apple apps that I still use are from the Leopard/Snow Leopard era (which still are fantastic). And I think ML Notes is intended for creating quick shopping lists or to-dos.
 
Metanota

I had a few requirements for a note-taking/organizer on Mac :

- should have folders (and full control of them)
- should be well integrated in the OSX environment (full screen, common UI paradigm)
- should present my notes nicely (fonts, spacing, titles, lists)
- should be 100% integrated with a cloud notes provider I use on other platforms too (SimpleNote or Evernote)
- should look GOOD and tidy

The problem was that I didn't found one to suit those simple needs :-( So, I remembered that I am developer and wrote one.

It's still young and basic but at least I have one happy user for sure : me :_)
 
Last edited:
bogdanf said:
I had a few requirements for a note-taking/organizer on Mac :

- should have folders (and full control of them)
- should be well integrated in the OSX environment (full screen, common UI paradigm)
- should present my notes nicely (fonts, spacing, titles, lists)
- should be 100% integrated with a cloud notes provider I use on other platforms too (SimpleNote or Evernote)
- should look GOOD and tidy

The problem was that I didn't found one to suit those simple needs :-( So, I remembered that I am developer and wrote one : metanota.com.

It's still young and basic but at least I have one happy user for sure : me :_)
Click to expand...

Lol awesome advertisement.
 
-MRB said:
Lol awesome advertisement.
Click to expand...

My statement is 100% true @-) This is how I thought of writing the app. And it was very fun also.

But I removed the link, maybe it was not appropriate to put it there.
 
Last edited:
bogdanf said:
My statement is 100% true @-) This is how I though of writing the app. And it was very fun also.

But I removed he link, maybe it was not appropriate to put it there.
Click to expand...

I was only jesting :) It looked quite good.
 
evernote > all, mainly because of the Webclipper-Extension for Browsers and there is just a monthly traffic limit, but generally you can store as many pics etc. you want!

I use it quite for everything...

If you are interested, how other people use Evernote, you can take a look at Evernote user stories

have fun
 
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