Am I in the minority of absolutely despising, in fact hating, subscription models? That right there is a personal nonstarter for me on almost any app these days. I do not care how “little” it costs per year. I will make due with lacking features that I can work around if it means I’m using the software Apple already included or an app that I only had to pay for once.

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

I don't think you're alone. My biggest worry is that every app will go that route eventually, which will be awful

@scottdelinger1

6 ай бұрын

I dropped Adobe products for that reason alone.

@robertmanitta3211

6 ай бұрын

I agree I do not purchase subscriptions now.

@aquafountain7680

6 ай бұрын

Goodnotes has a lifetime purchase for 30$

@seki0123

6 ай бұрын

100%. Going back to paper

I like how you are using apple notes. Please do an extra video on it as mentioned! ❤

Great video! Could you please discuss the transferability of notes from one app to another? I want to switch apps, but I need to know if I can transfer my notes and folders before deleting the old app. Also, will I be able to continue on in a note on the new app. Love your videos and look forward to the next one!

The perfect video I needed. Thank you.

Retired college math professor here. I used several (Goodnotes, Apple Notes, OneNote, Notability) in and out of the classroom. I settled on Notability years ago and continue to use it daily, even in my retirement. It met all of my needs then and still does today. Absolutely love it. Great video!

I love Apple Notes and use it daily. Great video

I havent settled on a notes app. I write everything on Bear and draw on a couple different aps. But one thing I really have liked was the pencil case from Moleskine flow. You do not have to adjust tipsize or change colors, you just grab your preset pen from the side (pencil case) that is an amazing thing for speed while note taking

@Geiir

5 ай бұрын

Moleskine Flow has so much potential! I love that app and use it to doodle, draw and create stuff. Need better organization for it to become a note taking contender though 😓

Very thorough! Well done 👍

Hello!! Could you please do a comparison between Goodnotes 6 and Noteful? That would be rlly appreciated :)

I been waiting for this. Thank you 🙏🏾

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for waiting!

Lovely, thank you. Despite how long the iPad has been around, I'm a relatively new user and still learning from scratch. Note taking is, honestly, the main reason I invested in one.

@ip3931

4 ай бұрын

I'm not even using an actual Apple Pencil due to my very limited budget and am instead using a stylus purchased on Amazon! The battery life as well as accuracy is appaling.

@ip3931

4 ай бұрын

One day I will be rich enough to purchase the largest iPad and/or ... a MACBOOK!

I use Apple Notes as a static information database and live note taker and Goodnotes 6 for ongoing projects.

Apple Notes is my favorite by a long shot. I tried the others and while they are nice on iPad, some have very cluttered interfaces and don't work well on iPhone. The quick notes feature and ability to easily link notes to one another and in other Apple apps has been a game changer for my productivity.

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

Yeah I think a lot of other apps just forget about phone use at all, a shame!

That was really helpful. Thanks

Thanks .. a big help ... nice to see about 2024 with these..

I used to use mainly Apple notes. The dark mode is perfect, the pen options are wonderful. Just 2 downsides: if you write a lot manually without converting to digital letters, it'll appear cut when you want to export that into pdf (but still acceptable, just move everything down of 2 lines); second, it started to not saving my last edits, sometimes even hours of work! I asked in the apple community and to apple support, but it isn't fixed. So I moved to notability (probably goodnotes has better features but notability's dark mode is way better and that's the most important thing for me)

@NYLFR

5 ай бұрын

Yeah the second reason is why I am watching this video now. DO NOT trust Apple Notes for class notes, notes just suddenly disappear sometimes which is not just annoying but a severe issue.

@jeromeromero9323

4 ай бұрын

@@NYLFRgood lord this happened to me a few times what do you use now? Has anything been good??

@casachezdoom2588

4 ай бұрын

Yeah I've been having overheating/lagging issues with long handwritten notes, or notes no longer displaying (which so far can be worked around by restarting the app or the iPad). Already I wasn't sure I could trust the app, but if not saving can be a thing, that's an absolute no-go for me.

Fantastic video! Amazing 🎉 What do you think about Noteful? Is better than Apple Notes or OneNote? Or not? Is goodnotes 6 better? Thanks 😊

Another great video. Thank you. I completely agree about Apple Notes. It’s really became a powerful note taker if you’re willing to explore some of the more advanced features. Plus the integration with apps such as reminders makes it a great choice for any ‘second brainers’ out there. Also agree with you about OneNote. The iPad OS / iOS versions are really behind their windows counterparts . What I’d like to see moving forward though is for Apple to give us an ‘infinite canvas’ similar to OneNote. Perhaps they could, in the future, integrate Freeform with it.

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

Oh a freeform integration would be awesome actually, good shout!

@tdflatline

6 ай бұрын

It's far from perfect, but you can insert a link to a Freeform page in a note via the share dialogue...that combined with a screenshot works "ok" for now, but not as good as a full integration.@@ByteReview

I’m a firm believer that with the improvements in the last couple years on Apple Notes, especially this year… That unless you’re looking for something specific, it’s the best. Hashtags, sorting, PDF markup and collaboration, and the ability to link to other apps… it’s absolutely fabulous.

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

I really love it but I really, really hate that text and pencil input have to be separated :(

@casachezdoom2588

4 ай бұрын

If you don't mind it overheating your ipad, lagging, or even losing your notes, then go right ahead! The app looks like it has most of what I need, but if it means it gets clunky and not saving my notes? Why bother taking notes then? I can't trust it.

Do you have tips for the iPad picking up the side of my hand while I am using the pencil? It will move the screen, interrupt what I am writing, or leave marks. I am wondering if there is a way around this.

There actually is a really cool workaround, for having text next to a drawing and the text can even be in color. Notice when you draw in Apple notes it creates a drawing section? You can drag and drop text and images into it from another Apple app like pages or keynote. It will quickly convert the text into an image and let you write in or on it, since it is in that container. Because of that, colored text can be imported from other apps.

@fox_flow4443

6 ай бұрын

Oh, I’ve just noticed, that when taking handwritten notes, a toolbar of sorts appears, which, when clicked on the three dots menu, allows us to put a text box anywhere, kinda similar to how Goodnotes handles text within handwritten notes.

Have you tried using liquid text? I just got an ad and have curiosity of it

What are your thoughts on Freeform?

Noteshelf 3 is tops! Great for teaching, journaling, studying and more. They have added a new presentation mode also. You may want to include them in your next “Best Note Taking App for iPad”. Thank you for you video.

Great review!

Nice job Tom!

I would love to use apple notes but for some reason the battery drain is insane like 25% in one hour on my new iPad Pro the best alternative that doesn’t cost much and the free version really has everything I need is noteful it also is like 6x more energy efficient

Which one would you recommend for mind maps?

Good notes is so nice omfg

Thanks

What is the best between them?

For me its Upnote after using all of the above (which is also a perfect Evernote replacement). It's also available on all platforms which was a must for me

I hope you have a chance to test Freeform and some similar zooming map apps

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

I wrote an entire scripted part for freeform but took it out because I didn't feel like it was a note taking app first and foremost!

This is a bit tangential, but another concern for those of us in large corporate environments is security. If you're taking notes for work, chances are you're going to be 1) using a corporate device (ipad, computer) and 2) locked into an SSO environment. That likely means you're shackled to OneNote (since o365 still dominates business culture). I wish there was some integration or migration options for Apple notes OneNote. Love your stuff!

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

That's a really good point! Good job OneNote is decent

Obsidian. Can't recommend it enough. Cross platform syncing. I have it on my Ipad, Android phone, Linux computers and mac. It's mark down text and it's all backed up to my dropbox. Well worth the monthly subscription. I think there's a plugin for apple pencil too although i've not tried it. I write all the README files on my repos in obsidian and then push the document from my vault on dropbox. I've tried apple notes, notability and notion, but cross platform syncing and markdown were musts for me.

any free voice recorder with auto-transcripts recommendation?

What about Kilonote? It’s awesome!!

Is there a note taking app that is kinda like excel where you can have multiple tabs, with pages in each? Looking for something that can have it sorted by subject tabs, but then within that, I can sort each page/title date. Also include the pencil.

storage wise whats the best note taking app i under estimated the amount of storage i need and i only have 64 gb

Good to see another post. How is your cat?

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

He's amazing

Hi is there any app on iPad which has the capability to make collapsible handwritten post-it / sticky notes for pdf text book.

I tried so many a few years ago. Apple notes, one note, good notes 5 (I didn’t try 6), notability, collanote, noteful, … But right now I’m just using apple notes for typing and notability for writing. I’ve been doing that for quite a while.

I love MS OneNote ❤

Thanks for the review! I still don’t understand how all these apps still lack 2-page spread view (like a book) for pdf. That’s such a simple feature!

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

That's a great point!

@artisticpalette_

6 ай бұрын

Pages have this 2-page spread view feature. If you're using apple notes , then you can share that to pages app and there you can use it.

@tylerl4472

4 ай бұрын

Thank you!!!!!! I want the 2 page spread bc when I open two goodnotes notebooks at one time(so I can see my slides and write notes) it has a history of crashing and losing my audio recording completely so that I’ve lost the entire lecture recording which I really need to be able to understand my notes.

With Apple, I’m minimizing every third-party apps and feel extremely great about the workflow it brings. So flawless

I really like Element Note; it’s a newer app that has a more minimal set of features, but the handwriting experience and the options for pens are just lovely! And it’s getting consistently updated still and is only a one-time purchase.

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

Oh I've not heard of this! Will check it out

@Davidesrajohn

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for the rec, I'll check it out!

@richboss_

6 ай бұрын

I have been testing the app thanks to your comment and recommendation. It's very good! It doesn't have unnecessary tools but the ones it does have are very useful. I love that you have the option to buy it forever. The only thing that is lacking is the option to record audio. Other than that it's a 10/10.

Do you know if as you use these apps and put more pages on them, do they take up more storage?

@casachezdoom2588

4 ай бұрын

Of course, data is data. Some apps may have the option to save to iCloud (most use it only for backup/syncing though), but not sure if it needs to also store locally.

Hi, there is no visa and mastercard in my country, how can I get a bound wallpaper package, I guess I fell in love with this wallpaper ahahah) I'm waiting for your help, thank you)

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

There is PayPal on there too, but if not try our etsy store : www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1592784657/bound-wallpaper?click_key=82f5c401bd5674dc27afdc7f373d2ff16791e72f%3A1592784657&click_sum=96abd907&ref=shop_home_active_1

I use OneNote at work since it's pretty much the only notetaking app greenlit by IT, but it's a bit quirky with how it handles managing typed text or embedded images and has a bunch of little things I wish were different/more customizable. Is it stable on the iPad?

@2013bpeterson

Ай бұрын

OneNote on the iPad is fantastic (if you don’t care about recording audio, or handwriting beautification).

I love Apple notes. If only........ They had page breaks. Doing meeting notes that need to be "printed" leaves a total mees with text cyt in the middle. My best notes app is Goodnotes 6. I love that I have actual notebooks. As someone who journals most days, it is awesome. One feature that you did not mention for us pencil users is handwriting recognition for search. I find the app very good. Better than Apple Notes. Nebo had best handwriting recognition but I miss to many of the other features. So I agree with your choice. If Apple got page breaks right I would change.

@benjaminharris8354

Ай бұрын

As someone who’s deciding on what app to get, I really appreciate the additional feedback. Thank you!

Once again, great video...meant to ask before...is that a new Kiroku wallpaper on your iPad? I like it lot.

I really liked Goodnotes 5 but I dont like the Goodnotes 6 update at all since in my opinion it now looks much more cluncky and is not as minimal as it used to be. For this reason I switched to Noteability

Of Goodnotes 6 and Nebo, which is better of organizing folders and such? I really like the way Nebo looks. It seems better polished under the hood. But then I’m looking at GN6 and seeing these folders with customization. Like to a comparison.

@ByteReview

5 ай бұрын

GN6 is better for organisation for sure

@crazyivan0v

5 ай бұрын

Thanx!

This is a great video. Apple Notes is a wonderful option…except for print/export to PDF!

Can you review Freeform, would you consider it for note taking?

@2013bpeterson

Ай бұрын

So silly that it doesn’t have the ability to organize into folders.

Noteshelf is the best note taking app I tested.

I’ve used most of these but I keep coming back to GoodNotes. Pissed about paying twice for GN5 and 6 but for me it’s a great pdf mark up and note taking app that actually feels like a notebook. Apple Notes is only a few updates away from seriously tempting me though.

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

Completely get this

I do like apple notes and I’ve been using it since forever, however it uses a lot of your storage I don’t even draw in it and it already took 2.8GB for barely any notes. I’m a OneNote lover forever, I have 16 notebooks with tons of notes and its storage never lacks.

@2013bpeterson

Ай бұрын

OneNote seems like the best compromise.

I wish I could only use Notes, but I don't find the writing experience good at all, specially comparing it to GoodNotes.

Switched from notability and goodnotes 5 to noteful like a year ago and i dont regred, just wish it was cross platform.

What is cons of Collanote?

How to in apple notes insert more space if i need?

Which is best for pdf markup and notes on top of photos?

@fiftythirdth

2 ай бұрын

If you upload files to your file app as pdf or whatever you use, just start writing on the iPad and it works pretty well tbh

Literally the only reason I don’t like apple notes is bc I can’t zoom in and write smaller it’s so simple but it’s such a big thing 😊

I’ve used Goodnotes since version 4, and am still using 5. Wasn’t too thrilled with features or the price of upgrading to 6. Looking now at Noteshelf 3. One-time fee of 9.99.

Inkredible kills it, THE BEST note-taking app

In all these apps, if one has to teach via a screen thus integrating audio with screenshots we have very limited end to end apps.. In notability free version we have a constraint.. In screen recorder it does not record the audio and integrate seamlessly..

What about Noteshelf?

Is the paper like cleaner refillable?

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

Yep, it is! Comes with some refills too

GoodNotes’ dark mode really isn’t as bad you made it out to be imo. The point is that you get free rein to pick your style of paper etc. Can you imagine making your notebook and switching to dark mode only for it all to be ruined. They give you the option of black paper and you can change it throughout nitebooking however the color of your writing also has to be changed by the user which is quite as difficult using their lasso tool

I am not using an ipad, im using a windows laptop and a wacom drawing pad, and one notes works well for me. especially in school.

If you take notes as someone is talking, the VOICE sync to NOTES is the biggest feature ever invented. AND, it has to sync with pencil AND typed text to be truly effective. Notability, because of voice sync, is why I use it. Also, PAID notability gives a transcription of those voice recordings!!! and they are GREAT!...and work right along side of the voice-sync feature beautifully. If Apple Notes or Goodnotes or anyone else could implement it so slickly, I'd be all over it.

@markjue

4 сағат бұрын

Thanks for answering this. I'm looking for a Samsung Note Taking app alternative that has similar capabilities, such as voice synchronization with notes 😊

Nice! Although I really appreciate if you make a dedicated video for Apple notes😁 I have Goodnotes and is so so awesome, but I have the free version (my wife and me have different accounts and share our 3 pages, so in total I have 6 pages hahaha (better than 3)

Would love if you did a Zinnia planner review! It has very cool notetaking capabilities (and a huge studio of stickers)

How does Noteful stack up?

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

Tried it last year and thought it was ok, go check that video if you want to see more!

Aw yea. The beanie is back!

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

Haha thank youuuu

Notability

I’m a GoodNotes user. ❤

At one point of using one note on the iPad I got absolutely frustrated, it seemed like the app wasn’t organized at all, I believe it’s a better app on laptop or pc but absolutely not on ipad

I like goodnotes. Only complaints are why it cant have a thumbnail sidebar for easy page transition and it drains my battery/overheats my iPad so I have to keep it in low battery mode :/

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

Oh that's interesting about the battery drain - I've not experienced anything like that!

One note taking app that is always overlooked and is seldom featured in videos like this is Craft. I’ve been using Craft for some time, and has become my replacement for Apple Notes and Apple Pages; Craft has a lot of the features of both apps - and a lot of the features from the apps in this video too.

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

I've tried it and didn't love the way it worked with the Apple Pencil, so I didn't really feel like it was comparable to these on the list! I will look at it for next years video for sure though

@christay9626

6 ай бұрын

@@ByteReview 👍🏻 Look forward to it!

I'm probably one of the few people on the planet that doesn't take notes on their Mini 6. I don't even have the pen (I'm so ashamed). If I ever convert I'll likely get Apple Notes since I obviously don't need anything fancy 🙂. As usual, I enjoyed your video.

@kaylealtamirano3710

6 ай бұрын

It’s best not to use the Apple Pencil on the iPad mini, I had an air and wanted to go to the mini for portability but I realized I can not take notes on it with the pencil it’s just not what it’s made for it’s too small for that I think. So I went with the 11” iPad Pro because I like to journal and take notes 😅

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

You can get a more budget focused pen if you want to try it out without most of the cost - I tried one called metapen and it was decent and about £20!

@bryans8656

6 ай бұрын

@@ByteReview Thanks. I hope you realized the "I'm so ashamed" was meant to be a joke. It sounded funnier in the my head 🙂

@Kalgrm

6 ай бұрын

Taking notes on a Mini6 is fine. Just do it with the iPad in landscape orientation.

Is it just me or does the Apple Notes heats up my ipad while taking notes during class? Even if i dont charge it while using it

The best oe is Noteshelf

Noteful is the best for me

But Apple Noted still can't export to infinte length of pdf, or at least auto split to pages of pdf.

Not that it matters, but here’s my take on Apple Notes vs Goodnotes: I was using Goodnotes, but it has a huge problem to me. It doesn’t sync with web/Windows because the syncing happens using iCloud. They promised this cross platform sync between Windows, macOS, Android, web and so on a long time ago. My personal computer isn’t a Mac, so it bugs me not being able to view and edit my notes. With that said, it is still a great app but it doesn’t fit my use. What I decided to use is the stock Apple Notes for a few reasons: 1. ⁠You can browse, edit and add notes through the web by accessing iCloud 2. ⁠Syncing is good 3. ⁠You have the native OS features to interact with it, like the drag from the corner to create a quick note or tap the screen with the pencil while the screen is off to create a quick note 4. ⁠It’s free, no subscription attached to it But hey, it depends on your use.

I use Apple Notes and I really like it but it is so buggy! Sometimes I write something and when I exit and reload the note it is just gone, when I start a new note the handwriting is behind the grid lines, sometimes it takes ages for the handwriting to appear after opening a note and when notes get too long (around 3-4 printed pages) the iPad (iPad Air 5th gen, M1) gets really hot and the Notes App slows down significantly to the point where things I write appear on screen several seconds later. I really like Apple notes but these bugs make me look for alternatives, sometimes I take notes during meetings which I cannot just write again, so having my notes disappear randomly is not great. It is rare but so infuriating every time this happens

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

oh that doesn't seem right at all?! Maybe reset your iPad? Apple Notes runs like a dream even on my older 8th gen

@The_Linux_User

6 ай бұрын

@@ByteReview I tried that already, I was hoping that that would be fixed with iPadOS 17 but it really only got worse (the text behind grid lines bug appeared after upgrading to 17). Thanks for your reply, love your videos, they have such a chill vibe!

@jyamaloha2322

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for the warning! I wonder if there’s a way to download notes and other content and save it on a local drive?

I can't decide which app is the best between Penly J notes Note wise Samsung notes Can anyone help me choose? 😭

@Pixite

2 ай бұрын

Zinnia 😅 (not on your list, but it's faaab)

Can we limit OneNote infinite page to proper A4 size page. ?

Is there a way to prevent Apple notes from uploading to the cloud? I am looking for something to put passwords in and don’t want it to be anywhere except on my device. Would love to hear from anybody that has a suggestion and thank you.

@ByteReview

5 ай бұрын

Settings - Apple ID - iCloud - apps using iCloud - show all - toggle notes off there should do the trick. You can also lock a note so probs worth doing that as well for more security

Notability is easily the best, it has all the best features, most importantly the audio recording function

I WAS a goodnotes user since version 3, version 4 was a let down (you no longer could transfer files by WiFi) version 5 was riddled with many bugs (err, features according with their non existent and disrespectful customer support)… and goodnotes 6 was my last straw. I just switched over to (by now) to Noteful. Pretty decent, very good pencil support.

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

Noteful is decent, I tried it last year and liked it! And yeah, Goodnotes 6 made so many mistakes :(

With money being no object, what’s the best app here? Apple notes or good notes ?

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

12:24

Honestly, after Notability's price stint (paid one-time and now I'm "asked" to subscribe, like WTF), I'm not using anything else apart from Apple Notes. Not only it's native to all my Apple devices it's also the best one for Shortcuts which is what I use all the time.

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

Don't blame you at all. I think the way a lot of note takers have gone really sucks

Surprised Bear App wasnt considered given its latest release for more support of the Pen, and other Apple Notes features they borrowed. Also checkout

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

urghhh when I looked at it last time it didn't have support! I should have checked again, maybe I'll do a separate review of it now

@microMobilidade

6 ай бұрын

I love bear to write on it, because its really focused, I need to check the new developments (even though I was a beta tester I didnt had a chance to mix stuff up on it)

1:53 but cannot scribble on Mac 😢

Free form is a good one

Link to the paperlike bundle is missing

@ByteReview

6 ай бұрын

It was there, just missing the http! Updated! Thanks for that

What about Freeform?

@ByteReview

4 ай бұрын

It’s good for collaboration but I’m not a fan for general note taking

@CarlosSamour-em4fc

4 ай бұрын

@@ByteReview Hmmm nice. Could you please do a video talking about it? I think that would be cool. Bc i have used a lot of note taking apps and i like Freeform