We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services.
Now Free to Download and Try
Privacy is important to us, so you have the option of disabling certain types of storage that may not be necessary for the basic functioning of the website.
Notability
Notes are just the beginning; find inspiration, capture ideas, and unleash your creativity with Notability. • Work with a variety of note-taking, journaling, and drawing tools like ink, highlighter, text, and audio. • Mark up imported textbooks, documents, lecture slides, class assignments, and images.
• Ink is fine-tuned for the Apple Pencil for the most responsive, precise writing experience yet, including double-tap gesture for switching tools, erasing, and more.
• Present ideas in full screen without distracting toolbars when connected to an external display. • Quickly switch between notes and Drag & Drop handwriting, typed text, images, etc. Unlock unlimited note taking and premium content with a Notability annual subscription. Subscription auto-renews unless cancelled, and will be charged via Apple iTunes account on an annual basis.
11 Best Notetaking Apps for iPad [2022]
As with pen and paper, handwriting is slower, but it gives your mind more time to absorb what you’re writing. While keyboarding is more efficient, for many notetakers, notes created in this way simply lack the sticking power that comes with using traditional methods. With that in mind, most of the apps below are designed for handwriting your digital notes using your iPad and your Apple Pencil.
Creating effective notes has been proven to enhance recall and improve study sessions, resulting in greater academic success.
While it might seem trivial at first, the ability to connect the word or phrase that prompted you to write something down is a powerful refresher when studying for a test or an exam. By combining multitasking tools and technologies like handwriting recognition and math conversion, Notability makes it easier than ever to take notes during classes, meetings, conferences, and everything in between.
makes it simple to create and save your favorite tools for fast and easy reuse. Math conversion (premium only) allows you to convert handwritten calculations into common mathematical expressions. No iCloud syncing or backups on the free plan creates some risk for notetakers who don’t upgrade.
(resets monthly) means that hardcore notetakers could find themselves unable to continue taking notes without an upgrade. Limited organizational tools force users into a style of note-keeping that may feel restricted or insufficient. This is a fundamental difference from a tool like Notability or Apple Notes, where your ability to organize is somewhat constrained by the software.
You can also import calendars, create folders for additional storage, and navigate to favorites using the tab on the bottom right. #alt#A screenshot picturing the GoodNotes interface, featuring four separate notebooks, a folder for books, and the Paperlike Planner 2022. When it comes right down to it, there aren’t a ton of cons to GoodNotes, but the ability to record audio is a pretty significant feature that this app is missing compared to Notability and others.
Lack of a favorites toolbar means that you’ll need to reformat your tools each time you select or change them. While the app saves some settings, like pen width and color, resetting your tools still feels more involved than it should be. Pricing: Limited free plan available; $7.99, one-time purchase from the App Store for the full version.
Limited free plan available; $7.99, one-time purchase from the App Store for the full version. Originally, it was a mobile version of the Notes app that has been (and continues to be) a staple on the Mac operating system. Like most of the other notetaking apps, it comes with a writing implement (pencil), a highlighter, an eraser, a lasso selector, and a ruler. Notice how the lines separating the handwriting from the text runs the entire length of the note. Will enable other options for recognized text, like scheduling events or calling phone numbers directly from the Notes app. Will enable other options for recognized text, like scheduling events or calling phone numbers directly from the Notes app.
While it’s possible to do this with a little work if you want to back up your notes to Dropbox, Google Drive, or Box, it’s not as simple as flipping a switch. While it’s possible to do this with a little work if you want to back up your notes to Dropbox, Google Drive, or Box, it’s not as simple as flipping a switch.
Unlike traditional notetaking apps, which offer a blank page for you to jot notes, LiquidText is more of a study and research tool designed to help you parse PDFs and other documents. #caption#With LiquidText, you’ll be able to draw connections between nodes on your mindmap, access multiple documents simultaneously, and compile research in a free-form workspace.
#alt#A screenshot picturing the LiquidText interface, including a written article on the left, along with a window allowing for the selection of multiple documents. As you gather data from your document, you can consolidate it into groups, draw lines and make connections between those details, and much more. While this approach to notetaking is more researched-based, it’s definitely a gamechanger for anyone looking to parse documents for key details and insights, as LiquidText offers a battery of tools that you won’t find in most other apps. Adding multiple documents to a single workspace allows users to create projects centered around a theme or idea and assists in consolidating associated research.
allows users to create projects centered around a theme or idea and assists in consolidating associated research. Ability to squeeze and expand documents during research makes critical details much easier to parse and compare. The second of the two research tools on our list, MarginNote is similar to LiquidText (featured above) in how it functions and operates. As a research tool, MarginNote opens your document into a digital workspace where you can highlight and annotate PDFs or select excerpts from the text.
#caption#MarginNote provides clean, clear connection lines for your mind map, allows for handwritten notes, and much more. #alt#A screenshot picturing the MarginNote 3 interface, including a written article on the right and a mind map of notes and excerpts on the left. One of the key differentiators in MarginNotes is that much of the mind-mapping generation can be done in a way that looks clean and crisp, with straight lines and blocks that feel sharp and organized.
Autocreate mind map tool allows you to organize excerpts without a ton of dragging and dropping. Where apps like GoodNotes and Notability emphasize (and mostly stick to) the idea of handwritten notes, Nebo tries to marry the concept of handwriting and text together within its notebooks. All standard pages are lined sheets, and users have the option to write using an Apple Pencil or a keyboard. With the free version, you’ll just have access to the basics, including a limited number of notebooks that you can create. However, you can get a dictionary, convert PDFs, and share your content out in various formats by purchasing the appropriate upgrade pack for a relatively low cost.
It’s also worth pointing out that Nebo is also cross-platform compatible, which makes it unique for users who are looking for one of the best iPad apps for notetaking that can exist outside of the Apple ecosystem. Combining handwriting and type text is an interesting concept that is hinted at in other apps, but Nebo really takes ownership of this feature. Lack of templates, layouts, and other custom formats that you see in apps like GoodNotes, Notability, or Noteshelf. In many respects, CollaNote is still a work in progress that has gained a massive following in recent years.
The app provides a rock-solid notetaking experience with simple and intuitive tools that look good and feel great to use. Inside the notetaking interface, you’ll find all the standard tools, as well as a few extra goodies. #caption#In CollaNote, pressure sensitivity is enabled by default, so your text will shrink and grow as you write based on how hard you press your Apple Pencil against the screen.
#alt#A screenshot of the CollaNote interface featured a combination of handwritten and typed text. CollaNote is the only app we saw (other than Apple Notes) that actively distinguishes between a pen and a pencil, both of which provide a completely different writing experience. Even though CollaNote currently lacks some of the features you’d see in more mature apps, it’s well on its way to becoming a major player in the notetaking space.
Collaboration features make it easy to work with other notetakers to generate a group or shared note. While this app does back up to iCloud, it currently offers no platform compatibility with Mac, Windows, or Android.
While this app does back up to iCloud, it currently offers no platform compatibility with Mac, Windows, or Android. You’ll find all the tools you need to take great notes on your iPad or Android devices. The interface provides a streamlined experience that’s easy to navigate, with plenty of customization features — from page templates and notebook covers to different pen types and the colors and sizing of your tools. When you need to write smaller text or you want a closeup of your existing notes, the Zoom Box makes it easy to do.
It’s highly customizable, and it loads the tool interface on the magnification bar, so you can quickly switch to what you need. #caption#Noteshelf offers a variety of pen types so you can stylize and customize your notes in your own way.
#alt#A screenshot picturing the pen interface and three example lines at varying thicknesses of the ballpoint, calligraphy, fine-tip, and pencil styles.
While it doesn’t sync with your text, being able to listen to a playback of a lecture or presentation can be extremely helpful. Advanced customization options, such as a variety of page templates, notebook covers, and tools, allow you to get creative with your notes. Favorites Toolbar allows you to save different pen types or sizing combinations for future use.
Resizing issues results in blurred lines, which isn’t a problem in the other major notetaking apps. The layout is simple and easy to navigate, similar to Apple’s Pages, so it won’t take long to learn.
You can import and markup PDFs and photos like most other notetaking apps, but it also supports Excel, Keynote, and Numbers files. Whink has split-screen capabilities, so you can take notes while watching a video or reading another document. #caption#Whink’s audio recording syncs to your notes, making it easy to follow along on playback. You’ll find a shape tool, PDF and photo annotation features, the ability to share notes, and syncing to iCloud, Dropbox, and other services.
ZoomNotes provides an infinite whiteboard, making it a great choice for visual notetakers. It’s practically endless, making it easy to sketch out your thoughts and ideas without worrying about running out of room. When you zoom in to get a better look or make adjustments or additions to your notes, the full view stays on your screen off to the right, allowing you to see the bigger picture while you work.
#alt#A screenshot from ZoomNotes showing the different types of sub-documents available, such as a sticky note.
ZoomNotes goes the extra mile with all of its features, including audio recording, unlimited paper sizes/styles, bookmarks, digital planners, and more. It’s easy to completely customize your notes, especially with eight different pen types and unlimited color options.
Infinite canvas provides endless room to write, draw, or sketch your notes and ideas. Incredible zoom range makes taking visual notes like mind mapping or sketchnoting super easy. Pricing: ZoomNotes Lite is free; $10.99 one-time purchase for the full version on the App Store. ZoomNotes Lite is free; $10.99 one-time purchase for the full version on the App Store. Wildly popular and completely free, OneNote is the go-to app for tens of thousands of users interested in taking effective notes. Its onboard organization tools also make it a great option for storage, especially for users already integrated with other Microsoft products like OneDrive, Word, Excel, etc.
Compared to other apps on our list, Penultimate lacks several major features, but its connection to Evernote makes it worth a mention. : While you can use other notetaking apps to create mind maps, ThinkSpace is specifically designed to help you manage this task.
#alt#An iPad featuring a digital planner sits beside Paperlike-branded product packaging. Without a doubt, having the right app can make the difference between success and failure when studying for the next exam or jotting down quick notes in a meeting.
If you’re planning to use the Apple Pencil or a similar stylus to take notes on your iPad, don’t forget to pick up a Paperlike so that you can improve your notetaking experience. Paperlike transforms your screen from slippery glass into something that feels just like a real notepad or notebook so that you can scribble and jot notes with ease.
Best free note-taking apps for iPhone and iPad in 2022
iPhones and iPads have done an excellent job at making note-taking an enjoyable and seamless process. To save you time, I’ve gone through the laborious process of picking the best note taking apps for iPhones and iPads to help you level up on your note-taking game. Odds are, you’ve seen or had Microsoft OneNote installed on your device or your school’s computer.
If you’re a doodler, you’ll surely enjoy the pressure-sensitive pen, highlighter tool, and six stylus orientations.
Microsoft Notes also offers a range of multimedia features like adding text, graphics, drawings, and audio recordings. Supports a wide array of file formats Cons Requires a Microsoft account
Evernote is another popular note-taking app that comes with a wide variety of advanced tools. Like OneNote, Evernote also lets you organize your notes with Notebooks and tags. Has a dashboard that contains a preview of all notes, to-dos, and calendar Cons Free version allows only up to 60MB upload
GoodNotes is a fantastic note app for iOS that comes with powerful organizational tools. GoodNotes lets you easily switch between typing and writing if you own an iPad. It also lets you adjust the palm recognition and sensitivity of the pen to match your writing style.
Notability merges the enjoyment of doodling on paper and the flexibility of technology. It’s a note-taking, journaling, and drawing tool packed in a single app. You can also record and playback audio recordings—like lectures and presentations— to your notes to capture the information you can scribble down. Drafts is like a global vault or inbox that contains all your text, waiting to be sent to other apps.
While Draft seems like a simple note app, it is pretty advanced in that it allows you to perform premade integrations. If you’re only after basic note-taking, you may want to give Apple’s built-in Notes a chance.
Transcribe your voice recordings from Apple’s Memo Cons Has a learning curve Syncs to the cloud and across your devices Cons No optical character recognition (OCR) feature
CollaNote: Note, Journal & PDF: Sharing and collaboration made easy It comes with the classic pen, highlighter, pencil, lasso, curved lines, text boxes, and eraser sets. SuperNote Notes Recorder&Photo: Suitable for lectures and conferences This makes it an ideal companion for lectures, interviews, conferences, and presentations.
But if you’re a student looking for apps you can use for college on your iPhone or iPad, you may want to check the list we’ve prepared for you. Unlike other note-taking apps, Google Keep keeps it simple and offers minimal features. Google Keep has a light interface that looks like a bulletin board covered in sticky notes.
This includes writing notes, making to-do lists, recording voice memos that you can have automatically transcribed, setting time-based or location-based reminders, and filtering notes by colors or a different attribute.
It also supports widgets, allowing you to view your most important notes from your Home Screen. Integrates with various platforms Cons Does not allow sharing and collaborating on a single board
The 6 Best Note-Taking Apps for iPad in 2022
Do you love the tactile experience of taking notes on paper but prefer the organizational features of digital note-taking apps? The key is to use a quality stylus, a screen protector that mimics paper, and, most importantly, the right note-taking app.
The app offers a delightful writing experience, yet it also makes it easy to embed images, annotate PDFs, and even record voice memos. Notability does an excellent job of emulating this experience, while also allowing you to do things you can’t do on paper such as resizing and moving your drawings. Finally, Notability gives you plenty of options for exporting and sharing your notes, including Google Drive, Dropbox, and AirDrop. It has many of the features we love in Notability, including the option to annotate PDFs and multitask with the iPad’s split screen. Finally, Noteshelf lets you export your notes to iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Evernote. Notably, GoodNotes lets you adjust the sensitivity and palm recognition of the pen to match your writing style.
Finally, GoodNotes includes a “Presentation Mode” that lets you turn your iPad into a digital whiteboard.
Using either AirPlay or an HDMI cable, you can project what you’re writing onto a larger screen while still being able to see the GoodNotes interface on your iPad.
The app comes free with macOS/iOS devices, and it does a great job of letting you type or take notes by hand. The app’s drawing features are also solid, making it easy to add sketches and illustrations to your notes.
If you use iCloud and other Apple devices, you can effortlessly switch between taking notes on your iPad, iPhone, and Mac. Unlike the other apps we discuss in this article, Notion isn’t meant to mimic the experience of handwriting. But you’ll also find some features missing in other note-taking apps, including the ability to comment on specific lines of your text. You can also embed and link to other notes within pages, making Notion ideal for building a personal knowledge database. OneNote lets you write notes either on a blank page or a layout that emulates a sheet of lined paper. The general setup of the app mimics a physical binder, allowing you to organize your notes by topic.
15 Best Notes Apps for iPad and Apple Pencil
Notability is a top notch notes app, which has been perfected for use with Apple pencil and iPad Pro. In addition to a myriad of processing, organization and design options Notability even puts import and editing of PDFs at your fingertips. Even entire websites can be imported in PDF format just by using their “Share” Extension. This super-efficient I Pad note app syncs automatically so that you can pick up where you left off on any of your mobile devices.
The 5 best note-taking apps for iPad in 2022
We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services.
Notability
Notes are just the beginning; find inspiration, capture ideas, and unleash your creativity with Notability. • Work with a variety of note-taking, journaling, and drawing tools like ink, highlighter, text, and audio. • Mark up imported textbooks, documents, lecture slides, class assignments, and images. • Ink is fine-tuned for the Apple Pencil for the most responsive, precise writing experience yet, including double-tap gesture for switching tools, erasing, and more.
• Present ideas in full screen without distracting toolbars when connected to an external display. • Quickly switch between notes and Drag & Drop handwriting, typed text, images, etc. Unlock unlimited note taking and premium content with a Notability annual subscription. Subscription auto-renews unless cancelled, and will be charged via Apple iTunes account on an annual basis.
iPad note taking apps every student and professional should try
Microsoft OneNote was previously included in my list of top five favorite apps I use as a student. Many colleges, universities, and employers provide a free subscription to Microsoft Office that includes OneNote. You can also create separate tabs within the notebook, insert photos, edit PDFs, and integrate notes within meetings under your Outlook account.
Additionally, multiple users can be on the account, letting employees collaborate on tasks and track progress.
Designed for companies, the plan is $14.99 a month, requires a minimum of two users, and offers a free trial. Also, you can search within your notes, resize your handwriting, choose from a variety of paper templates, and create flashcards.
Notability is very limited for users with free accounts, so if you’re not looking to spend money, this isn’t the app for you. People even create some beautiful sketches with the app, so if you frequently draw in your notes, you may like Notability.
Apple Notes is a free app automatically downloaded on any iPad, iPhone, or Mac.
Not only can you track your thoughts, but it integrates with your Apple Calendar and Reminders, works with Siri, lets you collaborate with others, lock notes, and scan documents. Also note that for some of these items, buying used can save you a nice chunk of change and will often ship to you in perfect condition.
10 Best Note-Taking Apps for iPad (Free and Paid)
The beautiful Retina display combined with the Apple Pencil lets users record the text from the tiniest of their etchings to essays that span paragraphs. While Apple’s native Notes app does a good job, it leaves stuff to be desired when it comes to total flexibility.
The app’s home screen neatly divides your creations based on single documents or notebooks (if you’ve created any). GoodNotes also offers plenty of tools including your standard pencil, eraser, pen, highlighter, and sliders to adjust precise details such as tip sharpness and even pressure sensitivity, which many users look out for.
You can add shapes, convert your handwriting to text, and markup PDF documents and export them quickly. With its intuitive aesthetics, full notebooks, and custom tools, GoodNotes 5 serve as the perfect app for creativity-laden students looking to jot down their musings.
Often touted as GoodNotes’ direct competitor, Notability is another top-notch notetaking app for iPad that does similar things but in a different way. For starters, Notability’s design is focused more on a more practical nature that shows your folders on the left sidebar and their notes on the right.
This puts a big dent during the writing process as notetakers on iPad need all types of papers while jotting things down.
This feature comes in handy when the app animates the text at various timestamps from the voice note for context. MS OneNote supports typing and drawing at the same time along with other standard tools including your pen, eraser, and highlighters. Microsoft OneNote is a notetaking app made for intense collaboration and professional use, so if you belong to that lot, check out this popular tool.
One of the oldest players on the market, Evernote is a robust notetaking app for iPad that serves not only individual users but big-scale business teams with its custom-priced plans. The app also supports both iOS and Android platforms so users taking notes can easily sync their progress across two devices on the free plan. There are paid trials that let you experience higher upload limits and unlimited synching along with extended app support. Like OneNote, writing or typing in Evernote feels like a much more professional affair with the user interface being designed in a sleek and simplistic manner.
Document divider and code block are nice additions Cons: Free Tier is Limited Taking notetaking on iPad in a whole different area, the post-it-up is a direct adaption of those sticky notes we have all come to love in life.
The app revolves around the concept of making small digestible sticky notes that are all placed across a big whiteboard. Post-it allows users to store up to 200 notes at a time and then drag them across the board for easy editing. Post-it serves as the perfect app for students or professionals in love with bullet points or extremely quick notetaking on iPad. You definitely won’t find the same writing convenience compared to apps like GoodNotes or OneNote but this is a cool concept to try nonetheless for taking notes on your iPad.
Speaking of unique features, Liquid Text is another notetaking app on the iPad that deserves its spot on our list. Specially designed for students who like to review files and write notes at once, this intuitive app allows users to divide the iPad’s screen in half.
The touch and formatting feature ensures that you can select anybody of text from a PDF and drag it across to the editing side without any worries. A handy feature we loved is the ability to shrink select pages to quickly compare what’s above or below the same document. While the paid version unlocks a lot of features, students looking to compare their notes or documents will love Liquid Text. A great markdown editor, Bear is a convenient app packaged with a nice design and plenty of formatting options.
The easy access to header styles from H1 to H3 allows users to create sleek headings while taking notes. Bear naturally supports big code blocks and inserting custom URLs for easy linking.
There is also a separate drawing mode that turns the screen into a whiteboard for the times you want to do pure handwritten notetaking on the iPad. For users looking for a good markdown editor that provides a mix of features for free, check out Bear for notetaking on the iPad.
The user interface of Nebo is a much simplistic experience with the app covered in an all-white theme by default.
The Apple Pencil gestures are also quite handy as one could simply scribble on text to easily delete it or separate words by drawing a line between them. The template options on NotePad+ are a bit limited when compared across apps and the actual handwriting page might appear to be empty to some users. Besides a variety of pens with varying strokes and colors, the app offers shapes and icons you can add to your document.
You can choose to manipulate text whichever way you wish by changing its font size, style, and color among other things. Moreover, there are a plethora of templates available that help divides your notes between sections such as reading list, thesis planning, personal CRM, budgets, and many more.
Be First to Comment