Consider Lyfebucket...its more extensive than just note taking...lot more features for adding pictures and videos as well. Its more like a personal diary..
I don't use just one app. It works better for me to keep things simple and use different apps for different kinds of notes.
I use Simplenote for notes I will keep long-term and that will have a lot of text. I like that it has very little complexity built in. I am sure I could wreck it by using lots of tags, but I keep it simple with, currently, 18 tags.
I also use Apple's own Notes - mostly for shorter pieces of text, some of which I will keep long term and some of which are specific to an occasion and will be junked.
I use Drafts (by Agile Tortoise) on my phone. It doesn't sync but it doesn't matter, I use it as somewhere to get things down, like a draft of an email that needs thinking about, or as somewhere to paste something I have copied from the screen.
I like that the toolbar has forward and backward arrows, so instead of having to touch to isolate the place to insert text, it's easy to move back and forward with the arrows one character at a time, with precision.
I cull the notes in Drafts from time to time. It's possible to archive them, but I just delete them when they have done their job.
As I need a notes app that syncs between all my devices I don't use Apple Notes, although it seems to be one of the better apps Apple has developed. I have used Evernote in the past. But recently I switched over to Trello, which has become the main tool for managing my professional live: it is a very versatile tool that takes care of notes, to do lists, notifications and follow-up in a multi user environment. A really productive tool I could no longer miss.
AppleNotes is more than enough for my day to day needs. For sharing, Trello is usually a better tool, and for complex information with a longer retention span, I use DayOne.
While I use both Evernote (less and less as they incorporate more "buy me" annoying pop-ups into their software) and Apple Notes, which the latest version is much improved and much more useful, when in lectures I use something else entirely. Not sure this is what you had in mind, but the way I take notes is by using mind mapping software. iThoughts is the app I'm currently using, it has an iOS and an OS X version and I use both. I find that mind mapping is actually a perfect way to organise notes while you are taking them, visually with order and structure and flow and hierarchy. When I started exploring the idea I found a handful of people doing the same thing, here's a post from Brett Terpstra on mind mapping if anyone is interested (no association with me, btw, neither with iThoughts).
But, taking the notes by creating the mind map is only half of the solution. Once you've taken the notes, you'd like to be able to do something with them at some point, and what I never realised about mind mapping software is that most will allow for exporting of your mind map into other (quite useful) formats, which is what I do. iThoughts allows me to export my mind maps to a text (markdown) file. Equally, you can export to Word or PDF or a few other options, but for me markdown is what I choose for maximum flexibility. The text is organised in outline format and preserves hierarchies with headings and subheadings and bullet points and once you have that text you can do any number of things with it, whatever your needs dictate.
As I said I'm not sure that's what you're really after with this poll, but thought I'd share what for me has been the greatest improvement to my workflow regarding notes and note taking since the advent of paper and pencil (and yes, I am that old<wry grin>).
OneNote wins on the basis of syncing. I use it for lots of outline notes. Sure, Evernote syncs, but edit a different bullet on two different instances of an Evernote note. You'll get a sync conflict and you need to find the difference & merge manually. Now do the same thing in OneNote. Each bullet is inserted into the other list.
I have used Evernote and Circus Ponies Notebook as primary not apps for a long time and sync conflicts have sent me to OneNote. Evernote is fine for short one-snap, one-clip, rarely edited lists.
It is so stupid that there isn't a Apple Notes app for Apple Watch. It doesn't even have to do anything, I just want a read-only version to look at a note on my Apple Watch.
With a regular stylus I used PFF iAnnotate for the last 1.5 years in grad school. It was fine for marking up professors pre-published notes/slides.
However, now that I have the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil... Notability is awesome! The handwriting looks JUST like my handwriting on paper. I'm actually using it to do all of my homework now as well.
My only knock on Notability is that it doesn't have the best file management system. PDF iAnnotate excelled at this... with full DropBox integration (where you can edit files directly on DropBox and sync them back). Notability has gimpy DropBox integration (for instance, it doesn't use the best DropBox API do you cannot access single-sign-on DropBox accounts like my school account) and requires you to basically just copy your notes to DropBox.
That said, it is a really fast and smooth app and the handwriting is spectacular.
I use Apple Notes when doing simple stuff. When it's more complex, I switch to iThoughts - a mind mapping tool. Great for reorganizing on the fly. I haven't used the full feature set yet as the multi-tasking on the original iPad Air doesn't support full side-by-side...
I use the Notes app that comes with iOS 9 in co-operation with the Voice Memo app that also comes with iOS. With the share panel I can record a lecture with Voice Memo then insert into the note I've created in Notes.
I don't get time stamping but that's not really a feature I need.
Other than those two I would use Audionote or Notability.
OneNote is nice but its audio recording feature on the iPhone is a joke. Evernote just simply doesn't suit my needs at all.
Evernote for me. The free version is powerful enough for what I need. iCloud is blocked at work and on my phone when on cellular (cell is routed through company network). I also need good device compatibility for Mac and Windows and the web version suits me.
My favorite note taking app was 'Notes' on the Apple Newton, I still have my fully functional MessagePads 2100 and 130. You could write anywhere where you could type and it did HWR (handwriting recognition) with about 90% accuracy.
I played with the iPad Pro in an Apple Store the other day and decided not to buy one yet, it still, after all this time (18 years) cannot hold a candle to the newton when it comes to note taking in meetings. Back to pencil and paper for now, it costs about $1200 less than the current Apple solution and works just as well.
I totally agree with chrrup. If I could get a new battery for it and digitally transfer the files, I'd still use my old Newton 2000.
I was in the new Apple Store in Yas Island Mall (about 20 min northeast of the centre of Abu Dhabi) late yesterday, getting my iPhone repaired and had about an hour to kill so I sat down with the iPad Pro and aPencil, opened Adobe Photoshop Sketch and enjoyed an engrossing hour sketching a scene from the store. The size of this iPad is excellent, it fitted very comfortably onto my lap, the pencil is totally natural to hold and use, with no appreciable latency whatsoever, the retina display is brilliant and the only thing not perfect was my sketch - but hey, I don't get the time to practice that I used to! I found myself unconsciously switching between the pencil for drawing and my finger for operating the controls (just a slight turn of the wrist and point the finger while the pencil is held by the other three fingers curled against the palm - I must have done this a few times before i realised that I was - totally natural).
BTW my iPhone 5 was replaced at minimal cost because it was a battery problem - even though I was out of warranty. Thanks Apple, I love you! And a million thanks too to Stephan and the wonderful team at Apple Store Yas Island!
Note to Tim Cook: add built-in handwriting recognition and aPencil capabilities to the whole iPad range and everyone on the planet will want one.
Notability is one of the only notes programs (beyond Apple Notes) that supports the only stylus that matters anymore: the Apple Pencil.
It supports it _perfectly_
Totally agree, I have had a chance to use the apple pencil and can agree it is by far the best stylus. I think it is only a matter of weeks until the other note taking apps catch up.
The apple pencil is so tempting I am considering the ipad pro even though for me it is a little too big. I think the ipad pro is a game changer despite most reviewers claiming it won't replace their laptop. I think these ppl are like dinosaurs still committed to their trackpad, mouse and keyboard. Once apps start to focus on the pencil, combined with touch this is the device to have.
The regular ipad air next yr supporting the pencil can't come quick enough!
Comments
Consider Lyfebucket...its more extensive than just note taking...lot more features for adding pictures and videos as well. Its more like a personal diary..
Apple Notes is my favorite because it saves to my IMAP server, keeping confidential information backed up and confidential.
Not anymore, the iOS 9 version hangs out in iCloud.
I use Simplenote for notes I will keep long-term and that will have a lot of text. I like that it has very little complexity built in. I am sure I could wreck it by using lots of tags, but I keep it simple with, currently, 18 tags.
I also use Apple's own Notes - mostly for shorter pieces of text, some of which I will keep long term and some of which are specific to an occasion and will be junked.
I use Drafts (by Agile Tortoise) on my phone. It doesn't sync but it doesn't matter, I use it as somewhere to get things down, like a draft of an email that needs thinking about, or as somewhere to paste something I have copied from the screen.
I like that the toolbar has forward and backward arrows, so instead of having to touch to isolate the place to insert text, it's easy to move back and forward with the arrows one character at a time, with precision.
I cull the notes in Drafts from time to time. It's possible to archive them, but I just delete them when they have done their job.
I have used Evernote in the past.
But recently I switched over to Trello, which has become the main tool for managing my professional live: it is a very versatile tool that takes care of notes, to do lists, notifications and follow-up in a multi user environment. A really productive tool I could no longer miss.
While I use both Evernote (less and less as they incorporate more "buy me" annoying pop-ups into their software) and Apple Notes, which the latest version is much improved and much more useful, when in lectures I use something else entirely. Not sure this is what you had in mind, but the way I take notes is by using mind mapping software. iThoughts is the app I'm currently using, it has an iOS and an OS X version and I use both. I find that mind mapping is actually a perfect way to organise notes while you are taking them, visually with order and structure and flow and hierarchy. When I started exploring the idea I found a handful of people doing the same thing, here's a post from Brett Terpstra on mind mapping if anyone is interested (no association with me, btw, neither with iThoughts).
But, taking the notes by creating the mind map is only half of the solution. Once you've taken the notes, you'd like to be able to do something with them at some point, and what I never realised about mind mapping software is that most will allow for exporting of your mind map into other (quite useful) formats, which is what I do. iThoughts allows me to export my mind maps to a text (markdown) file. Equally, you can export to Word or PDF or a few other options, but for me markdown is what I choose for maximum flexibility. The text is organised in outline format and preserves hierarchies with headings and subheadings and bullet points and once you have that text you can do any number of things with it, whatever your needs dictate.
As I said I'm not sure that's what you're really after with this poll, but thought I'd share what for me has been the greatest improvement to my workflow regarding notes and note taking since the advent of paper and pencil (and yes, I am that old<wry grin>).
I have used Evernote and Circus Ponies Notebook as primary not apps for a long time and sync conflicts have sent me to OneNote. Evernote is fine for short one-snap, one-clip, rarely edited lists.
However, now that I have the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil... Notability is awesome! The handwriting looks JUST like my handwriting on paper. I'm actually using it to do all of my homework now as well.
My only knock on Notability is that it doesn't have the best file management system. PDF iAnnotate excelled at this... with full DropBox integration (where you can edit files directly on DropBox and sync them back). Notability has gimpy DropBox integration (for instance, it doesn't use the best DropBox API do you cannot access single-sign-on DropBox accounts like my school account) and requires you to basically just copy your notes to DropBox.
That said, it is a really fast and smooth app and the handwriting is spectacular.
I've had Evernote for years. Never used it even once.
Not to pile on, but me too.
I just couldn't take the time to "fiddle" with it enough to get comfortable.
I prefer Notes. Just like I prefer iWork and Apple Mail and naturally gravitate to Apple software rather than third party variations.
Apple incrementally improves them all enough to keep me satisfied. And then there's that "Apple integration" that I just love.
Best.
Notability - a good program but no stylus or text conversion support.
Notability is one of the only notes programs (beyond Apple Notes) that supports the only stylus that matters anymore: the Apple Pencil.
It supports it _perfectly_
I use Apple Notes when doing simple stuff. When it's more complex, I switch to iThoughts - a mind mapping tool. Great for reorganizing on the fly. I haven't used the full feature set yet as the multi-tasking on the original iPad Air doesn't support full side-by-side...
I don't get time stamping but that's not really a feature I need.
Other than those two I would use Audionote or Notability.
OneNote is nice but its audio recording feature on the iPhone is a joke. Evernote just simply doesn't suit my needs at all.
I use Drafts and OneNote mostly now. Sometimes Vesper, though honestly... Vesper has a lot of catching up to do. I feel disappointed by it, tbh.
If only something worked as well as Notational Velocity does on the Mac.
Evernote for me. The free version is powerful enough for what I need. iCloud is blocked at work and on my phone when on cellular (cell is routed through company network). I also need good device compatibility for Mac and Windows and the web version suits me.
The simple answer is: None of the above.
My favorite note taking app was 'Notes' on the Apple Newton, I still have my fully functional MessagePads 2100 and 130. You could write anywhere where you could type and it did HWR (handwriting recognition) with about 90% accuracy.
I played with the iPad Pro in an Apple Store the other day and decided not to buy one yet, it still, after all this time (18 years) cannot hold a candle to the newton when it comes to note taking in meetings. Back to pencil and paper for now, it costs about $1200 less than the current Apple solution and works just as well.
I totally agree with chrrup. If I could get a new battery for it and digitally transfer the files, I'd still use my old Newton 2000.
I was in the new Apple Store in Yas Island Mall (about 20 min northeast of the centre of Abu Dhabi) late yesterday, getting my iPhone repaired and had about an hour to kill so I sat down with the iPad Pro and aPencil, opened Adobe Photoshop Sketch and enjoyed an engrossing hour sketching a scene from the store. The size of this iPad is excellent, it fitted very comfortably onto my lap, the pencil is totally natural to hold and use, with no appreciable latency whatsoever, the retina display is brilliant and the only thing not perfect was my sketch - but hey, I don't get the time to practice that I used to! I found myself unconsciously switching between the pencil for drawing and my finger for operating the controls (just a slight turn of the wrist and point the finger while the pencil is held by the other three fingers curled against the palm - I must have done this a few times before i realised that I was - totally natural).
BTW my iPhone 5 was replaced at minimal cost because it was a battery problem - even though I was out of warranty. Thanks Apple, I love you! And a million thanks too to Stephan and the wonderful team at Apple Store Yas Island!
Note to Tim Cook: add built-in handwriting recognition and aPencil capabilities to the whole iPad range and everyone on the planet will want one.
Notability is one of the only notes programs (beyond Apple Notes) that supports the only stylus that matters anymore: the Apple Pencil.
It supports it _perfectly_
Totally agree, I have had a chance to use the apple pencil and can agree it is by far the best stylus. I think it is only a matter of weeks until the other note taking apps catch up.
The apple pencil is so tempting I am considering the ipad pro even though for me it is a little too big. I think the ipad pro is a game changer despite most reviewers claiming it won't replace their laptop. I think these ppl are like dinosaurs still committed to their trackpad, mouse and keyboard. Once apps start to focus on the pencil, combined with touch this is the device to have.
The regular ipad air next yr supporting the pencil can't come quick enough!