Those of you who have seen my office know that I take a lot of notes – at one point, they were on my computer, on my iPad, on papers from conferences and strewn across my desk. That was until I decided to get organized with my notes. If there is one thing that I find helps keep me organized, it’s having a great notes app – especially considering that I take my iPad. For some time, I’ve kept a handful of apps around for doing the standard task – one for sketching out ideas, another for recording voice memos (not just where I parked, but new ideas I thought about, along with notes from conferences I have attended). Unfortunately, having too many apps to essentially do the same thing – take notes – means there’s a lot of maintenance involved and so I wanted to simplify things.
Enter Notability app for iPad.
What I like about this app:
As their icon indicates, this isn’t just a typing app. Instead, you can take notes, draw out ideas, and record voice memos – all from one app – and it’s fast and also very convenient.
How does it work?
Instead of launching three separate apps, Notability let’s you perform all three tasks from within their one app. Simply launch the app, select your input tool (voice, typing, or drawing), and begin taking notes. Even better, you can mix and match the different tools. For example, I could type out an invoice and then draw on the invoice any additional notes or signatures needed. Notes can also be organized, so if you take notes for business, you can create a business category. Drawings for the new home can go into a second category, and voice recordings at conferences get their own cateogry too (you can customize the names of the categories to suit your needs). Another great feature is that you can create PDF’s from your notes to email right from your iPad too. One last thing I wanted to mention, there’s also a nice bonus – any notes you take aren’t just stored on the device. They can be synced to Dropbox, stored on iDisk, or downloaded to your computer among others. What this means is that your notes go anywhere you are!
Download:
In comparing this app to other note-taking apps, it is by far my favorite one. I love the convenience it offers and the speed at which it lets me get things done and the fact that it has also cut down on the stacks of paper I have lying around. At just $0.99, it gets my personal stamp of approval, because unlike other notes apps which charge for adding simple drawing tools, this one includes it all (and then some).
Did you know, the notepad was created in 1902 by J.A.Birchall.