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Best note taking app for iPad

mach5k

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I take a ton of notes. And I am a big fan of Microsoft Onenote for ability to write text, draw with ink, include pictures, audio, etc.

Looking for a solution that rivals One note. Ideally would import my existing one note notes.

Would like the ability to:
* write text, draw, include photos, audio.
* have multiple folders/notebooks however you term it
* search across notes, sections, folders, etc
* option of sharing notes
* sync possibly - either with a client on laptop or with one note

Right now I am looking at School Notes Pro, mobilenoter, and Evernote.

Tried evernote when first came available with iPhone. I know it got a lot better, but would love to hear from someone using now on iPad how easy it is for my requirements above. Also, I am a bit nervous on the security/privacy front.

Mobilenoter just seems to be a couple steps back on some of the capabilities, but I like the onenote sync feature.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks.
 

GiPad

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I'm right there with you. I dont have my iPad yet, but I'm a long time user of Evernote, and have abandoned the TabletPC about a year ago. I've tried many solution, including Livescribe, Evernote, etc. To my knowledge nobody offers exactly what you are looking for - but I think it's going to get better as more apps come out. I am most hopeful for Evernote, since that is where I dump everything, and because it is so cross-platform (on my Mac, PC, iPhone, and iPad when I get my 3G). Check out this article on GTM: iPad ink blogging comparison | GottaBeMobile There are several others where they discuss inking on the iPad. Good luck, and curious to hear if anyone else has found a great app to do this...
 

Greg G

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So far I just used (returned wifi for pending 3g) the notes application that came with the iPad and emailed the notes to myself. I then dumped the email into OneNote. Seems like a pain but it really is not too bad and it lets me keep OneNote as the master. I would love to hear if there is a better solution that does not require me to post my files to a public place.

-Greg
 

Umdterps2002

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I just bought penultimate for $3 ... And it is really good for input (I use a stylus) ... It supports PDF generation and you could email it or push to ever note.

It does hit all your wants but for $3 it's the best handwritten one I have used.
 

brhon

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I'm using Evernore on my Ipad and my Mac. It works well for me and I love the way it syncs.
 

4phun

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Quick Review: Evernote for iPad

I'm using Evernore on my Ipad and my Mac. It works well for me and I love the way it syncs.

Quick Review: Evernote for iPad


by Chad Garrett, Friday, Apr 9, 2010, 7

I am a huge fan of Evernote [Free- iTunes Link]. I knew they were working on an iPad version of their software, but I had no idea what to expect. Needless to say I am pleased with their design decisions and love the completely new layout for iPad.
Evernote for iPad gives you several new and fun ways to view and organize your notes. First, you can view them by thumbnail or details. I think thumbnails work best with pictures. I tend to have more text notes, so details works best for me. It gives me the name, etc. of the note at hand.
I love the way Evernote organizes notebooks and tags; the notes appear stacked on each other just like the Photos album. You can’t pinch to peek and open (though that would be cool) instead you simply tap to open the notebook or tags you want. You can also sort by name or by count. There is now a separate area of view notes by place too, you can even use location services to find notes by your current location. Take audio and picture notes? Now you can do both in one note on the iPad app. This is a very nice addition.
If you are an existing Evernote user, you are in luck — the app is universal. Download it once and use it on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.




 
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fracol

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Definitely Notemaster

Ok people i have one word for the best notetaking app i have yet seen NOTEMASTER. I have emailed the creator and he is very good at emailing back. It puts headers and pictures right in the text where you want them. It also syncs with google docs and unlike evernote it also keeps the files on your ipod so all you with ipod touch and ipad, you never have to be in a wifi zone again. I emailed kabuki vision and in future updates you can expect bulleted lists numbered lists and checkboxed lists. I'm telling you this is the next greatest note app. check it out and you won't be disapointed. I am sure this will be the next awsome note, but better. give it a try and make sure you write a great review for it.

Note to those who want free writing (this is not supported yet but i can tell you the hardworkers at kabuki vision are going to be including it in future updates i'm sure.):):):):D:D:D
 

Matth3w

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I just realized with a stylus I could take notes at my Farsi class in Germany instead of in a notebook. I guess I need to get a stylus and note taking app.

Does the text come out super big though, or with a stylus it works like a notepad?
 

4phun

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Ok people i have one word for the best notetaking app i have yet seen NOTEMASTER. I have emailed the creator and he is very good at emailing back. It puts headers and pictures right in the text where you want them. It also syncs with google docs and unlike evernote it also keeps the files on your ipod so all you with ipod touch and ipad, you never have to be in a wifi zone again. I emailed kabuki vision and in future updates you can expect bulleted lists numbered lists and checkboxed lists. I'm telling you this is the next greatest note app. check it out and you won't be disapointed. I am sure this will be the next awsome note, but better. give it a try and make sure you write a great review for it.

Note to those who want free writing (this is not supported yet but i can tell you the hardworkers at kabuki vision are going to be including it in future updates i'm sure.):):):):D:D:D

What a piece of crap! Did you even look at it before you posted that here?

It isn't even an iPad app but a mere iPhone app run in 2X and everyone knows how unsatisfactory that is!

The real sleeper is an app called SmartNotes which just got updated to version 1.3. Now that is an impressive iPad application. The only thing hold me back from recommending it with unreserved delight is it the programmer s do not have a clue when it comes to sharing documents with other applications right there on the iPad.

iSilo, GoodReader, iAnnotate, GoAruna, Stanza (as a receiver), DropBox, and the Apple iWork apps have got it together. iBooks should join the crowd when it gets its update to read PDFs.

This Notemaster POS doesn't have a clue about handling files on the iPad and it can't do most of the things already found in SmartNotes.

Two thumbs down!
 
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mossman

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I'm trying an app called Mental Note. I've just played with it for now, I'm waiting on my stylus to arrive to really give it a spin. I picked it because it allowed both free form drawling and type text, although the placement of the latter seems to be quite limiting.

I like to write novels (see below) and I'm looking to this note taking app to help with the initial creative thinking and outlining process. It's too early to render a judgment, but I am hopeful.
 

CaptKirk

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SMARTNOTES gets my number one vote,,,, they just did a major complete rewrite update,,,,, tons, tons better,,,,,,, great stuff manerd :)
 

Hasty

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Notes covers such a wide range of requirements.

I've been a long time user of Evernotes and really appreciate the constant upgrades. Best of all is the fact that even if your house burns down you can still access your notes from another machine.

Clean app with good design and search functions it allows you to include photos, webpages, screen grabs and scans, and it automatically syncs with the cloud and your other machines.

For fast short notes I use the Penultimate app which is a joy to use. Want to save a quick phone number or sketch a quick map just do it with your finger on screen.
 

iTazm0n

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Look at Moe's Note Pad. It's awesome on the iPhone (just Moe's Notes). The interface is a little crazy, but that makes it fun to use. You can email notes and they send with all the media, not just the text. I send the notes to my Evernote Account. Here's a part of the description from the dev's site:

*****Description

Moe's Notepad is a media-savvy note recorder, editor, and database for creative and busy people. Store text, audio, photos, videos, tags, and GPS coordinates in each note. Search for notes by text, tags, date, and/or location.

It's the best notes app for the iPad. Why?

Moe's Notepad was designed from the ground-up to seamlessly integrate text, photos, videos, and audio into a single note, automatically adding time and location information. Other notes apps started just taking text notes and later bolted-on the ability to add media such as photos and audio, leaving clunky artifacts in the user-interface - limitations that don't make sense (eg: different note types), bare-bones audio, poor use of images and GPS.

Moes Notepad also provides easy-to-use editors for every type of media. eg: cropping photos and trimming audio and video. Its audio editing capabilities rival that of any audio-recording app on the market.

Use Moe's Notes to:
* Capture ideas with sounds and pictures
* Make to-do, shopping, appointment lists
* Record lectures, speeches, business meetings
* Gather information and notes for articles
* Record all aspects of a house walk-through
* Take photos and videos with geo-location data
* Quickly compose email with audio, image, and video
* Keep an audio/visual diary

Moe's Notes includes features not found in other notes applications:
* Audio waveform display
* Variable-speed audio playback (reverse too)
* Audio, image, video editing
* Selecting tags without using keyboard
* Uploading images and videos to Facebook
* Searching by tags
* Searching by date with calendar UI
* Searching by location with Google map
* Note list sortable by name, date, location, longitude, latitude
* Ability to email or upload to Facebook many notes at once
* Every screen has Help information.

--------------------------------------

Moe's Notepad divides the screen up into panes. There's a list pane, 3 filter panes, and 5 panes to display each component of a note. These panes are separated by movable splitter bars, making it easy to allocate the screen space however you choose.

This modeless user-inteface opens up all kinds of possibilities:
* Start recording audio and continue recording as you go to any other part of the program, eg: writing text, importing photos.
* Browse the list of notes while the Filter by Location map is visible and see the map scroll to always show the selected note. The Filter by Date calendar functions similarly.******

$10, is a bit steep, but I don't mind paying when it works this well and is this dynamic so that I enjoy taking notes. The interface is different enough that you might want to try the free version to see if you can work with it, even if it is an iPhone version.

Happy note taking.
 

fracol

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Ok you have a point but I still love notemaster

Ok I'm sorry to mislead you (according to you) but I want to make a point that notemaster is still the best app out their for notes (and it will be supported by ipad soon). It got the staff choice award and the best new app award too and that should say it all. If you purely want an ipad app then give it some time to update but you won't be disapointed:)
 

4phun

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NoteMaster Isn't Even Close to Being a Good Note App Compared to What is Available

Ok I'm sorry to mislead you (according to you) but I want to make a point that notemaster is still the best app out their for notes (and it will be supported by ipad soon). It got the staff choice award and the best new app award too and that should say it all. If you purely want an ipad app then give it some time to update but you won't be disapointed:)

The whole point is that with respect, NoteMaster isn't even close to the real iPad apps for taking notes. You simply have not looked at tons of better apps. I know because I have TRIED and USE the iPad to take notes with them all. One of my favorites is SoundPaper which syncs your notes to audio in real time. You can start and stop the audio recording as you take notes too. Tap on text in a page and hear what was being said at that instant! Scrub back and forth with slider on playback bar. Then you can email both notes and audio to others. If you get tired you can stop typing notes, tap the sleep button and continue recording covertly, no one is the wiser!

Smartnote does not sync with audio like SoundPaper but it has some amazing features in the new iPad version 1.3.


SMARTNOTE VIDEO
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w2J7R3ROAY&feature=digest"]smartNote v1.3 Overview[/ame]

 
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