Do you want to take note-taking digitally?
With so many different tools and apps for taking notes, it can be overwhelming when you first start out. So did I. Based on my experience, this post aims to help you choose the app that best suits your needs.
For reference, I’m not an IT-tech, but I want to express my own experience. These are the points I felt while experiencing the digital note-taking app as a planner lover for over 10 years, from paper planners to notes and bullet journals.
Also, you can read “How I use a Digital Planner” to know my planner experience.
EVERNOTE and OneNote
Many people use EverNote or One Note. However, neither ever note nor one note is technically a PDF markup app.
Note-taking apps like Evernote and One Note are designed to take notes and create notebooks directly from within the interface.
However, it is currently not compatible with planners and notebooks, as it does not allow importing hyperlinked PDFs and taking notes directly on PDF pages.
In general, this tool is recommended for writing documents by typing. It works especially well in professional settings where synchronization with work schedules and other tools is important. For example, OneNote and Outlook are synchronized, which is helpful for most corporate tasks.
It also works well for tasks like drafting blog posts, cataloging information, etc.
However, for those who want a sense of pen and paper or who like creative design like me, this option has many disadvantages.
So, what kind of apps are there for digital planners or note-taking?
Best apps for digital planning and note-taking
For iOS users
GoodNotes 5 app
If you’re an iOS user like me, GoodNotes 5 is the best app for digital planning.
With GoodNotes, you can display your notebooks, notes, and other content in a list view (pictured) or in a gallery view
This is an added benefit of using GoodNotes as this is the only app that lets you create sticker books.
I use procreate or keynote to make digital stickers, so GoodNote is a very useful tool for making sticker books. If you want to have a sticker book template, you can download it in my freebie library.
GoodNotes is a one-time pain app and is available for all Apple devices (iPhones and iPads) running iOS 12 or later. You can also use apps for Mac computers. The planner and notebook are synced across all your iOS devices through your iCloud account.
Notability app
Notability is a great app for handwritten notes. My planner and laptop work well with this app. It also includes a recording function, which is helpful for recording lectures. However, since Notability doesn’t have separate “read” and “edit” modes (like GoodNotes), sometimes you accidentally touch a hyperlink when adding a note.
Android users
Xodo app
Xodo has been the top app of choice for Android users for a while. One of the great things about Xodo is that it can also be accessed through an internet browser, so you can view your planner and notebook on your desktop/laptop computer.
Noteshelf app
Noteshelf also recently released an Android version of the app and so far it’s a good app for the Android environment.
Conclusion
I love the tactile feel of taking notes on paper, so these digital note-taking apps are very useful tools. In a world where everything is digitized, tools with analog sensibility and digital organizing functions make our life richer.
The key to how to combine the best parts of handwriting with the best of digital note-taking is to use a high-quality stylus, a paper-textured screensaver, and a note-taking app that’s right for you.
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