May 18, 2012

Review: Notability for iPad

February 17, 2011 By 3 Comments

Notability rises to the top of the crowded field of iPad note-taking apps with its smooth interface, solid performance and excellent syncing options.

Notability is like a hybrid of other popular note-taking apps. It has the familiar “notebook” styling and feel of OneNote. Yet it has the cross-device appeal and flexibility of the popular Evernote or Springpad.

To really unlock Notability’s potential sync it with a Dropbox account. (If you don’t have Dropbox, you should really consider changing that). By doing so you can access your notes from the desktop on a PC or Mac. Plus you will gain the ability to sync 2 GB of other documents across all your computers and smart phones for free.

Note-taking with Notability can be accomplished through typing, ink or voice. If you try to write with your finger, be sure to use the flat part for better results. One very useful addition is the ability to record voice and save the audio inside of a note.

Notability can be further extended beyond note-taking with its drawing tools. A user can insert a figure that was drawn with Notability’s drawing tool, a photo from your library or a web clip. Choosing the web clip options fires up a browser. Just surf to the site you want and press “done” to insert the picture into the note.

Navigating a note page that has multiple photos or other media on it can be tricky.When the keyboard is displayed the screen real estate devoted to the photos is minimal. So if you want to just view a note or review information, it might be a good idea to minimize the keyboard.

If you are looking for a solid note-taking app to use often, give Notability a look. It has excellent features and Dropbox power users will love its tight integration.

On Target:

  • Robust feature set
  • Syncs with Dropbox
  • Add text, voice or media

Off the Mark:

  • Notes can get crammed with too much media

Download Notability from iTunes

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  • Anonymous

    Version 3 looks nothing like the photos above, and infact is quite awful. I have emailed the developer my feedback and have been ignored, so i posted to the Facebook page, and my post was deleted.

    The new Aqua/candified interface of v3 makes the app look like something most suitable to a 5 year old’s xylophone, circa OSX 10.0

    I appreciate that one can change the colours, but the whole candy interface is still an eyesore (as compared to refined, subtle, classy and mature textured tan leather look of version 2. Even the app icon has changed from leather book to candy blue). Even the file browser names are much bigger font (and cannot be changed) and the bubbles around each folder are massive. I don’t need a fluorescent yellow cartoon/icon next to each subject group, surrounded my fluorescent yellow highlighting with fat psychedelic colours around it. Each item now resembles the windows7 start menu.

    Furthermore the forced page breaks are a disaster also, they cannot be disabled, I have been happily storing documents that i had written in macjournal, and exported to RTFD.  They have a combination of pictures and text, your forced page breaks are a disaster to my photos, I can only fit 2 photos per page, and the next photo cannot follow (across a page break) hence the text is messed up, and the photos are all messed up (and cannot be resited across hard page breaks).

    Do not update to version 3 !

  • http://bunsology.tumblr.com bunso

    I like to compare this app to Ghostwriter Notes app I bought at http://majorspot.com It’s because I like its functions and features. And the interface is so professional.