Absolute Best Note Taking Program For Mac
NoteSuite is a free Note Taking App for Mac that lets you make notes in rich text format, instead of just plain text. Althought this app isn’t as powerful and flexible as other dedicated apps, but for an all-in-one solution, it’ll work for most people. Best note taking app for distraction-free note taking If you're in the market for a distraction-free app for taking notes, Simplenote is the first one you should consider. True to its name, Simplenote gives you a clutter-free space for creating and editing notes. Top 5 Evernote Alternatives - Best Note Taking Apps Following are the 5 best note taking apps available for Android, Mac, iPhone and other iOS device users:- 1.
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The Best Note-Taking Apps of 2018. Zoho Notebook is a free Mac app that makes note-taking simple. The Best Services and Software for Remote Employees. Best note taking app for taking and searching for notes of all kinds Evernote was an early leader in the digital note taking space. In many ways, it shaped expectations about what a note taking app should do and how it should look.
So, I set about seeing which note taking app was the best for me. Unfortunately some of them had to be paid for, and forking over $8 just to see if it works OK was a bit of an ask. Anyway, after testing Notability, Penultimate and Good Notes I've settled on Notability. On Tuesday you shared your favorite note-taking tools, and today we're back with the five most popular answers. Keep reading for a look at the five best note-taking tools, then cast a ballot for.
Man, it’s a great time to be a note-taker.
For a couple of decades—first as a student, then as a professional journalist—I filled notebook after notebook with notes, covering classes, press conferences, interviews, and more. When I was done, I’d have to find someplace to store them until (most likely) I’d throw them out. The notes I did keep? Useless. My on-the-fly handwriting is a horrible thing.
The result: A lot of personal and professional history gone to waste.
The process got better when laptop adoption became widespread and I could start typing my notes in real time as a speech or lecture was being delivered. It improved yet again when Google Docs came along, and storage ceased to be a worry.
Mobile devices, though, transformed everything. The productivity charts in the app stores are awash in great note-taking apps, ranging from the complicated—Evernote would let you describe every part of your life with enough detail to satisfy three of the five senses—to the useful-but-relatively-one-dimensional (think of the naive Notes app on iOS). For the first time in decades, I don’t have to carry pen and paper everywhere I go. All I need is my smartphone, and I’m ready to go to class, conduct an interview, or cover a fire as a breaking news story.
So which app is the best?
To determine that, TechHive picked a number of note-taking apps, popular either with the public—as determined by the iOS and Android app store charts—or which have received sterling notices in the tech press. And to test them, I used each in my everyday life—for reporting and writing news stories, as well as everyday tasks like making grocery lists, or to store away a great thought or quote.
I had three criteria for judging these note-taking apps: They had to be versatile. They had to help me get organized, easily and intuitively. And they had to be accessible—a note that will live on my iPhone and my iPhone only is not a note that’s ultimately useful to me: I might take the notes on a mobile device, but I might write a paper or a story on a laptop or desktop— so I want quick, easy access to the notes in both locations.
Oh, and while I used Apple gear in the testing of these apps, I didn’t want to preclude the idea that someday soon I might switch to a Nexus tablet instead: The apps had to be available on both major mobile platforms, to give users maximum flexibility.
The winner: Evernote
Um, surprise?
There’s a reason Evernote (free; iOS and Android) is generally thought of as a best-in-class note-taker: It’s the best in class, and it easily surpassed my desires in each of the three criteria I was judging by:
- Versatility: I took my iPad to a morning breaking-news conference and fired up the app. I typed in notes during the question-and-answer portion of the presser, used the app to take pictures of charts displayed during the event, and after it was over used the microphone to record a quick on-the-spot interview with one of the participants. Shifting between functions was seamless: I just clicked the “Add Attachment” button in the upper right-hand corner, chose which medium to operate in, and moved on from there. Easy as pie.
- Great organization: This didn’t matter so much at the press conference, but Evernote is easily—and endlessly—organizable. You can create notebooks to cover broad topics, and then create individual notes in each. Plus, you can tag the notes, to further refine your searches and your overall ability to find your information later.
- Accessibility: When the press conference was over, I put my iPad away, rushed back to the office, fired up my computer, and immediately opened Evernote on the Web: Everything was right there—and would’ve been if I’d tried accessing it on Android or a Windows computer, too. (I could also have downloaded Evernote for Mac, but I hadn’t done that. In any case, I’d rather shift back and forth between browser tabs than shift between apps; your own mileage may vary.) The story was finished within about 30 minutes. That’s efficiency, folks.
If there’s a drawback, it’s that the free account limits you to 60 MB of uploads per month: Power users beware. But upgrading to a premium account—and up to 1 GB of data uploads per month—costs just $45 a year.
The runner-up: Simplenote
No, this app isn’t nearly as versatile as Evernote. Simplenote(free; iOS and Android)—as the name implies—is simple. You write stuff down, and that’s it.
Then again, the vast majority of the note taking I do is just writing stuff down. And one person’s versatility can be another person’s clutter can be another person’s app overstuffed with features.
When it comes down to it, Simplenote isn’t that stripped down—and it’s certainly an improvement in several ways over the native iOS Notes app: For one thing, cut-and-paste quotes are stripped of coding, so everything you paste and type has the same, simple text-style font and format. And you can tag each note as much as you want, making organization a snap.
What’s more, Simplenote is easily accessible: It’s available as a Web app, and as a download for iOS, Mac, Android, and Kindle devices. But don’t be fooled by this name: In this case simplicity is a virtue, in the cause of simply getting stuff done.
Best for Microsoft users: Microsoft OneNote
While I found Evernote and Simplenote to be the best overall note-taking apps, others stood out for specific features, which you might want to consider depending on your needs.
Microsoft OneNote (free; iOS and Android) is a lot like Evernote—and yet not quite enough like Evernote.
Like Evernote, it’s versatile: It’s easy to add pictures, tables, and hyperlinks to your notes. Like Evernote, you can organize your notes into broad notebooks and narrower note entries. And like Evernote, it’s accessible via a broad array of devices, including for Mac and iOS. So that’s good!
Unlike Evernote, it lacks an audio recording capability, and thus there’s no opportunity to review a lecture or interview to make sure you wrote down everything correctly. Also unlike Evernote, accessing notes on other devices is not a seamless transition. OneNote.com (the app’s Web version) offered me ads for related Microsoft products, but it never showed a way to get past the ads and simply make notes when using Safari. (It performed better in Firefox.)
The app does offer lots of formatting options, but that almost seems like a distraction: It’s as if Microsoft Word had been grafted onto a note-taking app. That’ll be fine for some users, but I prefer the focus of a task-focused app.
So why use it? The prime audience will, of course, be current Microsoft customers, especially users of its OneDrive cloud-based system for creating documents and presentations. If you’re not already a Microsoft fan, this app won’t be quite as alluring.
Best stylus companion: Penultimate
This is a specialty note-taker worth mentioning, because some people just like the feel of a stylus in their hand when taking notes. Penultimate (free; iPad) rewards them with a responsive user interface that allows for both taking notes and sketching. And it’s part of the Evernote ecosystem, making it easy to access your hand-written notes and drawings on other devices aside from your iPad.
Others of note
This is a good time to mention that there aren’t really any bad note-taking apps out there. It’s just that some aren’t superlative as others. The following apps all have their strengths, save one: All of them are built primarily for iOS. If you’re an Android user, you might want to turn to well-regarded offerings like Papryus (free), Note Everything (free), or Google Keep (free).
Notability ($3) remains among my favorite note-takers: It’s like a mix of Evernote and Penultimate, letting users create notes using a range of techniques—handwriting, typing, taking pictures, capturing audio, and more. Its best feature? If you’ve recorded a lecture and taken notes simultaneously, Notability syncs the two—just tap a word in the middle of your notes, and the app will find that same spot in the audio, helping you rediscover and remember the context of your half-formed thought.
App developer Ginger Labs recently launched a companion app for the Mac ($10; OS X 10.9 or later), where you can sync your notes via iCloud across devices. If you're not a Mac user, you can still access your notes on a computer, but only by syncing your account with Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, or webDAV. Students may find its audio sync feature especially helpful for taking notes during long lectures.
Super Note (free) shares a lot of Notability’s features, but with a simpler and perhaps more intuitive user interface: It only incorporates typed notes, pictures, and recordings. It may also go a little further in helping you get organized, with color-coded arrows to guide the way. You’ve got one option for syncing to your desktop computer: Dropbox.
NoteMaster ($4) has separate apps for the iPhone and iPad. They both feature plenty of formatting options, easy organizing rules, and the ability to insert photos. You can sync the notes using Google Docs or Dropbox. (However, if you’re thinking about using the Google Docs app to take notes on a mobile device: Don’t. Get this app, and you’ll have a more pleasant visual experience, at the very least.)
Vesper ($3) isn’t really a classroom app: It’s an iPhone-only offering (though that may change soon) that’s built more for an individual’s on-the-fly thinking. Got an idea for that song you’re writing? Jot it down quickly. Want to make a poem about that pretty flower? Take a picture and jot down your thoughts. The app has limited syncing options—basically, unless you send the notes in an SMS message or an email, will only be able to access it from… your other iPhones also equipped with the Vesper app. But stay tuned: This app may have a different story to tell next semester.
There is no shortage of good note-taking apps out there, and your criteria may differ from mine. Though Evernote will likely be the best choice for most users, you should feel free to try several of these options—most of them have free versions—and see what works for you.
Editor's note: This article was updated on 09/03/2014 at 4:45 PM PST to highlight Notability's new app for the Mac and to correct a typo.
I’m switching from a Mac to a PC, and I’ve already found my laptop. Now I’m trying to find Windows 10 replacements for the MacOS software I’ve been using for years. We're covering this journey from all angles:
- What drove me to switch from Mac to PC
- What to think about when choosing your first Windows 10 laptop
- The challenge of finding replacements for your Mac OS software
- How to get Windows to play nicely with your iOS devices
- What treasures await gamers in the massive library of PC games.
In many ways, the software switch is a lot harder than the hardware switch. Read on for the bad news, the good news, and the compromises involved in jumping one ship for another.
The bad news: You can’t take it all with you
First, the bad news: Apple has no reason to make it easy for you to leave its walled garden. When you kiss your Mac goodbye, some popular applications will stay behind as well.
Apple’s Messages and FaceTime, for instance, aren’t compatible with Windows-based systems. While you can continue using them on your iOS devices, video chats and texting on your laptop are best handled by Skype. In addition to Windows, the service is available for use on MacOS, Linux, iOS, Android and Blackberry OS (we’re not here to judge,) making it easy to reach out to everyone in your life, no matter which platform they use.
Apple users will also miss the free, high-quality software that all new Apple computers ship with. Pages, Numbers and Keynote? Sorry. The same goes for GarageBand and iMovie. If you want to be productive or creative with your new Windows computer, you’ll have to search and, in many cases, pay for new options.
It’s not all Apple’s fault. Despite the vast catalog of software available to Windows users, I’ve surprisingly been unable to find satisfying replacements for many of the apps that Mac users take for granted. For example, I’ve yet to find a task/project management application for my Surface Book that can replace The Omni Group’s OmniFocus 2, with its contextual interface and stellar adaptability.
The good news: The cloud is your friend
Next, the good news: Almost anything in the cloud can come with you. The browser-accessible iCloud.com provides anyone with an Apple account access to online versions of Apple’s Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, and Reminders apps. Even better, Apple’s full suite of productivity apps, including Pages, Keynote and Numbers, can be accessed here too. (Note that while you can download files from the service to your computer’s local storage, the programs on the website cannot be used without an Internet connection.)
You’ll also want to use cloud services to keep your computer and mobile devices in sync (especially if you’re keeping some Apple products in the mix) or provide offsite backup for important documents. Best drawing apps for mac pro. Here are a few options to get you started:
iCloud
If you plan to keep your iPad or iPhone with your new Windows PC, then Apple’s iCloud for Windows app is an absolute must. Once installed, it’ll shuttle your photos and video, email accounts, and bookmarks among devices and provide fast access to your iCloud storage on your computer. All iCloud users get 5GB of storage for free. Additional storage space ranges from between $1 to $20 monthly for 50GB and 2TB, respectively. Not surprisingly, however, I couldn’t find any Windows apps out there with deep iCloud Drive integration.
Microsoft OneDrive
Now that you’re using Windows 10, you should try Microsoft OneDrive. A free OneDrive account will net you 5GB of online storage space. Pay $2 per month for 50GB or $69 per year for 1TB. Microsoft also offers OneDrive apps for Mac, iOS and Android.
Dropbox
Dropbox’s cloud storage service is deeply integrated with a wide variety of mobile and desktop applications. I use it daily with my MacBook Pro, Surface Book and iOS devices to back up my files offsite, share work with my editors, and shuttle information among devices. Dropbox’s free basic account comes with 2GB of storage. This amount of space can be upped at no cost by having your friends and family sign up for the service through a referral link or linking your social media accounts to the service (I’ve snagged 8GB of free additional space using these methods). Another $10 per month nets you 2TB of space.
The compromise: Finding similar software
Between the good and the bad, there’s the compromise: Finding software that’s similar to what you had before. Best free art program for mac krita reddit.
You’ll likely have the hardest time replacing pro-level applications. The Mac’s Logic Pro X, for example, costs $280. Windows-compatible alternatives like Ableton Live or Avid Pro Tools 12, when armed with a comparable feature set will, set you back $499 and $599, respectively. After all the dough I just dropped on a new laptop, these additional costs killed some of my platform-switching buzz.
Productivity applications proved easier to replace. Below are the ones I found that work for me. Maybe they’ll work for you too.
Email clients
Mail: Windows 10’s built-in Mail client works seamlessly with iCloud email accounts and calendars. Its functionality is pretty basic, but its slick interface is a pleasure to use.
Microsoft Outlook: If you have an Office 365 subscription (we’ll get to that in a bit), consider taking Outlook for a spin. Also available via Office for Mac and as an iOS or Android app, it’s a deeply customizable email and calendar client.
Mailbird: Available for free, but upgradeable through an in-app purchase, Mailbird can be controlled with your keyboard, mouse, or touchscreen. It integrates with several popular task management and calendar services and can be linked to a number of messaging services like WhatsApp, Slack, and WeChat.
Calendar apps
Calendar: Windows 10’s Calendar application speaks iCloud. After entering your Apple ID and password, you’ll find that Calendar’s clean interface and Message Center integration makes keeping up with your appointments easy.
Hope Calendar: An ad-supported calendar app that welcomes iCloud accounts with open arms, Free to download (but it’ll cost you to $3 to remove ads and unlock the app’s full potential). Hope Calendar offers Live Tile integration, customizable themes and Cortana integration. If you’re particular about the look and feel of the apps you use, Hope’s clean, customizable design might make it a winner for you.
Note-taking
Available for Macs, Windows computers Android and iOS devices, Microsoft OneNote is an amazing, free-form note-taking app. When paired with your Microsoft account, OneNote can sync notes among your various devices in a way that apps like Evernote and Notes and other information collection apps can only dream of. It accepts handwritten content (using a stylus or your finger as an input device). Typing can be started and moved anywhere on a page. Screenshots, images and audio input can all live within a single note. You can annotate and mark it all up. Best of all, it’s free to download for iOS, MacOS, and Windows devices.
Note Taking Software
Productivity software
As I mentioned earlier, iCloud.com offers all the Apple productivity apps you could want right in your browser. Microsoft and Google offer similar services, too. But if you’re like me and prefer to save local copies of your work, you’ll want to try these.
Best Note Taking Program
Microsoft Office: Microsoft Office has been the standard for productivity for decades for both Mac and PC users. There’s a good chance your new Windows 10 machine came with a free trial that includes Microsoft Word, Excel, OneNote, Access and PowerPoint. Once that’s trial’s complete, you can continue to use it for just under $11 per month. This plan’ll put Microsoft’s full-featured apps on five computers, five tablets and five phones, making it easy to give your family everything they need to stay productive.
Best Note Taking Program For Laptop
LibreOffice 5: While it lacks the visual polish of Microsoft Office, LibreOffice is free and supports a wide variety of file types, including those used by Microsoft Office. It’s well supported by a passionate community of users and offers enough features to keep most people productive and happy. Before you spend any money on office software, do yourself a favor and take it for a spin.
Scrivener: I’ve relied on Literature & Latte’s Scrivener for all my writing and research needs for close to a decade. Happily, this deeply customizable writing app is also available for Windows. When paired with a Dropbox account, Scrivener allows you to work seamlessly across multiple devices. I can’t recommend it enough for anyone who writes constantly. While it’s free to try for 30 days, it’ll cost $45 if you want to give it a forever home.
Mixing iOS and Windows without losing your mind
Absolute Best Note Taking Programs For Mac
Finding the right Windows software to replace your Mac software could be the hardest part of your platform-switching journey, but you still have a few more things to do. Next time, we’ll talk about how to foster peaceful coexistence between your new Windows 10 computer and existing iOS devices.