Notes are nested inside customized class tabs; assume color-coded tags in a three-ring binder. You’ll be able to connect particular notes to conferences by way of Outlook and prioritize them utilizing urgency tags of assorted ranges. For those who’re in search of a “skilled” notes app, OneNote is a good possibility.
Plus, when you have a subscription to Microsoft 365 on the desktop, you’ll be able to then reap the benefits of Microsoft’s Copilot AI integration in OneNote. The AI helper can create summaries and to-do lists, collate data from numerous sources, or simply rewrite your notes to make them extra clear and coherent.
Apple Notes
{Photograph}: Apple
For those who use an iPhone, then Apple Notes is an apparent selection. It comes put in in your cellphone, and, like Google Preserve, it excels in its simplicity. Whereas there are extra superior options, like the flexibility so as to add attachments and to clip textual content and pictures from the net, they don’t muddle issues up.
Group can be very good in the event you take the time to arrange class folders and nest subfolders inside them. For those who’ve already gotten used to Apple Notes, there’s nothing fallacious with sticking with it. Oh sure, and in the event you’re feeling adventurous, you’ll be able to dictate notes to Siri—it is not as educated as the opposite AI-powered assistants on the market, nevertheless it transcribes speech fairly nicely.
Bear
{Photograph}: Bear
Meet Apple Notes’ extra refined cousin. Bear notes gives a bevy of styling choices that will let you change themes, modify formatting, and play with the typography of your notes. (It’s out there on iPhones, iPads, and Mac computer systems solely.) Functionally, Bear notes works the identical as any of the opposite apps on this record, albeit with much more aptitude. It packages all its options in a heat, cozy model that gained Apple’s design award in 2017.
Considered one of Bear’s most useful options is the flexibility to hyperlink notes collectively by way of tags. Simply tag your ideas with the suitable class (work, wedding ceremony, books to learn) as you jot them down, and Bear will type them into their correct folders. If it seems like your ideas come from all over, or in the event you’re dangerous at maintaining issues organized in folders, this may be an effective way to maintain your digital life so as.
Bear bought a giant model 2 replace final yr, which was a labor of affection that gave it a bunch of new options. The up to date app is best at organizing tables, has the flexibility so as to add footnotes, and gives higher in-note search. It is all wrapped in a extra nice design too.
Bear is a free app, however a Professional model prices $30 per yr and gives further options like customized themes, the flexibility to sync with iCloud, and the choice to export notes in additional codecs like PDF and HTML.
Evernote
Sorry to say, however we will not advocate Evernote anymore. As soon as essentially the most revolutionary of the cloud-based notes apps, Evernote has since advanced into a tragic shadow of itself. The app now could be a cluttered mess that has jammed collectively nearly each characteristic possible: group chat, photograph transcription, net clipping, and integration with different on-line providers. Because of this, it’s way more cumbersome to make use of than the others on this record once you wish to simply jot down a easy thought. We had been additionally turned off by the sheer quantity of pop up advertisements that seem again and again to immediate you to subscribe to Evernote’s $130 per yr premium tier. (Evernote’s present new father or mother firm, Bending Spoons, laid off its complete US workforce final yr.)
Sadly, plenty of individuals nonetheless use Evernote, and doubtless really feel locked into its now degraded ecosystem. It could be onerous to make that change to a brand new app, however in the event you’d wish to, it’s attainable to take away your notes from Evernote. Sadly, exporting your stuff off the app has grow to be nearly as cumbersome as utilizing the app itself. Nonetheless, in the event you plan to make the change, right here’s learn how to do it: