The best note-taking apps make creating and using notes on the move quick and straightforward, whether for inspiration, ideas, business insights, or even reminders.
Note-taking applications have grown in popularity, thanks to the widespread availability of mobile devices, particularly smartphones (opens in new tab). This means that there are now mobile apps for taking notes that allow you to write wherever you are, and there are plenty to choose from.
Whether you’re an engineer on a call, a secretary taking minutes, or simply struck by inspiration while commuting, having the ability to take notes on a mobile device may be quite useful.
The business of note-taking applications is growing in tandem with the popularity of remote work and online education. There are hundreds of note-taking apps to pick from these days, each with its own set of features, strengths, and shortcomings.
We looked at what the note-taking industry has to offer in 2022 and came up with a list of six fantastic note-taking apps:
The best note-taking apps
- Microsoft OneNote for a free note-taking app.
- Evernote for the ultimate digital notebook.
- Apple Notes for Apple users.
- Google Keep for Google power users.
- Notion for collaboration.
1. Microsoft 365(opens in new tab)
The best note taking and mobile office platform
Microsoft OneNote is a free note-taking program with a lot of features. It’s Microsoft’s take on Evernote (the next software on this list), but without the monthly fee.
When it comes to taking notes, OneNote is highly flexible. Each Notebook is separated into parts with subsections called pages, similar to a ringbinder. And each page is really a blank canvas on which you may write whatever you want, whenever you want. This means you can drag and drop an image into place, click anywhere to make text comments below it, and write a mustache on everyone in the shot if your computer supports a pen.
For starters, you won’t have to worry about importing your notes into Word, which is something that the majority of people would need to do, and you’ll also be able to sync papers with your PC and collaborate with coworkers.
REASONS TO BUY
- Full suite of apps
- Cloud-based for accessibility
- Mobile friendly
- Sync to PC
- Collaboration
Perhaps more crucially, it allows you to compose, modify, and email critical papers while on the move, rather than having to type up notes to re-use or mine later, saving you a significant amount of time. That’s before we get into Excel for spreadsheets, PowerPoint for presentations, or Microsoft Teams(opens in new tab) for video conferencing, all of which are now included as standard on the platform.
OneNote is Microsoft’s note-taking tool. It is a full-featured platform and one of the best apps for freeform note taking. Users can drag, drop, insert files, and draw anywhere on the dashboard screen.
2. Evernote (Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Web)
Best note-taking app for the ultimate digital notebook
Evernote, one of the oldest and most feature-rich note-taking applications, is a must-have for any list of the top note-taking apps. To keep everything organized, Evernote allows you design both basic and elaborate processes using a combination of notebooks, notes, and tags.
The Web Clipper plugin (available in Chrome, Firefox, and Safari) is one of its greatest features for gathering information, since it allows you to capture whole webpages – including text, photos, and PDFs – with a single click. Because notes can be accessible on computers, mobile devices, and the web, you’ll seldom be unable to recover anything you’ve stored. Other capabilities include the ability to schedule reminders, show notes in a PowerPoint-style presentation, and combine notes.
REASONS TO BUY
- Free to use
- Good functionality
- Save web pages for offline use
New tables and a Siri integration for iOS users are among the most recent features.
While there is a free plan with certain limitations, there are also two premium plans: Evernote Premium for individuals and Evernote Business for businesses.
Evernote Premium has interfaces with Slack, Outlook, Google Drive, Microsoft Teams, and Salesforce, as well as an AI for content ideas based on comparable material in previous notes and information from media sources.
The Evernote Business package offers all of the above, as well as collaboration alternatives and team management tools.
3. Apple Notes (iOS, macOS, Web)
Best note-taking app for Apple users
If you’re firmly planted in Apple’s ecosystem, finding a fantastic, free note-taking software isn’t difficult. Apple Notes (sometimes known as Notes or iCloud Notes depending on how you access it) is a built-in feature of macOS and iOS that can also be accessed via your browser.
You can obtain an online version of the app with all your synchronized notes by going to icloud.com/notes, even if you’re on a PC or Chromebook. It’s a wonderful addition that protects your notes from becoming completely enslaved to your Apple devices, as long as you have adequate iCloud storage.
Apple Notes is a little more basic than our other two selections, but that’s not always a bad thing. It’s practical, simple to use, and even works with Siri. It’s just getting better. Apple just introduced tags—type #anything to add one to any note—and you can now share and @mention notes with other Apple users. Search is also a valuable tool. Images, text you’ve written, a specific attachment, drawings, words scanned in a document, or something inside the image you’re looking for may all be searched for (for example, “a bike”).
REASONS TO BUY
- Diverse File Attachment Options. Users can add a variety of attachments to their notes, including map location pins, URLs, audio, photos, and videos directly from their Apple device.
- Searchable, Hierarchical Folder Organization. Apple Notes allows users to create folders and subfolders. Plus, those folders can be easily searched and retrieved by name or by matching text content within the note.
You can add text, attach photographs, scan documents, draw or handwrite, add checklists, arrange items into tables, and more once you’ve created a new note. You can add numerous items to a single note, but they’re segmented, unlike in OneNote. You can’t, for example, scratch out a text message with the pen tool.
Notes, as a first-party Apple software, works seamlessly with the rest of the Apple ecosystem. One innovative feature is that you may add stuff to Notes on your Mac immediately from your iPhone or iPad. Open a new note, then select Take Photo, Scan Document, or Add Sketch from the Attach dropdown menu.
4. Google Keep (Android, iOS, Web, Chrome)
Most individuals don’t merely take notes for the sake of taking notes. Instead, they’re done for a specific reason: to remember you to email a buddy, to aid with the outline of your new book, or any number of other things. These additional tasks frequently necessitate the usage of another app or service. You can’t send emails from your notes app, and while you may plan a book there, it’s definitely not the greatest location to write one. This is why Google Keep is such an excellent choice for Google power users.
Google Keep is a strange app. It’s adequate as a note-taking app. There are good online, iOS, and Android versions, as well as a useful Chrome plugin for saving brief notes and links.
When you open Gmail on your browser and utilize Google Keep, you’ll see a small lightbulb icon in the right sidebar. You may quickly access all of your Google Keep notes by clicking it. You may see any notes connected to the project you’re working on, as well as your most recent notes, search for anything from a long time ago, and make new ones.
But here’s the thing: you can find the same sidebar in all of your Google Docs, Google Calendar, and even Google Drive. YouTube is the only Google app it isn’t in.
Google Keep Price: Free for 15GB of storage across all of Google apps; starts at $1.99/month for 100GB.
5. Notion (Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Web)
Note-taking can be done for oneself or in collaboration with and for others. All of the applications we’ve looked at thus far are mostly for taking personal notes. Sure, notes and even notebooks may be shared and collaborated on, but their essential benefits are elsewhere. Collaboration on all levels is integrated into Notion from the start.
The only app on our list that does not meet the requirement of being a note-taking app is Notion. It is, but it has the potential to be so much more due to its collaborative elements. It’s effectively three apps in one: a sophisticated notes software, a task and project manager, and a reference wiki.
A page is the name for a new document or note, while a block is the name for everything in Notion. Basic components such as text, checklists, and headers, as well as media kinds like as photos, web bookmarks, video, audio, code snippets, and files, are all included in blocks. On each page, you can use as many blocks as you like in any configuration.
They’re easy to add: simply type / and navigate through the list. There are a number of templates built in as well, so don’t feel obligated to modify everything when you’re first getting started. Simply select Templates from the sidebar and browse the possibilities until you find one you like.
Strengths
- Integrations. Notion integrates with Zapier so you can connect it to all your other apps. After integrating with Zapier, you can seamlessly perform hundreds of organizational tasks from the Notion platform, like generating google calendar events or saving Slack messages.
- Versatility. Notion lets you build the workflow you want with a drag and drop dashboard.
- Powerful Databases. Notion’s databases function similarly to Google Docs and Google Sheets, allowing users to share files and update their contents in real-time.
Notion connects with Zapier, allowing you to link it to hundreds of other applications to automate tasks such as creating Google Calendar events or saving Slack conversations to a table in one of your notes.
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