- Best Note Taking Apps
- Best Note Taking For Mac
- Note Taking Apps For Ipad
- Note Taking Apps For Macbook
- Free Note Taking Apps
Mar 20, 2017 Top 10 Note-taking apps for 2017. Combined with distraction free writing, this iOS/Mac experience is a great selection. About the future of productivity software here on Medium ??. Bear is an Apple-based note-taking app which is available only on iOS and Mac devices. It can be used to structure to-do lists and also includes a Markup editor which supports coding with over 20.
Taking notes on a Mac is as simple as opening Notes and starting to type. But the best way to take notes actually depends on your own personal habits and workflow.
Some people are better with sticky notes that stay on your screen all the time, or an app that syncs seamlessly with Evernote. If your notes tend to turn into blog posts, an app like MarsEdit can keep them organized until they’re ready to publish.
Setapp collection is packed with useful apps that might fit your unique way of note-taking better than a one-size-fits-all solution like Apple’s own Notes. With over 150 apps to choose from — and a free trial — you’re bound to find the best app for jotting down your thoughts. Here are our favorites.
Best note-taking apps for Mac
Get the most out of your notes - with a huge set of top Mac apps in one pack!
Capture ideas with Unclutter
Unclutter is perfect for capturing the smallest germ of an idea, since it works as both a sticky notes app and a clipboard manager. Because it’s always open, you can write down an idea the second you have it. Unclutter’s notes are sticky because they never go away, and the interface is even better than default sticky notes on the desktop since Unclutter doesn’t clutter up the view when you’re working in other apps.
To access Unclutter, you can just mouse to the top of your screen and scroll down (or choose your own key command), and its three-pane layout appears, with sections labeled Clipboard, Files, and Notes.
In Clipboard, you’ll see a list of everything you’ve copied to your Mac’s clipboard, ready to re-copy and paste whenever and wherever you need. You can star favorite items to keep them accessible here forever.
Files is a handy place to drop files you need an easy access to, like things you’re working on right now.
Unclutter’s Notes pane is a text field where you can type out notes and also drag text and links into. You can keep one long-running note to yourself or create multiple notes and view them in a list — the Search field searches the full text of all of your notes, so you can always find what you’re looking for. All panes are easy to resize to give yourself more room.
Unclutter is easy to fit into your workflow since it’s always there, and the search field helps you find things later. Dropbox integration even syncs your Unclutter files and notes across multiple Macs. When you want to turn your thoughts into something more edited, you can choose another note-taking app from Setapp.
MarsEdit and Strike for blogging
MarsEdit makes it easy to create content, cleverly edit what you write, and integrate with WordPress as well as other blog publishing services right from the app. Besides giving you a place to write in Markdown or Rich and Plain text, MarsEdit lets you build and format robust blog posts, complete with links, images, and other media. You can add tags and schedule your posts to go live anytime.
MarsEdit even makes it easy to gather links and media to blog about. It has a Safari extension that lets you save URLs and start blogging instantly once you find something worth writing about.
If you’re looking for a writing tool that allows to collaborate on a doc, you should go with Strike. This effortless text editor lets up to 10 people to work on the same content in real time.
Improve your writing with Ulysses
Ulysses is a writing app with outstanding organizational features, so you can move from notes to an outline to a full manuscript. In fact, Ulysses is a popular app for Mac users participating in NaNoWriMo, a month-long exercise that encourages people to write a novel. It has all kinds of features to get you to write more, from flexible themes to eliminate distractions, to writing goals that count words written.
You can use Ulysses to post to a WordPress blog, export Word documents, or even format an entire ebook. But at the most fundamental level, it’s a great note-taking app because you never have to save anything, and your writing can sync between multiple Macs and iOS devices via iCloud or Dropbox. Your notes can contain images, keywords, and PDFs. The search function is incredibly thorough; for example, you can find keywords in notes created before a certain date, in case you want to see how your thoughts about something have evolved over time.
Take study notes with Studies
While other note-taking apps are flexible enough to handle work and personal topics side-by-side, Studies is created especially for those in academic settings. It’s designed to take your notes and turn them into study notes, which are basically flashcards on steroids.
Instead of a traditional two-sided flashcard for memorizing terms, the study notes in Studies can have as many “sides” as you need. They can contain text, images, videos, even audio. This makes them flexible enough that you can create study notes for any subject, from accounting to zoology. You can share study notes with classmates or even download pre-written note sets from Quizlet.
Then, you can use Studies to quiz yourself. The app can set up a schedule for you, based on prepping for an exam or just learning the material as quickly as you can. It chooses notes to study every day, and the cards you got wrong will re-appear more frequently in future sessions, so you can get it right.
Setapp puts all best note-taking apps together
All these note-taking apps are available in Setapp, so you have access to them all for your ideal workflow. You could start an idea as a sticky note in Uncluttered, paste it into Alternote, where you flesh out the idea a little more. That syncs it to Evernote, which you can also connect to Blogo, and turn that note into a full-featured blog post for the world to read.
It’s all up to you, and Setapp lets you focus on the work, instead of finding the right apps, buying them, and then buying them again for updates. Just consider subscribing once and then all you have to do is write.
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When I was in high school, I was one of those nerds that carried pen and paper around everywhere.
Sometimes it was a small notepad.
Sometimes it was a single sheet of paper folded in my back pocket.
Other times it was a journal in my backpack.
I moved to a note taking app on my smartphone, because of:
- Convenience: Obviously if I already have a phone in my pocket, it’s simple to start using it right away without carrying a pen along with paper. This simplifies everything.
- Searching: Something that’s hard to do with paper? Searching for what you wrote down. You can look back at it, but if you want to keep it for any amount of time, you must retype and save it. With an amazing note taking app, you don’t have to do this. If you remember a random idea, you can search back through all of your notes to find it. Note taking apps make it simple to keep up with your information.
- Accessibility: Beyond the convenience in your pocket, most note taking apps also provide remarkable accessibility. You can add, copy and edit your notes from a laptop, tablet or phone. This helps you transfer notes to work accounts or easily share them with friends.
Maybe instead of pen and paper or a notebook, you have sticky notes all over your monitor. Those can definitely get lost! Or blow away. And you can’t even attach files or save documents to sticky notes!
ALSO: Take a look at these best note taking strategies!
With those factors in mind, let’s examine the best note taking app for you to try this year.
1. Notepad by ClickUp
The Notepad by ClickUp is a Chrome extension that you can download and then use across the web. It stays in the bottom corner of your choice, creating a simple way for you to jot down reminders or do research as you’re browsing.
Just click on the purple notepad icon at the bottom of your screen, and your entire list of notes is right there. And with rich text editing, you can format, emphasize or even use markdown right there in your browser.
This is the notepad program designed for those who want to maximize their productivity. Why? Because it connects right to your *favorite* project management software, ClickUp!
Another feature? Use the Notepad as part of the ClickUp mobile app as well. You can record meeting notes, make checklists and then create tasks instantly from your notes. No other note taking app or project management platform offers you this type of flexibility.
Sync your Chrome extension with your mobile app and desktop application. ClickUp works wherever you need to go.
ClickUp is the only project management software program that has this option…and your same notes will transfer from your browser right into ClickUp.
PRO: Easy to use for your project management and to take notes on the web
CON: No standalone mobile app…yet!
Availability: Chrome browser and with ClickUp
2. Google Keep
Google Keep is a great option because it meets all of the points I made above, plus it’s simple. And completely accessible.
Make note lists, save links, copy text and even record audio notes. Those are amazing features that come as part of your Gsuite applications.
With reminders, Google Keep can be used for very lightweight task management.
Pro: As part of the Google Suite, you can take meeting or lecture notes on your browser or your smartphone via an app and it stays with you.
Con: Formatting text or markdown is a bit harder to do.
Availability: All devices
3. Bear
Though only available on Apple products, Bear is a note taking app to be reckoned with. It has a simple left to right interface with a main menu, a note snippet display of your most recent notes, and then the actual note taking area.
One of its key features is its organizational system. Use hashtags to categorize, then use a slash command to create even more subfolders. You can do this from anywhere in the note. This is a simple way to organize and categorize your notes.
The new folders then automatically appear in your main menu. It also uses other markdown text editor shortcuts to link your notes together. Very intuitive!
Pros: Hashtags and categorization from anywhere in the note
Cons: Not enough separate workspaces or different levels of categories. This Reddit thread has more.
Availability: iOS
4. Workflowy
Workflowy is a notes/project management hybrid, but it works best for notes. Workflowy takes the idea of an outline to an extreme. Rather than create smaller cards for each of your notes (like a notepad), Workflowy drills further and further down into an outline, creating a hierarchical structure right from the start.
Workflowy offers extreme flexibility. Novelists use to plan books; managers can create quick tasks and checklists to pass onto their team.
From there, you can add tags and more organizational tools emerge.
With its new mobile apps, Workflowy is definitely worth a try.
PRO: Easy to see zoom in and out from the big picture to smaller details
Best Note Taking Apps
CON: Sometimes users can be frustrated by its plain approach–it’s almost too simple. The blank page can be daunting after all. But you can set favorites and more to navigate.
Availability: All devices
5. Evernote
Evernote is the OG of note taking apps, but its shine has lost a little luster over the years. They’ve lost a few executives in the C-suite and users are feeling stuck, especially after they started charging premium prices, but with few product updates.
But the fundamentals remain the same: it’s easy to take notes, add lists and even attach files to your notes for safekeeping. Its user interface has set the tone for the rest of the note taking apps, many of which have come after it.
If you need to export all of your notes, that can be tricky too, yet can be done.
Best Note Taking For Mac
Proceed with caution on Evernote!
Find more Evernote alternatives!
PRO: Web clipper and card system are familiar
CON: Rising prices and uncertain product leadership
Availability: Everywhere
6. Paper
Paper is a different type of note taking app–it’s the one for you visual thinkers out there. Made more like a sketch pad, you can dive into paintbrushes, swirls, and shapes. Create mind maps or draw a quick cartoon as a reminder. Its notebook feature helps you set up the organization that you need to group your notes and drawings into different categories.
PRO: Capture quick design ideas
CON: Not many keyboard functions for the text types out there…and only available on Mac/iOS
Availability: Mac/iOS
7. Ulysses
Ulysses is a hybrid writing program and note taking app. If you find yourself needing to transform your notes from raw form into something presentable, then Ulysses lets you do that all across your Mac devices. You can take notes in a plain text mode and then throw in another theme for export.
It also offers writing goals and links to outside resources, like a PDF for instance. Its clean interface is inviting to many users.
PRO: A minimalist interface for long-form writing
CON: One drawback? It requires an ongoing subscription, so take a test run before committing.
Availability: Mac and iOS
8. SquidNotes
SquidNotes is one of those writing apps that captures your real handwriting. It mimics an actual notebook or legal pad. You can use a compatible stylus or write with your finger. You can then resize your notes, add shapes and export to PDF and more. It’s also great for commenting on images and suggesting edits.
PRO: Use your real handwriting (that’s a con for me)
CON: Won’t be as concise or compact as a standard note taking app (if that matters to you)
Availability: Android
9. Microsoft OneNote
At first, I thought Microsoft OneNote was just the answer to Google Keep or Evernote…but it’s actually more than that.
It’s a great tool for annotating and commenting on PDFs, and it combines the functionality of traditional notes with the sketchbook approach. It’s the best one at doing both.
You can take audio dictation, photos, make a to-do list or draw. An amazing OneNote feature is using the keyboard and sketching in the same app. You don’t have to give up your handwritten notes entirely.
Microsoft users will want to take advantage especially since it connects to your 365 account, which can then sync across all your browsers, apps and mobile devices you use for Office365.
Pros: Sketches and typed notes in one place! And Microsoft.
Cons: And Microsoft.
Availability: All devices
10. Simplenote
Free notes?
Clean interface?
Note Taking Apps For Ipad
The team from Automattic (creators of WordPress) want to solve your note taking problems with Simplenote, a free and open-source note taking platform.
An advantageous feature is syncing Simplenote across all of your devices–whether it’s Windows, Mac or your mobile devices.
You also get markdown, which is a huge bonus for sharing code or to emphasize a point. On the flip side, there is no rich text editor.
One Simplenote feature that others don’t have is a drag-and-drop interface for revisions and note history. Just drag the toolbar to go back in time.
Pros: Use across desktop and mobile devices, easy to review past history
Cons: Not great for attachments, setting reminders, hard to format texts
Availability: Mac, iOS, Android, Windows
Conclusion
No doubt, having a great note taking apps are a lifesaver. Your choice may depend on your use case. Do you want a lot of features available through an app like Ulysses, or something simple to jot down your grocery list? Or maybe an online notepad that’s available all across the web if you spend a lot of time in your tabs.
Your choice may depend on what you need, how often you need sketches (or not) and what you want to do with your notes once you’re done with them. Exporting isn’t for everyone.
Note Taking Apps For Macbook
Which best note taking app will you choose?
Other great posts to help with your notes:
- Best note taking strategies
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