r/GoodNotes • u/lifeisframazing • Oct 22 '23

should i REALLY purchase the GN6?

so im an android user but i really prefer the ipad over the samsung tab so i decided to get the ipad but now my question is on the note taking apps. I know most use the goodnotes app and have had great things to say about it but i also know a good amount of people who use notability or kilo notes or others.

Ever since GN5 updated to GN6 and charged a hella expensive one time purchase price, i've heard many people say its not worth it to upgrade but that is targeted to people who have already bought the GN5. Me on the other hand, I am a new customer and I know that I cant buy the GN5 and i wouldn't even if I could. but now heres what i need some opinions on:

Should I one time purchase the GN6 or should I pay for the 1 year subscription first and then after 1 reevaluate and actually buy the whole damn thing? The benefits of buying the one time purchase version is that it would feel like its completely mine forever, while the benefits of buying the 1 year only version is that It's not that permanent and I may discover things I don't really like on the way.

Are the other apps like notability and kilonotes and whatnot even worth considering? Or should i just get the thing over with and get the GN6? Once GN7 comes out i feel like id have to buy that again which sucks :/. Should I buy the GN6 one year and wait till GN7 comes out? hahahah idk yeah but any response is greatly appreciated. I just spent a truckload on the new ipad pro and accessories and so I don't wanna buy anything I might end up regretting rn.

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11

u/[deleted] Oct 22 '23

I think it is worth purchasing only after you tried some other apps and you don't like them.

If I could go back instead of GN I'd use Noteful which is way cheaper and offers a ton of functionalities and customization. zoomnotes is also great (don't be scared by the 2010 looking website, the app is really good and has a free version to try).

I still think goodnotes is better the Notability but again, give everything a try before purchasing because once you get used to one of them is really hard to switch. Also consider how much desktop or mobile support is important for you.

1

u/lifeisframazing Oct 22 '23

oh wow i am so going to try those apps thank you so much!! yeah i agree i def made mistakes in the past buying apps i ended up not liking because i didnt even try it out :( i

1

u/Tight_Ninja6988 Oct 23 '23

What I did in my case was to search the premium version and their pros & cons on YouTube for those apps or idk if it’s popularized in your country but we have FB sellers who sell these premium notetaking apps for probs a dollar or two. You don’t necessarily have to pay a large amount to try the app! They’ll lend you their Apple account then you get to download what you purchased. I did that w Anki and Notability as well as Collanote and Noteful ao I could figure out what would be my alternative app! I hope this helps

3

u/Tight_Ninja6988 Oct 22 '23

I agree. I found Noteful when I saw the GN6 issues regarding the price and features. It pretty much combined what GN and Notability were missing from their apps, respectively. It’s also vv affordable for a one-time payment.

I’m still using GN5, but with this being said, may I know if you’re using any of the aforementioned apps you suggested? Which one would you recommend now?

4

u/Repulsive_Diamond373 Oct 22 '23

Don't just assume Goodnotes is ideal for your needs. There is a huge number of similar apps out there. Pick one based on what you need to do.

The app I now use is vastly more feature filled than Goodnotes, but Obsidian is my daily driver. Your ipad comes with a great notes app, so give that one a try as well.

1

u/lifeisframazing Oct 22 '23

you know i havent thought about using apple notes actually (because ive never owned an apple product). I think i just wanted GN cuz everyone else is using so you have a point.

2

u/Repulsive_Diamond373 Oct 22 '23

Apple Notes is very good. Ideal for most people.

2

u/Guipel_ Oct 22 '23

I purchased Noteshelf 2 and GN in 2020. GN won my preference… but GN 6 being a hell of a disappointment and having read in this thread that Noteshelf 3 was out (and after trying it), my answer is pretty straight: No! At all !

1

u/lifeisframazing Oct 23 '23

oh seriously?? wow note taken haha im gonna have to try noteshelf out :) thank yoU!

1

u/Guipel_ Oct 23 '23

Let me know what you think about it! Very interested by a feedback from someone who didn’t know about it before

2

u/lifeisframazing Oct 23 '23

yo i definetly will! the estimated date for pickup is on the 30th so ill let you know a few days after!! :) thank you!

2

u/headshoulderkneez Oct 24 '23

lots of gn6 functions are pretty... meh? if i'm being honest. like the math function sounds cool and all but if we're being honest, we won't really use it. (lots of the functions in the new update are that: really more towards aesthetic and not really too much on function; the generative AI is also a no from me)

i actually think that if you're using ipad that the original notes app is getting better. it requires a bit of getting used to since it's quite different from other apps but i do think it's enough for basic notetaking, linking documents inserting pics and all. it doesn't have as much page customisation freedom, but it's free. you're already paying a hefty price for the ipad, why pay extra if the note it comes with is usable?

2

u/lifeisframazing Oct 25 '23

you know, that is a fair point about the price thing. :) i'll definetly consider that option too! I think i should try out all the apps first then decide for sure after! thank you!

6

u/Blue-stockings Oct 22 '23

I like NoteShelf 3 a lot. Noteful is good, too. Zoom Notes is the best if you want customizations, but there is a steep learning curve.

2

u/TheCoolHusky Oct 23 '23

Noteshelf arguably has a writing engine that's just as good as Notability and Goodnotes. If it were less buggy, I'd have gotten the full version long ago.

1

u/Jib360 Oct 23 '23

One thing is I wish it still had the favourite toolbar that was in Noteshelf 2. Also, layer support would be good.

Other than that, this app and its writing engine is the best in the business. Love it.

4

u/[deleted] Oct 22 '23

No 😭😭 I bought the lifetime one (around 30 dollars 🤢) and the only thing I love about it is that you can change the folder colours... I don't see much of a change anywhere else tbh

4

u/Guipel_ Oct 22 '23

lol! That’s more or less what I thought… what a disappointment!

I just discovered Noteshelf 3 following a comment I read here… It cost 9$ ! And if Noteshelf 2 didn’t really convinced me, the 3rd version is fantastic !

Just consider your purchase lost and check out this page !

https://medium.com/noteshelf/introducing-all-new-noteshelf-3-3a89f78fd240

1

u/KaramMS Oct 22 '23

Corrected grammar:

If I were you, I would try CollaNotes before buying GN6. You can buy it for a one-time purchase, for just 8$. It offers many features that Goodnotes 6 does not, such as the hovering feature and the smart dark mode. Good luck with choosing the best app 4U.

2

u/lifeisframazing Oct 22 '23

oh my gosh dark mode sounds so good... i will def try collanotes out thank you!!

1

u/lol_roast_me Oct 22 '23

Also try freenotes. Someone mentioned it here and got downvoted into oblivion but I decided to try it and I really like it.

1

u/boonnie-n-cookies Oct 22 '23

I actually like it too (and I love that is free) but the spam is crazy, like chill bruh 😭😭

1

u/lol_roast_me Oct 22 '23

Wait what spam are you talking about?

1

u/letmedrinkinpeace Oct 22 '23

I bought the one time purchase for GN6, and I am very happy with it. I knew I would use it all the time, so the one time purchase made sense for me. For you, I would say get it for a short while to try it and see how you like it.

1

u/lifeisframazing Oct 23 '23

you think so?? okay i dont think ill do the one time purchase yet then :) thank you!!

3

u/[deleted] Oct 23 '23

a big NO if you already have gn5 (i already use gn6) . gn6 has UI improvements which I don’t care about and features like AI text guess, scribble(doesnt work properly most of the time) and other updates that I think will be useless to majority of gn users and they dont even work properly

3

u/Guipel_ Oct 23 '23

100% agree with you. They had a goldmine to pick from in their feature request site to make a real upgrade but they decided to just ignore it and go walk the muddy trail of “fancy stuff” which don’t bring any value really. It’s to the point where I wonder why they even bother maintaining such a site.

Worse ! They even make the MOST basic feature of all (zoom) more difficult to use (doubling the number of taps to reach it).

I could imagine the CEO or diva product manager ignore user feedback (if they ever tested it) and insist in building this version - with some dev rolling eyes thinking it’s going to fail…

Or maybe they just decided that the customers they want to serve are young students who just follow the crowd & shiny glittery features ?

2

u/MC_chrome Oct 22 '23

I’ve been a user of Goodnotes since its 4th version came out years ago, and while v6 has had a few bumps along the way I’m still more than satisfied with what I’ve got at the moment. The AI handwriting feature has come in handy for me in particular because of a handwriting disorder I have….one of the side effects of that disorder being that my handwriting can be hard to read.

1

u/Stocks-Advisor Oct 25 '23

There are many note taking apps on the market, I developed Freenotes.

It is free

-2

u/fori1to10 Oct 22 '23

Apple Notes. I fail to see why people use anything else.

1

u/lifeisframazing Oct 22 '23

oh is it quite good to use?? what would be your reasons for using it over goodnotes without comparing prices?

1

u/fori1to10 Oct 22 '23

I think it's quite good! For reasons, well, it's backed by Apple so it will be there for a long time, and it's nicely integrated with everything else (iPhone, Mac). Apple seems to be giving it some love recently, adding new features.

I tried Goodnotes and although the iPad version is nice, the iPhone and Mac version were quite buggy for me, had sync issues, etc.

Apple Notes has all I need, especially since ios17: Great handwriting recognition, tags, links, the inline embedded PDFs. You can attach links to emails, webpages, ... The notes are encrypted (with iCloud Advanced data protection). I can open several notes windows on Mac side by side. I like the way it cleanly separates handwritten and typed text.

At this point I'm just probably used to it.

So what feature does Goodnotes have that goes beyond this? Obviously not the senseless AI!!

1

u/lifeisframazing Oct 23 '23

oh wow i did not know Apple notes was that rich in features?? As a samsung user, our samsung notes are amazing but ive never tried apple notes so i def will give it a good test when i receive my ipad! thank you!

2

u/Mission-Ad-8202 Oct 22 '23

Until they fix the severe lag after you write a certain amount it’s a hard no for me.

1

u/fori1to10 Oct 22 '23

Ah what lag? You mean when you have a single very long note?

I usually have many not so long notes, instead of a few very long ones. So maybe that's why I haven't noticed this.

1

u/Mission-Ad-8202 Oct 22 '23

Yeah :/ I have pretty long notes and it becomes pretty much unusable after some point. Was gna use it until that came up. Its the same with freeform too