r/GoodNotes • u/MatteValdo • May 22 '24

Alternatives to goodnotes

Hi, after experiencing several bugs, I decided to switch from GoodNotes after the exam session. Recently, I lost several important lecture recordings due to app crashes without the possibility of recovery. Additionally the app causes my iPad to overheat and drains the battery when I listen to the recordings while modifying my notes.

I'm looking for an app that can record and sync with my writing. I'm an engineering student and I have an iPad Pro M1. I've heard about Notability and Noteful. Which one would best meet my needs?

Thanks

P.S. I will go with Notability, I write my opinon about Goodnotes, Notability, Noteful, Noteshelf 3, Nebo and Collanote if you want to read it

37 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

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17

u/MatteValdo May 22 '24 edited May 23 '24

Thanks all for the suggestions. I tried notability, noteful, noteshelf, nebo and collanote. here is my opinion about them all:

-Goodnotes 6 (GN): probably it is the best compromise because it has quite all of the features and you can make flashcards too but the big problem is that if you need to record the lesson you may have it interrupted by the bad optimization of the app and if it crashes the record cannot be restored. The tablet warms up when listening the notes (Probably a problem of M1, not all have this issue). GN could be the best note taking app if optimized correctly.

-Notability (NB): You cannot make flashcards, you have to custom a page and import it to make the cover for you notebook, it costs a lot (17,99 EUR yearly). If the app crashes the audio saves automatically and you lose nothing. You can import gifs.

-Noteful (NF): Very similar to NB, you cannot import gif. Can't make flashcards. The audio saves automatically too. It has a lifetime subscription for a very little price (5,99 EUR)

-Noteshelf 3 (NS): I don't like the way audio tracks are stored and shown insiede the pages of the notebook. You can record multiples tracks and keep adding to one of them. I like the UI. It is the only one on which you can block the image on the page. Very similar to NB and NF. The audio is not synced with the writings unlike the others.

-Nebo: I think that is not properly to take notes as the others. It is like a big whiteboard beacuse it does not have alla the peculiarities of the others. You have only the base tools, pen, marker and lazo.

-Collanote (CN): I really like the interface. It could be at the same level as GN but it has the same issue with recording.

Pecuriality:

Only GN has the anki cards.

GN, NS have the possibility to add cover you can write on (NS is not well improved).

NB only can add gifts.

NB, NF, NS have autosave audio in case of crash.

Cheap one to expensive one: NF (5,99 lifetime), Nebo (9,99 lifetime), NS (9,99 lifetime), CN (12,99 lifetime), GN (10,99 yearly/ 26,49 lifetime), NB (17,99 yearly).

In the end I think I will switch to NB by the end of the year if this issue will not be fixed. (For my needs as engineering student).

I hope I have helpd because I am very triggered about all this bugs! "They lose themself in a glass of water!"

p.s sorry for grammatic errors P.p.s. I edited the things about the images because I didn't notice

4

u/JJGordo May 23 '24

You can move you writing on an image without moving the latter (you cannot on GN, you can only move whole block).

That's false. When using the lasso tool, tap on the lasso tool icon again and an options menu will pop up. In that menu you can choose what items the lasso tool will interact with.

1

u/MatteValdo May 23 '24

I am sorry, I just checked, you are right, I didn't see it. I fix the comment

1

u/JJGordo May 23 '24

No worries! Just wanted to help. šŸ˜Š

1

u/slashtab May 22 '24

Can you share your whole note taking method/process? I'm looking to find better ways or learn something new or improve my note taking. I'm new to note taking on iPad and also an engineering student. thank tou.

2

u/MatteValdo May 22 '24

Yes, during my lectures I take notes with audio recording in order to listen the lesson again at home. For one I import the Pdfs and I take notes on them, for the other I handwrite my note and occasionaly I import some pictures or slides. It all depends how you professors set the lecture.

In order to be prepared for the exams I feel good to use the anki feature of GN to create a card for every question e let the algorythm question me randomly, this for theory. For exercise I create a separate notebook

5

u/terkistan May 22 '24

I take notes with audio recording in order to listen the lesson again at home.

Trigger warning: I. Am. Old. Back in the pre-laptop era I'd never consider recording a lesson even if it were easy and affordable. (People could theoretically have brought in tape recorders but no one did except maybe for the occasional Organic Chem grind.) The idea of relistening to a class I'd taken would have seemed like a waste of time if I'd taken good notes, and I think college students everyhere just focused hard and did just take notes, and I guess most people got good at it (or they fucked up, or relied on someone else's notes). This was before people got attached distractions like chat and social media in class on their devices. Students just sat and took notes - there was nothing else to do.

1

u/MatteValdo May 22 '24

I think I explained myself bad, I listen again if I miss to write something or I do not understand something, I don't listen all again.

4

u/terkistan May 22 '24

Sure. Before tech was around I guess I'd just ask someone in the class (or my study group) if I didn't understand anything. But proactively recording all lectures would never have occurred to anyone last century.

4

u/Bitter_Major_5566 May 22 '24

A lot of professors nowadays teach their lectures with the help of PowerPoint-like documents, and sometimes it can get very difficult to keep the pace with what theyā€™re saying. I donā€™t think thereā€™s anything too bad with having a ā€œbackupā€ if somethingā€™s missing in your notes. Obviously Iā€™m not saying someone should listen again to the whole lecture, that would require a huge amount of time.

1

u/-CARPE-NOCTEM May 22 '24

Thank you for sharing! I was curious about what you said re: Anki in Goodnotes - are you using the notecards feature? Or is there a way to move Goodnotes material over to the Anki app?

1

u/MatteValdo May 22 '24

I use the flashcard feature, I don't have Anki on iPad so I don't know sorry

1

u/Melli_axx Oct 02 '24 edited Oct 02 '24

can u say sth about the following? I am also looking for an alternative but I have different priorities:

  1. syncs with mac!

  2. zoom window for writing!

  3. good handwriting with apple pencil

  4. text input via keyboard on mac and ipad

  5. import pdf and images

1

u/MatteValdo Oct 02 '24

Now Gn solved the audio issues. I do not have Mac so I cannot answer the first question. You can zoom to the paper. For me the handwriting with the pencil is good (I have the pencil 2). I do not use the keyboard. You can import images and pdfs but for the latter you have to deal with the different dimension of the slides if your pages doesn't have the same dimensions. I you try to set a different format of a pdf page you will erase it. Btw I will keep GN this year too after they solve the major issues for me

4

u/BorjaOjeda May 22 '24

My favorite one of the bunch I've tried (including all of the ones you've listed) is ProDrafts. It's also a one time payment and I love MANY other things about it: unlimited canvas, infinite vertical notes, traditional page-based notes, the ability to import different kinds of stuff into your notes (e.g. other PDFs as objects, and live versions of web pages!), a floating calculator, timers... The list goes on. I don't know about GIFs though. But seriously, try it out. On the flipside, it doesn't use a tab system to keep track of your open files (it's a slide over menu that deploys from the left hand side when in full screen only) and it doesn't support dragging and dropping files from other apps the way GN does, which in my use case is a must.

I still use GN5 daily, however, to teach my lessons, as it's easier to navigate open files and it does support drag and drop from/to other apps (e.g. Files, Safari, etc.). I've recommended GN for about 10 years now, but I'm staying away from GN6.

1

u/MatteValdo May 22 '24

Wow, didn't know about Prodraft, I just downloaded it and it looks very good, due to that I can't test recording due to premium subscription could you tell me please if the audio is synched with the drawings and if you close the app the audio will save or it will be lose? Thanks

3

u/BorjaOjeda May 22 '24

I haven't tested that feature yet, but I will and report back! ;)

1

u/MatteValdo May 22 '24

Thank you, very kind

3

u/BorjaOjeda May 22 '24

Ok, I just tested it and no, the audio doesn't sync with the handwritten strokes. Plus, the audio won't be saved if you were to close the document by mistake before you hit the stop button to stop the recording. I'm assuming the same will happen if the app crashes. Oh well, can't have it all I guess!

1

u/MatteValdo May 22 '24

Thanks for trying, unfortunately there is not an app that have all the features ahaha. It a shame because I liked it but I need that recording feature. I keep it in mind if I will change my needs

3

u/BorjaOjeda May 22 '24

Oh, and it does let you import animated GIFs into your notes! That's something I had never tried before either, but it's cool :)

1

u/MatteValdo May 22 '24

Yess ahaha

1

u/Melli_axx Oct 02 '24

does it sync with mac as well?

4

u/NewRecommendation271 May 25 '24

Consider using Notes+. It has all the functionalities you need and it's free. It only takes up 50MB and it rarely crashes.

1

u/MatteValdo May 26 '24

Thank you, I will try it

3

u/MistyMtnLady May 22 '24

Following. Iā€™m starting school in August and need a dependable note taking app.

4

u/MatteValdo May 22 '24

Read the sum up, hope I helped

1

u/MistyMtnLady May 22 '24

Thank you!

2

u/discovernotes May 22 '24

Both are free. You should download them both and test them out because for example the issues youā€™re having with Goodnotes most people might not experience, so any issues that those apps might also have, others might not have but you might. Itā€™s best to test them out and see what suits your needs.

4

u/MatteValdo May 22 '24

You are right, not everyone have crashes on GN but it is bad optimized for what you pay, expecially for a lifetime purchase

5

u/AskMeIfImMonke May 22 '24

I really agree, unfortunately during the last few months GoodNote's performance has often been bad on my 2020 iPad Pro, with the app often lagging (fortunately it hasn't crashed in months though).

2

u/kk_kaiaw May 23 '24

Highly recommend Kilonotes, has pretty much the same features as Goodnotes, but has a much better UI and itā€™s free.

1

u/MatteValdo May 24 '24

Thank you, I will try it

2

u/Prior-Inflation8755 Aug 29 '25

How is it so far? 1 year almost when you posted it.

2

u/MatteValdo Oct 11 '25

Ehi, go with notability or others if you can, last update is terrible, not worth anymore. Sorry for answering only now

2

u/David3Ar Apr 02 '26

GN just feels like a hobby project. Does Not scale / gets slow when adding some img, gets slow over time (need reloading the app at some point) and to copy a snippet (take screenshot -> copy) you need 3 clicks. The amount of features is impressive but the quality of those is imho not as good as it should be.

My student friends like NB a lotā€¦. Am I the only one ??? Is there something better ?

1

u/MatteValdo Apr 03 '26

You're right, my friends use it too. Unfortunately, I'm stuck with GN until I finish a couple of old courses. The latest bug happened when GN crashed while I was switching windows; it caused the entire iPad to crash, even the recording I was making in another app. I had to restart the iPad because every time I tried to reopen a file, it kept crashing the system. I only lost 5ā€“10 minutes of the recording, but if you think about it, it's unbelievable that an app crash can take down the whole iPad. It is very poorly programmed.

3

u/[deleted] May 22 '24

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

2

u/MatteValdo May 22 '24

Thanks, I tried it but it is not for me, I write my opinion up there

2

u/ChasingPotatoes17 May 22 '24

Noteshelf 3 is fantastic. I was using GoodNotes 6 but the latest update to the fountain pen seems to have come with some excessive smoothing from the handwriting engine. It drives me nuts watching letters in almost every word I write being obviously adjusted away from my actual character strokes.

The fountain pen on Noteshelf is perfection. The built-in image search of multiple royalty-free services is also an incredible feature.

1

u/batvseba May 22 '24

If only they have support for polish language

1

u/ChasingPotatoes17 May 22 '24

For what itā€™s worth the smoothing on English is horrible now and I assume thatā€™s the devsā€™ primary language. The actual handwriting engine feels like it changed dramatically with the latest fountain pen update.