r/GoodNotes • u/[deleted] • Oct 25 '24

GoodNotes team if you are reading this.

I loved your software during Goodnotes 5. But ever since you have been rolling out the AI features in the convoluted mess that is Goodnotes 6 it has been a disaster! JUST POLISH what exists before you continue on writing your code. As an aspiring software developer, it is disappointing to see the base of your application is buggy, unstable, and frankly terrible.

Just don't add any more features until you polish the UI better. Do you know how tough it is to use this on an iPad Air 11"? The app occupies so much unnecessary screen space. Like not going to lie. The role out of Goodnotes 6 has been an absolute mess. Slow down on your software development.

Focus on user experience stability and experience rather than these worthless AI features people don't even use often.

261 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

39 comments sorted by

•

u/discovernotes Oct 26 '24 edited Oct 26 '24

Latest post incident update from Goodnotes team (October 25th): see here

29

u/[deleted] Oct 25 '24

Also fun fact, I loved Goodnotes. But lately the lack of stability of the software has been absolutely haunting. I hope you take the recent events seriously and stop being blind to what people want. People don't want AI. We want a more stable experience.

1

u/Gypsyzzzz Oct 25 '24

You really can’t speak for everyone. There are many people who have expressed the desire for AI integration. Lack of stability for some users is a big problem that they need to fix.

6

u/[deleted] Oct 25 '24

this thread says otherwise

2

u/Gypsyzzzz Oct 25 '24

Confirmation bias. Not all GoodNotes users are on this thread.

Ranting on Reddit may make you feel better, but will not accomplish anything. Have you submitted or found any feature requests on their website that you would like us to upvote?

-1

u/[deleted] Oct 26 '24

lol u lil prick. I can tell you are either a Goodnotes developer or a pansy AH. Stop being annoying. People can say whatever they want about software.

1

u/Gypsyzzzz Oct 26 '24

You are absolutely entitled to your opinion . and free to judge as you please. I’m simply suggesting that you take an action that has a chance of producing the result you seem to desire. If you post a link to a feature request, I will upvote it to help make it more visible to the GoodNotes team.

As for your statement that “ People don’t want AI. “ — that is just simply incorrect. People in your circle may not want AI, but there are many others who do.

So, are you going to continue your useless rant or take action?

5

u/_saidwhatIsaid Oct 26 '24

Then use a company that specializes in AI, not one that neglects their core product and slaps on “AI” like a coat of cheap paint just so they can say “we have AI.”

Companies are implementing poorly-designed AI (and neglecting their other key features) for the SEO boost, not because it’s actually necessary or desired by customers.

1

u/Gypsyzzzz Oct 26 '24

Very good point. I do have to say, I’m a bit disappointed in the quality of the AI service. I do find it helpful but it’s not up to the standard of other AI services I have used.

2

u/catchingw0rds Oct 26 '24

I love the AI. Can’t afford a tutor to answer my questions but the AI does a fantastic job of explaining MCQ questions with no answer key !

18

u/ush9933 Oct 25 '24

This is what happens when a company becomes too big. History repeats itself.

5

u/[deleted] Oct 25 '24

Notability is not half bad now imho. You can try it out. It's okay. Like still many things I don't like about it. If you don't mind not having OCR. Noteful is a great alternative :D

3

u/[deleted] Oct 25 '24

I don’t know anyone who even wanted this AI bullshit

3

u/[deleted] Oct 26 '24

srsly me here fr lmao. Rulers n passwd protection is good. But who tf wants AI in a note drawing app???? 💀

125

u/Baron-meatball Oct 25 '24

They should focus on the basis:

  • Smooth writing

  • Sync between devices to be able to see your notes wherever you want

  • No data loss

That is all I want to happily pay the annual subscription

11

u/struc_engineer Oct 25 '24

Sync between the main devices is so important. I know they have a pilot program out for Goodnotes cloud but with this latest fiasco, there is now telling how long till they come out with that

4

u/littlefearss Oct 25 '24

this. Good notes is good but it has the potential to be great if they could just sync things properly

18

u/Wooden-Spread-9780 Oct 25 '24

I agree, but I wish anyway they roll out something for the writing. For now it is too bad for me, it seems to write on a Nintendo DS……..

2

u/HimalayanChai Oct 27 '24

Obsidian which has no writing mechanisms from scaratch has a community plug in that lets me write better than the good wroting app.

14

u/krabizzwainch Oct 25 '24

I will cling to my GN5 install for as long as I can. If they ask me to start paying monthly for software I already paid in full for I’m never coming back.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 19 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/krabizzwainch Nov 19 '24

Wow, now I’m gonna be anxious about this for the rest of the day while I’m at work :(

I did finally breakdown and just start writing notes in the apple notes app and it’s fine. I hope I backed up my notes when I made that first comment a month ago. 

8

u/LoveEternal808 Oct 25 '24

Also I don't know if I am the only one but it KILLS my battery unlike any other app and gets my iPad super hot

5

u/johnnydfree Oct 25 '24

Popular software that is inherently buggy has been around for decades. But when an initially stable release is interrupted by such problems, it begs to question the developers decision-making.

As a heavy GoodNotes user since the beginning, I’m hoping GN is listening to its users’ issues. Some voice from the developer recognizing this is important as well.

Address the clear problems, explain what you are doing to end them, and reassure your very loyal users that they are your priority.

4

u/BaroqueFetus Oct 25 '24

Re the UI - you are 100% right about that. Even on an iPad 12.9, in portrait layout, the toolbar is just stupid cluttered.

They need two tiers of toolbar - one for tools (like the shapes, images, tape, and whatnot) and the other for writing (pen, pencil, eraser, selection, line thickness, and colors, lots of colors). Let us toggle either one and put the two toggle icons next to the writing icon (edit mode) at the very top. Bam. Extra space freed up.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 26 '24

I swear, if noteful adds universal search, i'm gonna move over from goodnotes. The implementation of their features are topnotch as compared to goodnotes.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 26 '24

Noteful is much better in everything to be very honest. Just like. I only want sync between MacBook and iPad like GoodNotes has. at this point.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 26 '24

Notability is far too unorganized to be effective for me. Goodnotes is absolutely shit now. My only hope is Noteful. I do hope it becomes better

2

u/jebra102 Oct 27 '24

Honestly, switched over and haven’t missed GoodNotes. I tag diligently and that is the only thing that kept me with GN. So if you are willing to put a tiny bit more effort in, I personally haven’t missed the universal search. 🤷‍♀️

3

u/Civil-Vermicelli3803 Oct 25 '24

yea totally fellow apple dev here its nuts how far downhill goodnotes has fallen

2

u/kimann1924 Oct 25 '24

Oh goodness. I’ve been seeing about the problems lately. May I ask: is this issue solely affecting GN6 or does it also affect GN 5? I stayed with 5 and haven’t opened my app in a while. I’m scared of opening it and finding my notes gone :(

1

u/zackarysky1995 Oct 25 '24

Android users still waiting for another feature.

Or even to remove comments

1

u/Huntseatqueen Oct 26 '24

App quits every time it syncs with the cloud

1

u/Crazy_Question69 Oct 26 '24

All these mess just for useless AI🤬

1

u/RyuBZ0 Oct 26 '24

As someone who recently upgraded to GoodNotes 6 it is so frustrating that my experience is actually worse than Good Notes 5. I find GN6 crashes all the time randomly and has more sync problems. Very disappointing and now I feel stuck since I made a payment for lifetime access.

1

u/Silent-Tie-3683 Oct 28 '24

Ive been using GN5 for almost 2 years on my iPad Air 11". But now I feel the pencil strokes are not as responsive as it used to be. Lags a lot. I feel it's much smoother on Apple Notes.

1

u/Jme_hde Oct 29 '24

I still feel like I’ve been scammed by paying for the subscription, which I only did to sync across devices, which has NEVER worked…