7 ms·

Ask HN: Do you use iPad to take handwritten notes?

5 points by mraza007 5y ago

Hello Everyone, I was wondering if you have used iPad to take handwritten notes, what apps have you used and how’s your experience like?

djrogers 5y ago
Yes, at the end of the day I always come back to Apple Notes. It has good diagramming capabilities, with snap-to-shape for people with crummy sketching skills (draw a circle/cloud/star/arrow/line/etc then hold for a sec), and it recognizes handwriting well. You can group select and edit handwritten text too. I'm really looking forward to a new iPad mini with support for Apple Pencil 2, as I think it would be more natural for note taking than my 12.9.
- mraza007 5y ago
  I’m a little hesitant I have a remarkable tablet but it’s limited in other features so I thought I should give iPad a try and decided to ask this question how’s your experience have been like
  - Jorslu 5y ago
    I prefer my iPad 9.7 over the Remarkable 2 that I have.
Jorslu 5y ago
I still use my iPad Pro 9.7 inch to take notes using Notability. It's useful for just getting thoughts down, keeping my notes digital, and being able to essentially both notebook and books in one device. I absolutely love it! Personally, Notability has been my daily driver. Sometimes I'll use Nebo but now with the Apple Scribble feature, I find myself just writing into the text boxes manually. I've been using the iPad + Pencil since late 2016 and haven't looked back ever since. I also prefer the Pencil over glass. The matte screen protector felt nice but degraded the screen visibility enough to be annoying.
- mraza007 5y ago
  Are you talking about the paper like screen protector for iPad which gives paper feel
  - DarmokJalad1701 5y ago
    Not OP, but I do have one of these screen protectors. I bought a generic one off Amazon instead of the expensive "Paperlike". It works just as good.
    - mraza007 5y ago
      Got it. I ordered an iPad by the way which screen protector did you use besides paper like
      - DarmokJalad1701 5y ago
        I got something called "Paperfeel" from Amazon which is around $12. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SKV995M https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SKV995M
  - Jorslu 5y ago
    I did not use Paperlike. I used a generic matte screen protector off of Amazon. I had used the matte screen protector for a year and then took it off and got used to the glass feel.
- tmaly 5y ago
  Can Notability OCR hand written text to regular typed text? It was not clear to me when I looked at the description in the app store.
  - Jtsummers 5y ago
    I believe it is enabled through an in app purchase. I don’t recall the price.
pcsalad 5y ago
I still do to this day but most of the time its being done by my dad. He's doing a lot of reconstruction mapping and so on, so its a great alternative for him, al though he's more of a android guy
DarmokJalad1701 5y ago
Yes. I bought the iPad for something other than note-taking but I have found it to be excellent for that purpose, when paired with the Apple Pencil. I currently use the built-in Apple Notes app for this.
countmora 5y ago
Yes, I use Goodnotes 5 for taking notes. Should have made the switch sooner.

5 points by mraza007 5y ago

Hello Everyone, I was wondering if you have used iPad to take handwritten notes, what apps have you used and how’s your experience like?

djrogers 5y ago

Yes, at the end of the day I always come back to Apple Notes. It has good diagramming capabilities, with snap-to-shape for people with crummy sketching skills (draw a circle/cloud/star/arrow/line/etc then hold for a sec), and it recognizes handwriting well. You can group select and edit handwritten text too. I'm really looking forward to a new iPad mini with support for Apple Pencil 2, as I think it would be more natural for note taking than my 12.9.

mraza007 5y ago
I’m a little hesitant I have a remarkable tablet but it’s limited in other features so I thought I should give iPad a try and decided to ask this question how’s your experience have been like
- Jorslu 5y ago
  I prefer my iPad 9.7 over the Remarkable 2 that I have.

Jorslu 5y ago

I still use my iPad Pro 9.7 inch to take notes using Notability. It's useful for just getting thoughts down, keeping my notes digital, and being able to essentially both notebook and books in one device. I absolutely love it! Personally, Notability has been my daily driver. Sometimes I'll use Nebo but now with the Apple Scribble feature, I find myself just writing into the text boxes manually. I've been using the iPad + Pencil since late 2016 and haven't looked back ever since. I also prefer the Pencil over glass. The matte screen protector felt nice but degraded the screen visibility enough to be annoying.

mraza007 5y ago
Are you talking about the paper like screen protector for iPad which gives paper feel
- DarmokJalad1701 5y ago
  Not OP, but I do have one of these screen protectors. I bought a generic one off Amazon instead of the expensive "Paperlike". It works just as good.
  - mraza007 5y ago
    Got it. I ordered an iPad by the way which screen protector did you use besides paper like
    - DarmokJalad1701 5y ago
      I got something called "Paperfeel" from Amazon which is around $12. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SKV995M https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SKV995M
- Jorslu 5y ago
  I did not use Paperlike. I used a generic matte screen protector off of Amazon. I had used the matte screen protector for a year and then took it off and got used to the glass feel.
tmaly 5y ago
Can Notability OCR hand written text to regular typed text? It was not clear to me when I looked at the description in the app store.
- Jtsummers 5y ago
  I believe it is enabled through an in app purchase. I don’t recall the price.

pcsalad 5y ago

I still do to this day but most of the time its being done by my dad. He's doing a lot of reconstruction mapping and so on, so its a great alternative for him, al though he's more of a android guy

DarmokJalad1701 5y ago

Yes. I bought the iPad for something other than note-taking but I have found it to be excellent for that purpose, when paired with the Apple Pencil. I currently use the built-in Apple Notes app for this.

countmora 5y ago

Yes, I use Goodnotes 5 for taking notes. Should have made the switch sooner.