Notability App Reviews

the 1.7.1 still crash on my Mac (OS X El Capitan)

This app has some catching up to do to be as good as OneNote. Most importantly, please add the ability to create check boxes and other tags. This is super important.

I am a college student. I use notability for annotating lecture slides in class (I use a macbook and wacom tablet). It’s one of the few apps I found that does direct handwriting annotation well. The only things I would request is the ability to have multiple windows open so I can work on two notes at a time and to have add function to the eraser so it can erase parts of lines.

Nice app. Works well. Just has a confusing iCloud interface for document update and storage.

The iOS version of this app has a share extension so that you can quickly save web pages from safari. However the mac version does not have this. Additionally, there is no handoff support between iOS and mac. Finally, there is no way to open notability notebooks in iCloud Drive, google drive, etc. That means that if you want to share notebooks, you have to export to PDF

I started using Notability on the iPad and was *almost* able to give up my Moleskine notebook. Then along came Notability for the Mac, and the notebook looks to have seen its last days. Notability is always open on my MacBook, and I hop into it whenever I need to jot something down. I draw in my notes, but do that on the iPad, and changes are instantaneously synched via iCloud. One feature that is missing from the Mac version is the ability to set the paper color and background. I have to start a new note, then pull it up on the iPad to set the color to match the pages in my Moleskines. It’s a minor thing, but still an annoyance. I am happy to say that’s the only annoyance I’ve found so far.

1. Images to move with the text. It is extremely annoying when I add texts, the images dont move. 2. If the drawings can do the same, even better. 3. superscript and subscript 4. manual synchronization: the synchronization between devices is too slow. Would be nice if we can manually sync the file.

Love this app!! I am a much faster typer than I am at writing. The best part is that I can download my professors notes and then edit and add notes all over them. I wish I would have heard about it my freshman year of college. I think every college student should have this app. Its made organization of classes and studying so much easier. Also no longer have to worry about note books I just have all my classes right there.

I’ve used this app for 3 years (2 years on iPad, 1 year on Macbook) and it’s wonderful. Would have gave 5 stars if it weren’t for minor issues (crashes when using search engine for specific terms, hard time resizing text boxes)

I’d liek to be able to adda a signature to PDF docs. And mark them up with arrows like Skitchs had ….

Why can we not do the full screen/split screen with other apps in OSX? I use this in lectures and that feature would make this app worth even more to me.

The only bone I have to pick with this application is its lack of a manual button to sync with iCloud and your back-up destination. I often switch between my iPad for typed and handwritten notes in class to my laptop for more typed notes, and I can’t sync and see my notes that I’ve made on my iPad on my Mac. My current situation: I made an essay outline that I typed on my iPad while I used my Macbook Pro as a second screen to keep the information up as I typed. Now I want to sync my iPad outline on to my Macbook Pro so I can copy and paste the paragraphs I’ve made onto the Word program I have on my Mac. But because I have no button to press, I can’t do what I want to do. It may seem unnecessarily complicated to use two screens at once, but it was convenient for me. Please include a manual button to back up my notes on iCloud and my back-up destination on both the Macbook application and the iPad app please! Then I would put in a perfect five stars!

Notability has been my notetaking app of choice for many years now. It’s a great way to reduce the amount of weight I carry and gives me access to my notes everywhere. My only problem(s) is with iCloud Sync. I’m glad that I can now choose which version to keep on the Mac app, but what if the sync never occurs in the first place? (That’s happening right now. I’d like to work on a note on Mac, but I need the latest edits which were done on iPad) A sync status indicator would be really helpful in my attempts to determine the cause of sync issues. A button to force re-sync would also be highly appreciated.

I’ve used notability for years starting on my ipad and later my iphone and now mac. It’s great for the most part but today I found that about 6 of my subjects have been deleted from the app suddenly. It sounds absurd but I’ve had subjects such as “Life” “Miscellaneous” with various notes in them for quite a while. They were backed up to dropbox since I began using this app and more recently I added iCloud drive as another backup service for notability. I don’t know what happened but now only 3 subjects remain and it’s quite frustrating. The backup services clearly need some work and I hope there’s some way to retrieve my information. I’m not pleased. Also, one thing that severely affects the organizational quality of the app is that whenever a note is imported to another device, that note’s ‘modified’ date is changed to the time when it was imported even if you haven’t actually modified anything in the actual note. That makes no sense. Let’s say you install the app on another mobile device and import every note you have ever made, they will all have been ‘modified’ on that day meaning that from that day on it will be virtually impossible to distinguish between older and newer notes without opening every single one and reviewing what’s in it. This is ridiculous.

Love the app, its truly great and I’ve been using it since undergrad when I got my first iPad! My one problem is that when using it for medical school I have to very carefully (and selectively) choose which lecture notes to download in what order I want them. I think everyone can agree that when you have 100+ pdfs to go through for an exam it makes sense to have things that are related next to each other (such as practice questions) and in the order that they were presented to you. Currently there is no drag and drop feature for rearranging notes (which exists for rearranging subjects/dividers?) the only note rearranging features are name, modified date, and created date (which is what I use). If a lecturer posts additional information for a specific topic on a later date or I inadvertently download the wrong lecture in the wrong order Im forced into the mental dilemma of either having to deal with the agony of my OCD or give up on life and delete notes to then later re-download them in the correct order. Should be a simple fix that would take stress out of life and would be greatly appreciated by all those around me that suffer the consequences of my anguish and frustration.

Notability is user and student friendly! I use it every day in class and I love the different paper options. One thing that makes me sad though is that the ipad version is way better than the Mac version. Is there anyway that you guys can add the paper option for the Mac version (like where you can add lines and change paper color). Thank you for fixing the window moving bug! But overall, this is the best app for high school/college students that want to go paperless. The syncing feature is also very helpful. I am able to start something on my iPad and finish it on my Mac. Thanks! -a happy college student

Sync through icloud is barely functional. Most of the time notes made on my Ma never get to my iphone and iPad. When they do it is hours later. Lots off bugs. You guys had it going well for a while but the past few updates have been destructive. I can’t use the app anymore because it is no longer dependable.

How is this app an editor’s choice? It has very few similarities to the iOS versions. Pasting, moving and sizing images is a guess at best. Text doesn’t stay where it’s supposed to. Editing doesn’t work like a conventional word editor. I don’t know why the OSX version doesn’t have a “hand” icon like its iOS counterparts for easy movement of objects. Notability for OSX looks like a first effort into something the designers either can’t finish or simply find it too difficult to do.

I LOVE the application in iOS… but honestly your Mac OS app is really lagging behind. Visually, it wants a complete overhaul to reflect the same freshness that the iOS design has. Current design falls flat and offers little (basic) connection to iOS (e.g. Themes). Split screen would be nice. And the ablity to LOCK notes with a password. And while this is for the MAC OS, I’m hoping you’ll also consider some feedback for your iOS version - we need MUCH better pencil support - with complete plam rejection. Doesn’t exist today. Pencil works, but so does my finger. PLEASE ADD THIS. To be Editor’s Choice and not have STRONG Apple Pencil support is a miss.

This is the best note taking app that I have used after trying about half a dozen others. I use it on both my iPad and MacBook Pro and have not had the issues with syncing that I’ve read in other reviews. It maybe because I sync with DropBox rather than iCloud.