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When it comes to note-taking, it’s a highly personal endeavor that virtually everyone engages in. Whether it’s jotting down a quick grocery list or recording a phone number, or taking more organized and detailed notes like summarizing books or documenting meeting minutes, the world of note-taking is diverse and dynamic. People’s note-taking styles vary widely; some opt for straightforward text with headings and bullet points, while others create digital scrapbooks enriched with images and doodles. Regardless of your preferred method, the good news is that there’s a solution to enhance your note-taking experience: the Best Note Taking Apps.
While there are simple software tools for taking notes, which are occasionally packaged for free with mobile devices, these are sometimes rather limited to only allowing typed-in text to be used. There are now far more feature-rich note-taking apps accessible. These more advanced apps can function in a variety of ways, ranging from attempting to duplicate the word processing experience to imitating blank notepads in digital form, allowing for scribbling and sketching.
Here is the list of Best Note Taking Apps
Evernote
Evernote, one of the oldest and most feature-rich note-taking apps, is missing from any list of the best note-taking apps. Evernote allows you to construct basic or complicated workflows by combining notebooks, notes, and tags to keep everything organised. The Web Clipper plugin, which allows you to save full webpages including text, photos, and PDFs reader with a single click, is one of its best features for conducting research.
Notes may be viewed via computers, mobile devices, and the web, so you’re rarely unable to recover anything you’ve saved. Other features include making reminders, presenting notes in PowerPoint format, and combining them. New tables and Siri connectivity for iOS users are among the most recent features. There is a free plan with limited functionality and two subscription versions, Evernote Premium for individual users and Evernote Business for businesses.
OneNote
Microsoft OneNote is a strong cross-platform note-taking application. The software integrates with Windows Sticky Notes and looks like a regular notebook, with sections and pages for organising notes. To finish formatting, you can add text, attach media, record your voice, and use a sophisticated text editor. OneNote for Android also lets you enable a badge that displays an app shortcut on your screen. Take notes without launching the program by tapping the OneNote badge.
Microsoft has revamped the OneNote app for Android, including a new homepage that displays your most frequently used notebooks and sticky notes. A notebook section can be password-protected, others can be invited to a notebook for real-time collaboration, and a page can be exported as a PDF to share with others. OneNote saves and syncs data using Microsoft OneDrive online storage. OneNote is available for free on iOS, Android, Windows, MacBook, and the web.
Microsoft OneNote
Microsoft OneNote is the finest free note-taking app and is a strong contender for the best overall note-taking app. Unless you know you need a certain set of functionality that it does not provide, it should be the first app that most people test. When it comes to taking notes, OneNote is extremely flexible, allowing it to adapt to whatever your individual requirements are.
Because each Notebook is patterned after a ring binder, it is separated into parts with subsections known as pages. And each page is really a blank canvas on which you may write whatever you want, anywhere you want. Make some photographs, click anywhere to add text remarks, and write a moustache on everyone in the photo if your computer supports a stylus.
Ulysses
Ulysses has been around for a while and is one of the most refined note-taking programs available on Apple’s computing platform. Notes are written and saved in the app’s custom Markdown format, which allows for creative use of headings. Furthermore, images can be embedded as links within documents; rather than displaying them in the body text, you can double-click the links to view image thumbnails.
Ulysses also displays photos in a sidebar, which can also provide a word count, small notes, and other information at a glance. Ulysses saves and syncs your documents using iCloud, which may be exported to various formats, including PDF, Word.doc, ebooks, and HTML editors. All of these extras come at a cost, with monthly or annual subscriptions available.
ProofHub
ProofHub is more than simply a note-taking tool or a basic file management system; it is an all-in-one project management and team communication program that includes note-taking as one of its primary functionalities. ProofHub’s Notes tool is simple to use and ideal for scribbling down any crucial project information. You may keep a record of your daily meeting minutes and safely preserve all of your thoughts.
One of the nicest features of ProofHub’s notes is the ability to share them directly with others and even allow them to contribute to those notes. ProofHub, as a note-taking tool, makes it simple to generate notes for nearly anything. You may make each note stand out by assigning it a different colour. You may also write comments, attach files to notes, and put several notes in a Notebook to keep things nicely organised.
Apple Notes
If you’re already a fan of Apple’s ecosystem, you won’t have to seek far for a decent free note-taking app. Apple Notes is incorporated into macOS and iOS but may also be accessed via your browser. Numerous excellent note-taking apps are available for Macs, iPads, and iPhones. We could have properly filled this place with Bear or Craft, but Apple Notes wins because it is free and built in.
Furthermore, it is as convenient, easy to use, and valuable for the majority of people as any of the premium options. And it’s only getting better. In recent years, Apple has introduced capabilities such as tagging, sharing, and a strong search engine. You can format your notes by adding text, attaching photographs, scanning documents, drawing or handwriting, etc. It even works with Siri. Overall, it is one of the best Note Taking Apps that you can download from apple store.
Bit.ai
Bit is a cutting-edge cloud-based document collaboration tool that is ideal for document creation and note-taking. To keep your notes and documents organised, you may create workspaces on Bit based on projects, teams, and departments. These workspaces are fluid, allowing your notes, collaborative papers, and published work to move through the workflow of your business. What’s the best part? Chat, in-line comments, @mentions, and other features allow you to brainstorm and contribute on your notes in real time.
Furthermore, you can rapidly arrange your notes with Bit’s simple and minimalistic editor by adding headings, footers, checklists, numbered lists, and more. You may also visually enhance your notes by integrating images, spreadsheets, videos, GIFs, and much more! Overall, Bit will provide you with a one-of-a-kind documentation and note-taking experience.
Hive Notes
If you use Hive, Hive Notes is an excellent way to link your meetings with your to-do list, elevating your typical meeting notes to a new level. In Hive Notes, you can really attach a note to a meeting on your Google or Outlook calendar, assign next steps to meeting attendees, and quickly share the meeting note with everyone after the event, whether they attended the meeting or not. It’s one of the best Note Taking Apps available.
Because Hive Notes syncs with your calendar, it will also give you a reminder in Hive five minutes before your meeting begins to remind you to take notes. If the meeting is going to be repeated, Hive has a “notebook” style setup where you can add several additions to the same note. During the meeting, use Hive Notes to interact in real time, similar to how Google Docs works, so that numerous individuals may submit comments at the same time.
Google Keep
Google Keep, Android’s default note-taking software, does the job with basic note-taking features. You may add chores, media, drawings, and voice recordings to a new note, select a gorgeous background, and add tasks, media, drawings, and voice recordings. Google Keep, like Gmail, employs labels to arrange notes in distinct folders. You can pin notes and make reminders, but there is no way to password-protect sensitive notes.
In terms of teamwork, you can invite others and plan your next vacation in Google Keep as a group. Google Keep has remained largely unchanged over the years except for the latest Material You redesign. It’s time Google brought rich text formatting and new capabilities to Keep. The app is accessible for free on iOS, Android, and the web.
Simplenote
Simplenote is a popular note-taking tool that is available for free. Simplenote has apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Simplenote is also available as a web app. Simplenote is designed for people who want to take and organise text notes. Simplenote does not allow you to save or preserve webpages or clippings. To be honest, we enjoy Simplenote for this reason.
It also works well with Scrivener, a popular long-form writing application. Previously, we used Simplenote on my phone to take digital notes and ideas for articles while on the road. Tags can be used to categories your notes, making it easier to organise and discover them later. It also works well with Notational Velocity for OS X and is ideal for taking notes during meetings.
Final Words
If you’re a writer, you need reliable note-taking software. This way, you can devote more time to developing your ideas and less time to waiting for inspiration. This post has been updated to include the best Note Taking Apps for all operating systems and platforms. They work well with a variety of popular note-taking methods. Finally, we have a free addition that will help you proofread and edit your notes faster.