APPS SPECIAL.... Seven note-taking apps that are a step up from paper notebooks

Seven note-taking apps that are a step up from paper notebooks

Jot down thoughts, take pictures of things that you want to remember, and keep them all at your fingertip, across various devices, with these top note-taking apps

The mobile revolution means it is easier than ever to ditch a pen and paper for a smartphone or tablet when jotting down ideas, record meetings or simply articulating ideas. And the rise of cloud services and superfast mobile networks mean you can access your data anywhere on the device of your choice. Whether you are looking for an app that’s suitable for sharing information with other people, is a good fit for storing research or merely offers a more pleasant writing environment than your current word processor, these are some of the best note-taking apps you can choose from:

Evernote

(Free)

Evernote is one of the oldest and most fullyfeatured note-taking app. It lets you create both simple and complex workflows using a combination of notebooks, notes and tags to keep everything organised. One of its best features for gathering research is the Web Clipper extension, which lets you save entire webpages. Recent additions include Siri integration for those using the iOS edition.

OneNote

(Free)

OneNote lets you sync notes across various devices. While a free version is available on the Mac, the app is particularly useful on Windows 10-powered hybrid devices due to the interface’s close resembling of an actual notepad. OneNote lets you scribble on ruled pages with your device’s stylus, and you can position text, images and tables anywhere on the page.

Ulysses

($39.99 per year)

It is one of the most polished note-taking apps (only) on Apple’s computing platform. Notes are written and stored in the app’s Markdown style, which allows for inventive (and colourful) use of headings. Images can be embedded in the form of links within documents; rather than displaying them in the body text.

Google Keep

(Free)

Google Keep is one of the simplest note-taking apps, both visually and how it operates. Think of Keep as your place for storing digital postit notes, with each note dotted around the interface as if they were laid on a table in front of you. Notes can be given labels, paired with reminders and collaborated on in real time.

Bear

(Free trial)

A relative newcomer to the note-taking app scene, Bear lies somewhere inbetween Evernote and Ulysses, allowing you to create notes and sync them across various Apple devices through its subscriptionbased cloud service. Bear uses Markdown for editing, so you can insert links into documents without having to display the full URLs.

Simplenote

(Free)

Simplenote’s selling point is its clear, simple user interface, making it easy to keep track of notes. It is available for iOS, Android, Mac, Windows and Linux, with data synced automatically. There’s also a web app if a client can’t be downloaded. It doesn’t have many advanced features, but is ideal for simple note taking.

Dropbox Paper

(Free to sign up)

Dropbox Paper launched in August 2016 and works across the cloud platform’s suite of PC and mobile applications. What separates Paper apart is its focus on collaboration, allowing teams to share their ideas, images and videos for projects.

ET 8MAR18