Leave a Review Notability
Solid, but could easily be better
The app is solid, as everyone else has already pointed out. The thing is, it could easily be better for those that like tiered organization. If you’re using a divider for a subject, you can’t use dividers within that subject. Dividers are meant to /divide/. The app describes a “divider” as “dividers group subjects,” which is literally not the definition of dividing. GoodNotes’ organization system is bounds better, but this one has a few features that make me stay with it. It would be perfect if they just added additional organization levels, but it’s a real hinderance for the schooling that I do between my engineering major and sociology minor.
Update:
I moved to Apple during my internship 2 years ago. For school, I try limiting everything to just my iPad and MacBook. I even get digital copies of my textbooks. I used Notability and GoodNotes to try testing which was better. They each had their pros and cons. What ended up nudging me to GoodNotes was how engaged they were with their forums and feature requests. I forgot what Notability didn't have, but it was a big thing people had been requesting for literal years. In their feature request forums, there was absolutely no engagement from the devs. I knew they were only making this product for money. Now they're going subscription based? Especially with lack of interest for customer input? Lame.Show lessThatThomasGuy13
So much promise, so little delivery
I love Notability. I’ve used it almost every day for three years. I’ve recommended it to friends and purchased features I didn’t even want just so I help support this app. That said, it is an incredibly frustrating experience. The company communicates very poorly with its user community and makes it extremely difficult to provide feedback and submit even minor feature requests. I have been politely asking for a minor feature tweak for years, and every time I do I am directed to the product page where the community can vote on features. I understand that my feature request might not be a priority, but Ginger Labs won’t even add it to the suggestion page for others to vote on. Combine this with a long series of minor incremental improvements, while features the community pleads for are ignored, and overall it’s a frustrating experience.
I also lowered my score to discourage the anti-consumer practice of making users pay a never-ending subscription to use an app. I have been grandfathered in (after community outrage forced the devs’ hands) but no one should have to deal with that.
I continue to use and love Notability, but I wish it lived up to its potential.Show lessyatpay
Do not buy - Orwellian Doublespeak
So Notability is now “free” but you’ll have to buy a subscription to continue to enjoy the basic features (cloud storage, unlimited editing of your notes) previously included in your purchase. Oh, and they didn’t opt for this subscription model to maximize profit but to give more people access to this hobbled trial version. As if they couldn’t offer a hobbled trial version without moving to a subscription model. Come on Colin Gilboy. This pretense that it’s now free is insulting. I’ve used and recommended Notability practically since it’s inception. And I’m an educator who won’t be personally impacted by this move, at least until you decide students and educators can be squeezed along with the rest of your users. But no more. I will never again recommend Notability to my students or colleagues. Instead, I will go out of my way to tell anyone and everyone AVOID BUYING ANYTHING FROM GINGER LABS. What get’s me heated is not the change in model but the pretense that you’re making the app “free” when in fact you’re eliminating (setting an expiration date on) functionality for which I’ve already paid. If you need a subscription model to adapt/grow, then own up to it. Don’t insult your customers by pretending you’re not doing what you’re obviously doing. There’s nothing “free” about charging customers a monthly fee to retain functionality they’ve already purchased.Show lessPargiter6
Have loved this app for years, and then…
I will start by saying notability has been an amazing note-taking app for me. I purchased notability for iOS and macOS. Two separate purchases. The reason for the one star review though is the planned change in their pricing structure. Giger labs has determined it best to transition to a subscription model. I don’t mind this on it’s own. Where I take issue is that they are legit removing features such as iCloud sync, hand-writing detection, and math from the upcoming “free version”. These are not new features- but instead features that were added in previously to those who paid for the app, essentially crippling our versions and “stealing” our money.
Ginger labs are going about this transition all wrong. If they want a better model, look at fantastical. They too transitioned to a subscription, but when they did, all the features added up to that point still accessible to those who previously paid for the app.
I strongly believe that Ginger Lab’s plan to lock away features previously provided to those who paid for the app amounts to theft, and unless this policy is changed, I suggest everyone who bought this app files a complaint with the BBB, Apple, and their State’s attorney General. For those that have paid for this app, please do not update to subscription until they change course. Goodnotes is also a wonderful not taking app, and even Apple notes has become pretty darn good.Show lessTheGreenMiles
One major flaw that ruins the app for me
I've used this app for several years now and have loved it on the whole. Cross-platform user interface and Drive and iCloud backup were a major plus. Customer service is also pretty quick. However, the lack of native landscape orientation is a dealbreaker for me. I was aware of this issue when I first purchased the app but thought that the developers would eventually address it, and I thought that I could find an easy workaround in the meantime. This app has been out for a decade yet they still haven't created this feature. Every time it's brought up, the developers offer a "fix" which you can download a landscape template into your document—as a medical student who lives off this app, it takes far too long to find the exact paper I want in a high quality file to duplicate whenever I want to write in landscape format. The developers' failure to address this problem with any real solution shows that despite frequent bug fixes, they have no intention of providing answers to real requests or problems customers have. Unfortunately, I will be migrating to a different note-taking app and will no longer be recommending this to my classmates in any professional or graduate program.Show less117171778
Could add more features !!!!! Please !!!!!!!
I wanted to type my notes using the Cornell method (where there’s a line about 1/4 from the left to separate keywords and body text/notes). I went to check out the different types of papers but realized there aren’t that many templates. I normally use the dotted one to write out my notes, so drawing that 1/4 line is no big deal. But I wanted to work faster and now type it out. I could always just draw the line but then when I type, the words would just go over the drawn-on line. Using types boxes would be a hassle since it was constantly redshift. I wished there were more templates around it. Also, I wanted to type out something on the center of my page but am having a difficult time trying to center my text. I looked up a way to center my text and found that if I hold down on my toolbar, more functions show up…..but it doesn’t let me use them?? I try clicking on it but it never works. It just says drag items to the edit toolbar, but even when I move the centering tool to the front, it just automatically goes back to its original position. I’m not sure if what I’m using is correct, I just wanted to center my text but it doesn’t seem to be working.Show lessluuuuuuuuuuuyuuuuuuuuuuuu
Giving up
I've used Notability for years, but have finally given up. Overall, it's a good App, but still lacks a lot of functionality that other note apps have. However, Notability continues to have issues regarding saving notes and working with iCloud. Last week, I lost over 100 notes and all my notebooks (36) have been lost. I have followed all the instructions online to try and recover, but with no luck. I know they are there in iCloud as the Notability app has not changed regarding memory usage. For some reason, those notes and notebooks are lost. Notability has a serious issue of linking with iCloud. So many times my notes had to be downloaded to my iPad every time I opened Notability. Every time before I boarded a plane, I made sure my notes where downloaded. I can't tell you how many times I have download partial notes because I didn't have time to download the remaining before boarding. In the end, Notability blames iCloud, but not another single app that I use linked to iCloud has this problem. So, I'm done with Notability. I HIGHLY recommend that if you do use this app to make sure you backup to another cloud service (Dropbox, Google, etc.). Good App, but I have lost all faith in this App going forward. More importantly, I need the confidence that my note App will function at all times. Notability failed that important test.Show lessrichshar1
Best Invention Ever - Student Perspective
I’m a computer science student graduating in August 2020. Notability has been incredibly helpful as a work tool for school. I bought myself an iPad as a freshman in university. I also bought Notability to take notes. Not having to worry about carrying notebooks and losing papers has been an enormous help. All my notes are taken and saved in notability. I have an entire 4 years of university on this app. The synchronized recording with pen note taking has been the single most helpful thing for me. In some of my toughest computer science courses I would record the lecture (with audio built in on the Notability app) and when I was confused (because I couldn’t keep up with the speed of the lecture) I would go back and listen to the audio and know exactly where the confusion occurred because the writing was synchronized with the location in the audio. I’ve tried multiple note-taking apps (paid ones too) and this is by far my favorite. Thank you Notability team! One thing I would appreciate is a better file management system. Having four years worth of work on my notability app makes file management essential and the current file management could be improved!Show lessEddy2050
If my iPad could only have 1 app, this would be it
I don’t take time to write many reviews, but I have to take a minute to throw a bone to the most used app on my iPad Pro. The design of this app is perfect for me. It has exactly the features I need—I use just about every feature it has (nothing seems superfluous or overly complex), yet there are also no other features that I feel it really lacks. It is just a really solid, well-designed notes app. I think where it really excels is how easy it is to import all kinds of visual materials, take notes all over them, and synchronize recordings with the note taking. I draft patent applications and being able to import an invention disclosure and have synchronized note-taking while I go over the document with the inventor is extremely useful. I have found lots of fun and useful things to do on my iPad Pro, but the app I use most, and the last one I would ever give up, is Notability. My compliments to the team for creating a great product and keeping it updated. Whatever I paid for this was worth every penny and much more.Show lessPariscue
Amazing apps, needs better organization
I have been using Notability for more than 2 years and it is my absolute favorite note-taking app out there. It got me through Highschool and now university, and the voice-recording feature has saved me countless times. The ability to save favorite pens and highlighters has also made it incredibly easy to take colorful and neat notes, which I really appreciate.
My only problem with the app is organization. I have around 715 notes and it is getting extremely hard to navigate through them. The inability to have folders within folders has made it incredibly hard to organize my notes in a way that makes sense to me and allows me to find them easily. Each of my classes, for example, has exams, labs, homework, textbooks, and other important documents. Scrolling through 50 notes per subject has become very tiring, and I believe it will only get worse with time. Right now, I change the name of the note to make them easier to find, but an organization feature will make this app complete for me. I’ve downloaded another note-taking app purely for its organization but greatly prefer Notability’s layout, so I hope they implement better folder management soon.Show lessalienous
