Glitches terribly with Ipad Air
I’ve been religiously using this app for a year now as a medical student and it’s been glitching bad when using my ipad and apple pencil combo.
Medical school is content heavy so I try to take down notes as much and as fast as I can. But this app keeps giving me a hard time and leaves me frustrated every time I write my notes. The interface, the ai quiz, the features are all good but the doing the basic task of note writing is where it’s failing?
I replaced my pencil thinking it was the reason for the glitching, learned it wasnt. I switched to different note taking apps for a few days to see if its really my ipad or my pencil. It wasn’t. I even bought drawing gloves thinking I was just sweaty and that causes the glitch.
Medical school is content heavy so I try to take down notes as much and as fast as I can. But this app keeps giving me a hard time and leaves me frustrated every time I write my notes. The interface, the ai quiz, the features are all good but the doing the basic task of note writing is where it’s failing?
I replaced my pencil thinking it was the reason for the glitching, learned it wasnt. I switched to different note taking apps for a few days to see if its really my ipad or my pencil. It wasn’t. I even bought drawing gloves thinking I was just sweaty and that causes the glitch.
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Getting Worse
How does an app progressively get worse with each update? It’s cool to add in new features, but it seems to be at the expense of the app’s performance. Losing notes, app freezing, handwriting appearing elsewhere, tools not working as they should… let’s focus on making sure the app works as it’s intended rather than trying to show off what “cool” features it has. It’d be cool to reliably use the app. I used to love Notability, but I’m probably going to find something else soon. This is ridiculous.
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Not for laptop
I love Notability for iPAD but using it on any other device is terrible. The website is plain text and the MacOS app does not support different fonts and formatting. I use my laptop almost exclusively at work and I can’t take notes on here in the same way I can with my iPad. If it were better for laptops, I would love this app. Such a bummer.
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iCloud Syncing removed
The app has removed iCloud syncing…I paid full price for the app (before subscriptions) and had been using it daily for my work and loved the app. Today the app has been updated to remove iCloud syncing - DISASTER for me and my workflows.
Tried contacting support for help but ignored.
This is a forced transfer of my private documents from iCloud (secure) to Notability Cloud (stored on servers in the US) - a huge privacy risk!
Tried contacting support for help but ignored.
This is a forced transfer of my private documents from iCloud (secure) to Notability Cloud (stored on servers in the US) - a huge privacy risk!
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What happened?
I’ve never written an app review in the 15 years I’ve been using Apple products. I used to absolutely LOVE your app. It helped me earn two master's degrees and was a total lifesaver. The performance and features were perfect - no bugs whatsoever. It was a pure joy to use. I recommended it to everyone and still use it actively myself. Unfortunately, lately it has become practically impossible to use. It constantly lags and freezes. Using it is a source of endless frustration. It takes a lot to make me stop using something I’m used to - I even buy the same brand of car every time, but now I’m seriously considering switching to something else for my notes and records. Please fix!
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Increasingly frustrating
App is getting more and more buggy while useless AI features get pushed. The syncing flatly does not work across all devices. It’s infuriating to want to switch between tablet and computer while working and there’s no way to get the information to actually send. I’ve sent notes to myself in email because the sync functionality is so bad.
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New Update Ruined It
This new update is terrible. I miss the old app I foolishly paid $100 for. The most annoying ****ing thing is not being able to erase stuff as quickly and effortlessly as before. Now it takes way too damn long and makes it harder for me to keep up with note-taking in lectures. Completely defeats the purpose of the app. Why try fixing something that isn’t broken?
Now this is just as bad as Apple Notes. Save your time and money and go with the competition.
Now this is just as bad as Apple Notes. Save your time and money and go with the competition.
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A Perfect Tool - Best in Class!
I an a stage director. I have been using Notability daily, since it first appeared in the App Store, to annotate scripts, notate edits, mark-up new drafts, diagram blocking, etc. It is an INVALUABLE and ESSENTIAL tool in my work. Best of all, when I’m working on new musicals, I can record the demos or instrumental tracks right into the document! Thank you, Notability!
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Bad app
This app has now cost me two exams by randomly deleted all of my study documents.
Local App good, connected services bad
I have been using the app locally for several years and really like it. It would receive 5 stars. The other day it asked me to create an account and connect to the cloud for backup. Now the app is completely unusable despite the sync completing. It constantly freezes and becomes unresponsive.
Privacy Should Be a Choice
I’ve been a loyal Notability user for years, but I’m extremely disappointed by the push toward storing notes in Notability Cloud and making them accessible through the web.
I currently use iCloud to back up my notes, and that’s exactly how I want to keep them. I do not want my private notes stored on Notability’s servers or accessible through a web browser. Even if security is strong, any additional cloud service creates another potential point of exposure. Many of us choose Apple devices specifically because we trust the iCloud ecosystem and want to avoid unnecessary third-party storage.
Fortunately, I was able to opt out—for now. But if that option disappears, it will be a deal breaker, and I’ll move to another app that respects users’ privacy preferences.
Please keep a permanent option for local/iCloud-only storage with no Notability Cloud and no web access. Privacy should be a user choice, not something that’s gradually taken away.
I currently use iCloud to back up my notes, and that’s exactly how I want to keep them. I do not want my private notes stored on Notability’s servers or accessible through a web browser. Even if security is strong, any additional cloud service creates another potential point of exposure. Many of us choose Apple devices specifically because we trust the iCloud ecosystem and want to avoid unnecessary third-party storage.
Fortunately, I was able to opt out—for now. But if that option disappears, it will be a deal breaker, and I’ll move to another app that respects users’ privacy preferences.
Please keep a permanent option for local/iCloud-only storage with no Notability Cloud and no web access. Privacy should be a user choice, not something that’s gradually taken away.
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Happy
Update: The glossy effect went away when I clicked it
Please remove the animated "Explain This" button in the quiz feature. It's too eye catching with the glossy/animated effect and I can't focus :(
Great Improvements!: My old review had some pretty critical comments. Now, everything works amazing! I love the beta AI test maker, but I'm hoping that I am able to opt for more questions in the future. I use Notability for everything now!
Edit: OMG! They actually listened! I'm able to do up to 40 questions now instead of the 10 from before. Thank you guys so much!! I have no idea what I would do without this app, I've been using it for college since 2022, and over time I started using it for work, journalling, general planning, everything! Making my own templates is a cinche!
Please remove the animated "Explain This" button in the quiz feature. It's too eye catching with the glossy/animated effect and I can't focus :(
Great Improvements!: My old review had some pretty critical comments. Now, everything works amazing! I love the beta AI test maker, but I'm hoping that I am able to opt for more questions in the future. I use Notability for everything now!
Edit: OMG! They actually listened! I'm able to do up to 40 questions now instead of the 10 from before. Thank you guys so much!! I have no idea what I would do without this app, I've been using it for college since 2022, and over time I started using it for work, journalling, general planning, everything! Making my own templates is a cinche!
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업데이트하더니 이상해짐
업데이틔 왜한거임? 자꾸 오류나고 안썼던 글자가 제멋대로 써지고, 이상해졌네요 진짜!!
글씨체를 하나로 고정했는데, 자꾸 다른 글씨체로 바뀌고,
업데이트 전에는 정말 잘 사용했는데,
왜이따위로 업데이트를 한거임???
글씨체를 하나로 고정했는데, 자꾸 다른 글씨체로 바뀌고,
업데이트 전에는 정말 잘 사용했는데,
왜이따위로 업데이트를 한거임???
Apple users don’t buy
This app was fantastic two months ago, now it’s impossible to sync between Apple devices. iPad will not sync with iPhone or Mac. Additionally, new features have ruined this simplicity.
Now it’s broken
I’ve used this in the past and it worked well but was giving Apple Notes a try. Notes lacks the formatting options that I want so I wanted to try this again. At some point, this was updated and one of the most important features (for me) was the ability to lock folders. But now that option is gone. I am NOT on Notability cloud. I am using iCloud but it still is not even an option to lock a folder. I also noticed that everything runs slowly. I am on a 2026 MacBook pro will an M5 Max processing and 5g fiber internet. I think it’s safe to say it’s not my system. I would also like this to add some kind of pen stabilization and a better selection of templates, both of which are available in Woodnotes.
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Bad
This app used to work so well but now it sucks. It’s so unreliable now. Over the last 2 months my notes will randomly just not load and I’m unable to access them. Why is this app taking so much of my storage for it to not even save my notes for me ?
Ts lag too much
Been using this app since sec 1 but as the nb of note accumulates it becomes nearly unusable
Worse and worse
I used to love this app, but it’s just monetised rubbish these days.
I bought this app a long time ago before it went the dodgy subscription route. It was great. But now they force you to create an account with them, use their sync service and turn off icloud sync. I’m done.
I bought this app a long time ago before it went the dodgy subscription route. It was great. But now they force you to create an account with them, use their sync service and turn off icloud sync. I’m done.
just because you can have a thing doesn’t mean you should
recent updates have broken app, causing app to hang up when recording. I’ve lost whole lectures because of instability and versioning feature is a
joke. don’t pay a centavo for this in current state-I deeply regret paying for another year’s subscription
joke. don’t pay a centavo for this in current state-I deeply regret paying for another year’s subscription
A trap for your data
The backup to external devices in Version 16.5.3 (7010) no longer allows anything but the proprietary .note format. That means your data is trapped. This was a silent change and has broken my workflow.
