# Notability: AI Notes & Planner — Daily notebook & study journal

> Digital note-taking, annotation, and audio recording app with AI features. (iPhone/iPad app by Ginger Labs.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notability-ai-notes-and-planner/id360593530 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Ginger Labs](https://appshunter.io/developer/318126112)
- Category: Productivity, Education
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 4.80/5 from 452,987 App Store ratings · 3,396 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.7 · 400 MB
- Languages: American English, Danish, Dutch, French (France), German (Germany), Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay and 11 more
- Released: 2010-04-01
- Data updated: 2026-08-28
- Monetization: freemium
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notability-ai-notes-and-planner/id360593530/reviews.md

## What is Notability?

From your first lecture to your next big meeting, Notability helps you think, learn, and work better. Take handwritten notes, annotate documents, record audio, and stay organized in one place so your ideas are always clear, searchable, and ready when you need them.

NEW: NOTABILITY CLASSIC IS BACK
Prefer to pay one time for Notability? Our Classic plan is a one-time purchase with no subscription required.

FREE DIGITAL NOTES FOR WORK & SCHOOL
• Write, type, or sketch with digital ink, highlighters, and text tools.
• Mark up anything: PDFs, textbooks, lecture slides, images, and more.
• Combine handwriting, typed text, images, diagrams, and sketches on the same page.
• Stay organized with customizable folders and subjects that grow with you.

FOR PROFESSIONALS: WORK SMARTER AND SAVE TIME
• Mark up documents, capture meetings, organize ideas, and present with confidence.
• Import and handwrite on any document: PDFs, DOCs, presentations, reports, and more.
• Fill out forms in the office or on a job site.
• Combine handwriting, text, photos and documents in one place.
• Record calls and meetings to transcribe voice in real-time. Audio is synced to your notes so nothing is missed.
• Receive automated meeting notes, takeaways, and summaries.
• Search handwriting, transcripts, text, and PDFs to quickly revisit decisions and action items.
• Present notes, documents, and ideas in full screen, with a laser pointer to guide attention.
• View and edit two notes side-by-side to stay focused and productive.
• Share a PDF of your note in one tap.

FOR STUDENTS: STUDY SMARTER AND ACE EXAMS
• Take handwritten notes digitally or annotate lecture slides or your textbooks.
• Record lectures and get instant audio transcripts and real-time summaries in your notes.
• Audio recordings are synced to the exact moment you write in a note — perfect for lectures.
• Import lecture slides, textbook PDFs, and assignments into organized folders and subjects.
• Search across handwriting, typed notes, and transcripts to instantly find content from classes.
• Study content from your note with personalized quizzes and flashcards to practice with active recall.
• Chat with your notes to review concepts, clarify ideas, and prepare for exams.
 
WORK YOUR WAY
• Seamlessly switch between handwriting and typing.
• Import files instantly and keep everything connected.
• Share notes easily to collaborate or get feedback when needed.
• Access your notes across iPad, iPhone, Mac, and the web.
• Create beautiful notes using templates from the Notability Gallery.

UPGRADE TO A NOTABILITY SUBSCRIPTION
Notability is free to use. With an upgraded subscription, you can receive:
• Unlimited note-taking
• AI-powered productivity and study tools
• Handwriting recognition and math conversion
• Live Audio transcripts
• Auto-backup and iCloud sync

Download for free on iPad, iPhone, Mac, and web.
Privacy Policy: notability.com/privacy
Terms of Service: notability.com/terms

## Key features

- Handwritten and typed notes
- PDF and document annotation
- Audio recording and transcription
- AI-powered summaries and quizzes
- Customizable organization
- Cross-device sync

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Notability Plus | $19.99 | per year |
| Notability Plus | $19.99 | per year |
| Notability Plus | $7.99 | per month |
| Notability Plus | $12.99 | per 3 months |
| Notability Plus | $19.99 | per year |
| Notability Plus | $29.99 | per year |
| Notability Lite | $14.99 | per year |
| Notability Pro | $99.99 | per year |
| Notability Pro | $19.99 | per month |
| Notability Lite | $5.99 | per month |

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Notability Classic | $49.99 | one-time |


## Chart rankings

- #77 in Top Free · Productivity (US App Store)
- #46 in Top Grossing · Productivity (US App Store)

## What do users think of Notability?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 🚀 Great app for note-taking
- 👍 Smooth handwriting experience
- 📝 Excellent organization and file management
- 🎙️ Useful audio recording feature
- 🔍 Handwriting recognition and search
- 🌈 Customizable colors and themes

**Cons**

- 🐛 Sync issues with iCloud
- 🔍 Limited search and organization options
- 🖍️ Frustrating highlighter behavior
- 🔒 Concerns about subscription model
- 🔧 Buggy after recent updates

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Notes disappearing or getting corrupted
- Frequent crashes and performance issues
- Palm rejection problems after updates
- Inconsistent behavior when importing files

**Most requested features**

- Improved folder/hierarchy organization
- More shape recognition and drawing tools
- Side-by-side viewing of multiple notes
- Ability to edit/rename audio recordings
- Better integration with other apps and services

## Recent user reviews (10 of 3,396)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/notability-ai-notes-and-planner/id360593530/reviews.md

### 2/5 — *Continually Updated* Review

*2026-08-25, version 16.10*

I’m continually changing my review according to Notability’s responses — this review pertains to the new, Notability Cloud feature. Since this feature has gone online, the cloud refuses to update between my MacBook and my iPad on a regular basis. Some days it will work as intended but most days, I have to export the note, send it to myself via iMessage, and then download it again on the other device for my notes to sync. It can be a real pain.

### 1/5 — Used to be good

*2026-08-25, version 16.10*

Should not require an internet connection. Constantly requires redownloading notes. Slow.

### 1/5 — DONT DOWNLOAD

*2026-08-25, version 16.10*

Don’t bother it doesn’t work, WAS GREAT NOW AWFUL DUE TO CLOUD UPDATE.

### 1/5 — WHERE IS MY STUFF

*2026-08-25, version 16.10*

I was literally reading a file in the app and when I exited, everything was gone, including the document I had just been using. I would love to know how I can recover my documents, as all of my class notes, readings, and homework were in Notability. 

Absolutely horrible, and everything I see online indicates this is a common issues… yikes!

### 1/5 — notes content shifting

*2026-08-25, version 16.10*

i have noticed all my recent notes contents have been shifted, such as pictures, handwritten notes, and typed notes. this is very frustrating and it doesn’t get fixed even when i did troubleshooting and updated the app. please fix it asap.

### 1/5 — Barely Functional Anymore

*2026-08-24, version 16.10*

I've been using this app for over a year and unfortunately the quality has really gone downhill. With every update, I keep hoping they will fix some of the many glitches but instead, it seems like instead a new one gets added. Here are all the issues I'm currently having: 
1. If I highlight a paragraph of text, random words and letters switch around, leaving sentences garbled and illegible. 
2. Formatting: If I bold or highlight a word or a phrase, sometimes the whole sentence will change. I then have to manually fix that, and sometimes the formatting will revert to being messed up or will simply disappear. 
3. Additionally, if I bold something, there is now a huge space that appears between that line and the one above it. This update ruined the format of some of my other notes, and looks terrible when I try to export notes with typing as a PDF. 
I'm very close to switching to another app and would not recommend this app to anyone. A friend of mine recently started school and I had to warn her about how terrible this app has become. Don't get invested like I am, where most of my notes are on this absolute nightmare of an app (that I pay for). Save your money and go elsewhere.

### 1/5 — 文件丢失

*2026-08-24, version 16.10*

现在所有的文件都是保存在云端，不会自动存到设备系统。如果云端丢失了数据那数据就永久丢失。我因此丢掉了很多重要的文件且不可挽回！

### 5/5 — 5 stars

*2026-08-24, version 16.10*

5stars

### 2/5 — Great UI, poor file maintenance

*2026-08-24, version 16.10*

The UI for this app is wonderful and thats what has kept me using it, but I have consistently encountered issues with how files are stored on it. Recently, they shifted away from iCloud to start storing notes on their own cloud service, however, there was no real way to opt out of doing that. Last week, I opened my app to find that the last 3 months of notes I took disappeared, as they did not properly back up to their new notability cloud. I was able to recover the files themselves but my entire method of organizing them was completely gone, leaving me with 600+ unfiled notes in a disorganized array.

### 2/5 — Nice app but lots of bugs

*2026-08-24, version 16.9.1*

I’ve been using notability for a while now (free version) and a year ago I bought the lite version. I love the app but my notes are constantly disappearing and there is an issue with connecting it to cloud. Many times I’ve worried that I may lose important notes forever which has started to become very annoying. I’ve searched for solutions online but none of them seem to work. On top of that, the notes do not connect across my apple devices even though on other platforms they do. Overall, I loved using the app at first but now the whole experience has become annoying

## Frequently asked questions about Notability

### What does Notability do?

Notability is a digital note-taking application that allows users to write, type, annotate, draw, and record audio. It helps users organize their thoughts, study materials, and work documents in one place. The app supports annotating PDFs, lecture slides, and other documents, and offers AI-powered features for summaries and quizzes.

### What are the key features of Notability?

Key features include the ability to combine handwriting, typed text, images, and sketches on a single page, annotate PDFs and other documents, record audio synced to notes, and generate real-time transcripts and summaries. It also offers AI-powered study tools like quizzes and flashcards, and allows for side-by-side note viewing.

### How much does Notability cost?

Notability is free to download and use with basic features. An optional subscription unlocks unlimited note-taking, AI-powered productivity and study tools, handwriting recognition, math conversion, live audio transcripts, and auto-backup with iCloud sync.

### What devices is Notability compatible with?

Notability is available for free on iPad, iPhone, Mac, and the web. Users can access and edit their notes seamlessly across all these devices, ensuring their information is always connected and accessible.

### Who is Notability for?

This app is designed for students who need to take lecture notes, annotate textbooks, and study effectively, as well as professionals who need to mark up documents, capture meeting details, organize ideas, and present information efficiently.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 16.10 — 2026-08-24

• Performance improvements to handwriting search and large PDFs on Notability Cloud
• Polished Learn quizzes, flashcard import, and Reset Progress returns to the first question
• General crash fixes and hang improvements

Thanks for using Notability.

### 16.9.1 — 2026-08-17

• Import flashcard sets or manually create your own. Now with spaced repetition to review gradually at different time intervals.
• Faster editing in large notes and improved memory footprint for large libraries on Notability Cloud
• Browse your nested folders directly from your note list
• Many miscellaneous bug, crash, and performance improvements

Thanks for using Notability.

### 16.9 — 2026-08-10

• Introducing the Calligraphy Pen: expressive ink that responds to the angle of your stroke. Coming to Plus and Pro subscribers.
• Introducing note covers: pick a cover for any note from the library or the content manager. Available on Notability Cloud.
• Bulk import: long-press the + button in the library to import whole folders, subfolders included.
• Add extra space to the sides of imported PDFs for more room to write.
• Quizzes now pick up where you left off.
• Notability uses less disk space, especially on Notability Cloud.
• Faster handwriting search, smoother window resizing, and other fixes.

Thanks for using Notability.

### 16.8.1 — 2026-08-03

• Introducing code blocks: add code with syntax highlighting for over two dozen languages. Tap the code block button in the text toolbar or start a line with three backticks and a space.
• Introducing block quotes: set off a quote from a professor, a textbook, or anyone else. Tap the quote block button in the text toolbar or start a line with > and a space.
• The tape tool now supports 12 sizes for finer control over width.
• Improved text rendering when font sizes are mixed on one line.
• Reordering pages in the content manager now moves the page's text with it.
• Snap guidelines are now hidden in presentation mode.

Thanks for using Notability.

### 16.8 — 2026-07-28

• Flashcards, quizzes, and full exam prep are now available from your Home tab. Pick how you want to study and track your progress as you go.
• Duplicate the selection tool to keep both Boxed and Freeform in your toolbar.
• Fixed a bug with handwriting conversion across page breaks.
• Widgets now support tinting on iOS 26.

Thank you for using Notability.

## Apps similar to Notability

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## More apps by Ginger Labs

- [Twobird](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/twobird/id1455545515)

All apps by Ginger Labs: https://appshunter.io/developer/318126112

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-28.*