Notability vs SMART ServiceCheck
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Notability
Capture, organize, and enhance your thoughts with a versatile digital notebook. Seamlessly blend handwriting, typing, and multimedia to annotate documents, record lectures, and generate summaries. Ideal for students and professionals seeking to boost productivity and learning.
- Handwritten and typed notes
- PDF and document annotation
- Audio recording and transcription
- AI-powered summaries and quizzes
- Customizable organization
- Cross-device sync
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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
SMART ServiceCheck
This app checks network configurations to ensure seamless connectivity with SMART hardware and software solutions. It identifies blocked URLs or ports that may prevent automatic updates or screen sharing, providing specific details for resolution.
- Network port and URL testing
- Firewall blockage identification
- Troubleshooting for SMART solutions
- Automatic update verification
- Wireless screen sharing support
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The SMART hardware and software solutions sometimes require access to special websites or ports, for example for functions such as automatic updates or wireless screen sharing. As soon as your smartphone is in the same network as the SMART solution, the SMART ServiceCheck app can test for you whether all of these releases and ports are permitted in the network to be used or whether they are blocked by a firewall. If this is the case, the SMART ServiceCheck app names the corresponding URLs or ports that still need to be allowed in the network so that SMART solutions such as SMART Lumio™, SMART Learning Suite™ or SMART Mirror of the SMART Board® interactive displays works perfectly.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SMART ServiceCheck at none against Notability's 13. SMART ServiceCheck also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Notability's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (457K vs 1). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Notability sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. SMART ServiceCheck asks for nothing beyond the download.
SMART ServiceCheck holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notability has 457K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Notability ships an update weekly, SMART ServiceCheck every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Notability | SMART ServiceCheck |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (457K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 36.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 457K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #79 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 411 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Ginger Labs | Thomas Reichwein |
Customer experience
Notability
SMART ServiceCheck
Bugs and requests
Notability
Reported bugs
4 issues- Notes disappearing or getting corrupted
- Frequent crashes and performance issues
- Palm rejection problems after updates
- Inconsistent behavior when importing files
Requested features
5 requests- 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
SMART ServiceCheck
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Notability
- Notability Lite$5.991 Month
- Notability Plus$7.991 Month
- Notability Plus$12.993 Months
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- Notability Lite$14.991 Year
- Notability Plus1 Year trial2 variants$19.991 Year
- Notability Plus$19.991 Year
- Notability Pro$19.991 Month
- Notability Plus$29.991 Year
- Notability Pro3 Days trial$99.991 Year
- Notability Classic$49.99
SMART ServiceCheck
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Notability free?
Is SMART ServiceCheck free?
Which has better reviews, Notability or SMART ServiceCheck?
Do Notability or SMART ServiceCheck have ads?
Which is updated more often, Notability or SMART ServiceCheck?
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