2025-11-13
My opinion 🎀
You can only take notes notes a certain amount of times then it blocks you and you can then only use read / focus mode without upgrading pls fix it
Updating
+1
#47 in Top Free iPad Apps
±0
#6 in Top Free iPad Apps > Productivity
-6
#17 in Top Grossing iPad Apps
+1
#5 in Top Grossing iPad Apps > Productivity
iPhone Screenshots
iPad Screenshots
Description
Bring ideas to life with Notability! Download for free and enjoy the powerful, yet wonderfully simple note-taking experience. You will quickly see why we’re Apple Editor’s Choice!
From class to exams—Notability has you covered. Our AI-powered Learn feature creates instant note summaries, quizzes and flashcards for you to review.
Notability is as versatile as you. Jot down thoughts, import & annotate textbooks, record audio, study quizzes, or sketch your next masterpiece. Whether you’re a student, professional, or hobbyist—you’ll find all the tools you need.
DIGITAL PAPER WITH POWERS
• Take notes with multi-media tools like pencil, highlighter, text, and audio.
• Mark up textbooks, documents, lecture slides, assignments, or images.
• Search anything in your notes, including handwriting and documents.
• Clean up calculations with Math Conversion.
STUDY SMARTER WITH LEARN
• Quickly review AI-generated note summaries.
• Test knowledge with personalized quizzes.
HANDWRITE AND SKETCH NATURALLY
• Write with the most lifelike, vector-based digital pencil on the market.
• Ink is fine-tuned for the most responsive writing experience (compatible with Apple Pencil & Logitech Crayon).
STAY ORGANIZED, PAPER-FREE
• All your notes in one place! Always keep notes with you, without the weight, hassle, or waste.
• Organize notes with customizable subjects and dividers.
NEVER MISS A THING WITH AUDIO PLAYBACK
• Get more out of lectures and meetings with audio recording, synced with notes.
• Search or copy time-stamped text from Audio Transcripts.
EASILY PRESENT IDEAS
• Share ideas in full-screen without distracting toolbars.
• Engage an audience with all of Notability's tools including a Laser Pointer.
MULTI-TASK WITH MULTI-NOTE
• Work with two notes side-by-side.
• Drag & Drop handwriting, typed text, and images between notes.
IMPORT, ANNOTATE, AND SHARE
• Import and mark-up PDFs, DOCs, PPTs, images, GIFs, and more.
• Easily create searchable PDFs using Document Scan.
FIND AND SHARE INSPIRATION
• Publish and browse notes on the Notability Gallery.
• Find inspiration, search for class notes, and download templates.
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Download Notability for free on iPad, Mac, and iPhone. Unlock premium, unlimited note-taking with an annual Notability Plus subscription. Subscribers get:
• Learn, an AI-powered study experience.
• MyScript Handwriting Recognition and Math Conversion technology.
• Unlimited edits, Audio Transcripts, Auto-Backup support, and iCloud sync, and more.
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Subscription auto-renews unless canceled, and will be charged via Apple iTunes account. Prices vary by location.
For technical assistance reach our team at support@gingerlabs.com.
Privacy policy: https://notability.com/privacy Terms of Service: https://notability.com/terms
Notability is a registered trademark of Ginger Labs, Inc.
What's New in Version 15.2
• Introducing the 2026 Digital Life and Yume Techo Planners
• Fixed a crash when importing PDFs
• Bug fixes and improvements
Thanks for using Notability!
Seller
Name
Ginger Labs, Inc.
Information
Developer
Categories
Version
15.2
Size
352.9 MB
Game Center
No
VPP Device Licensing
Yes
Rating
Rated: 4+
Compatibility
iOS 17.0 or later
Devices
iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone SE (3rd generation), iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16e, iPhone 17, iPhone 17Pro, iPhone 17ProMax, iPhone Air, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro, iPad Pro (Cellular), iPad Pro (9.7-inch), iPad Pro (9.7-inch) (Cellular), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (10.5-inch), iPad Pro (10.5-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (11-inch), iPad Pro (11-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air, iPad Air (Cellular), iPad Air 2, iPad Air 2 (Cellular), iPad Air (3rd generation), iPad Air (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini Retina, iPad mini Retina (Cellular), iPad mini 3, iPad mini 3 (Cellular), iPad mini 4, iPad mini 4 (Cellular), iPad mini (5th Generation), iPad mini (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (7th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi), iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi + Cellular), iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (9th Generation), iPad (9th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (6th Generation), iPad mini (6th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Air (5th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (10th generation), iPad (10th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 11-inch (M2) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M2) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M2) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (A17 Pro) Wi-Fi, iPad mini (A17 Pro) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (A16) Wi-Fi, iPad (A16) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 11-inch (M3) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 11-inch (M3) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 13-inch (M3) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M3) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro11M5, iPad Pro11M5Cellular, iPad Pro13M5, iPad Pro13M5Cellular, iPod touch (6th Generation), iPod touch (7th generation), Mac Desktop
Languages
English, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian Bokmål, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese
App Store: Customer Ratings
Ratings & Reviews
4.7 of 5 (6,614 Ratings)
App Store: Customer Reviews
2025-10-13
Doesnt work
Whenever you open the app, it needs to download all the notes before you can do anything. That takes ages. That makes the app unusable. Moving to an alternative.
2025-10-12
TERRIBLE TIME LIMIT
I have my finals soon and I got a new iPad and downloaded Notability, as I was studying I get hit with a 5 day TIME LIMIT?! THIS IS BAD. How am I supposed to study now?! It’s a great app and all that’s why I gave it 1 star but the time limit just screws it all up, can’t the time limit maybe be hours?
2025-10-08
Notes inaccessible & no customer support
Used to love Notability, but after a recent update, all my notes are stuck “downloading” and completely inaccessible. This has been incredibly frustrating, especially with exams coming up. I’ve done all the suggested troubleshooting daily with no results. Contacted support multiple times over the past 5 days. Still no response. For a paid app, this is unacceptable.
2025-09-26
Legacy dishonored
Paid iPad legacy version is incessantly, intrusively stickered with repetitive ads for the subscription version’s features. Support says it can’t be turned off.
2025-09-08
Notes stuck downloading
Every time I open the app my notes take forever to download. I do have sufficient storage on my device. How can I fix this?
2025-09-03
Lost all my notes
I have lost all of my notes on Notability. Everything was there last night but this morning suddenly it’s all gone. I’ve tried to update the app, sign out of my account and then back in again, and restarted my iPad multiple times. Nothing has worked. I’m a final year law student and exam season has just started. This is completely unacceptable. If there was an option to rate 0 stars I would have - I give this one star extremely begrudgingly!
2025-09-02
Great app, but…
Great app, really easy to navigate. Only thing is there should be an option on the Apple Pencil that swaps to an eraser rather than other colors.
2025-08-25
Don’t get: Goodnotes is better
App keeps crashing and freezing every couple of minutes and I have storage. I tried turning iCloud off cause I thought it would stop the freezing but I lost ALLLLL MY NOTES. Worst note app ever
2025-08-13
Workflow
Flexible and adaptable
2025-08-10
Terrible syncing issues
I have had the app for over a year now and have never had such a terrible experience with the app as I do now. I have a lot of iCloud and device storage available, but the app is always deleting and redownloading my notes. I barely have any access to the notes I’ve made and I’m unable to work efficiently because for some reason they are always in the process of downloading. It’s ridiculous. Wouldn’t recommend this app!
2025-08-01
Poor syncing between devices
I have been using Notability for my practice for 3 years, I subscribed to notability plus. Lately it’s been failing to iCloud synch between the devices even though it allows for 10 devices to be used under 1 subscription
2025-07-28
Missing Notes
Years of notes gone. Support just brushes it off and gives ONE generic response and stops communicating. Pathetic treatment. Subscription cancelled. Save yourself the trouble. Don’t waste your time with this app.
2025-07-25
GLITCHES GLITCHES GLITCHES
As of late it’s been refreshing on an hourly basis. As I’m writing this I need to be studying for a test in a few hours and it’s let me down YET again. Utterly unreliable.
2025-07-14
Love notability
It’s a game changer. Unbelievable for my work as a lawyer.
2025-06-17
I adore this app
Notability has helped me write beautiful neat notes that are easily accessible and with the feature of being able to make a study quiz is my favorite feature! I love it!
2025-06-12
Best note take
Meets all my note taking needs. Easy to use and just perfect for me. One off purchase was a plus+
2025-06-09
iCloud problems
Normally good, but iCloud was taking forever to load so I switched it off, and all the data of I cloud is still saying it’s there on my settings but all of my notes were winded from the app. Im in my final year and these are notes from past years that I need and now the data is there but the notes itself are gone. I just have empty folders. Pls help
2025-06-05
Charges
I have been charged for this app and yet it says 3 days free trial. Annoying
2025-05-30
Quite good
The filing of documents is the only issue
2025-05-27
Ok
I’m a new user to this app and it works well enough for basic note taking.
It does get buggy on occasion which can get frustrating for example having to manually add a new page just because the previous doesn’t contain handwritten text or the scrolling through multiple pages not working as expected. It’s minor things that take away from the experience.
Would be great if there was a feature to link to other notes or objects. Hopefully that’s something that’ll be possible soon.
2025-05-19
New notability pro subscription
I am VERY disappointed in this app. Why bring out another subscription just for extra study time. I’ve been using this app with the notability plus subscription for 2 years now and I’ve never had a bad thing to say about the app. Now it just feels like a money making scheme. I’m really considering using a new app and cancelling my subscription, because I’m NOT paying more money just to get more studying time. This is nonsense. I really hope they remove this subscription and go back to the pro subscription. A reminder that most of the clients who use this app are students with student funds…
2025-05-04
Good app but competition catching up!
Useful app for notes for the workplace. Will appreciate if playback speed of voice recordings also had a 1.7x speed option. Sometimes 2x is too fast and 1.5x is just too slow.
2025-04-08
Trail limits are ridiculous
The usage limit is really stupid.. lock it to 1 note or something… I am in the middle of a meeting and can’t edit my note
2025-03-16
Request
This is such a lovely app, but I would like to request if you could please add the ability to create a subject within a subject meaning a folder within a folder
2025-03-03
Notability
Its a great app but I have to wait for a couple of days to use it again which wastes alot of studying time
2025-03-03
Limit for writing
I was looking for an app that can help me study for my test which was coming in 4 days. I immediately see this app being recommended, so I try it. I must say for the time that I used the app I instantly fell in love with the app. I studied for maybe 20 minutes before the app said that I reached my capacity for writing on the app, plus notability said that u can only use the app in a weeks time.
2025-02-23
I don’t get it
I don’t het why u have to pay to write ur notes.Don’t get me wrong I love this app but why do u have to pay to study and write notes.Like I was busy studying and writing notes but then it said ‘u have reached your limit.
2025-02-15
Sandwich
Best thing since sliced bread
2025-02-08
Stop ads for lifetime license holders
Stop displaying ads for subscription to users who have bought a lifetime license before it became a subscription model.
2025-01-22
Deletes your local notes without your consent
Title is self explanatory, honestly do not understand why is this even a thing. Maybe it makes sense for western countries where there is good internet connection everywhere. Regardless, this is BS!
2025-01-05
Struggling app
When required, app struggles to load notes.
2024-12-05
Lost 90% of my notes
The app deleted my notes instead of backing them up to cloud and I have no way of retrieving them. New notes also get deleted and I do have enough space on my device so that’s not the issue. I don’t know how I’m supposed to get through my fifth and last year of varsity without my notes. And the new changes that come with the upgrade are just horrible.
2024-10-28
Crashes with no warning
I’ve been on the paid version for about a year now and the app just crashes as in when you open your notes it’s automatically closes. Again I’m on the paid version. My iPad has space and I updated the iOS but the app still crashes. Lost all my notes with no way to recover them. When I try to log in with my email, I do not receive the email even though it’s the correct mail
2024-10-23
Beautiful app
Used for 3 years and still perfect
2024-10-04
PDF Bookmarks lacking
Needs support for bookmarks in pdfs. Navigation without it is impossible.
2024-09-17
Untrustworthy and unreliable.
I would like to express my dissatisfaction with the Notability app. I encountered persistent issues with the app indicating insufficient iCloud storage despite having ample iCloud storage available. Furthermore, the application experienced prolonged loading times, preventing me from accessing my notes. Eventually, all of my notes were inexplicably lost. The response from Notability's support team has been notably slow, which has significantly compounded my frustration. I hope this feedback is taken into consideration to address and resolve these issues promptly.
2024-08-20
Data goes missing
So great app except I just lost 60% of all my notes when I turned on iCloud sync. Personal and study notes. This is ridiculous. Hours of notes gone. And they do not warn you before you switch it on. No no no. You only see it is an issue once you go to the support section. Thanks notability. I should have stuck to goodnotes.
2024-08-18
Great
Love this app, it really works well for my study notes but I would love it if you could search for specific words within a note.
2024-08-12
Recommendations
Add a timer as well as better mathematical syntax recognition
2024-08-07
Terrible experience
I have to install and re install the app every few days because the note taking becomes delayed. If I hadn’t wasted my money paying the subscription I would be using free notes(which pretty much does the exact same things, except for free.)
2024-07-29
Amazing!!
This app has made my school life a💯 times easier!! Highly recommend😊
2024-06-30
Amazing
If I had this in my pre-grad, I would have studied a lot harder. :D But on a serious note, this an academic companion I cannot do without.
2024-06-09
I love this app
It makes everything looks simple and beautiful. Definitely would recommend this app for college student or high school students
2024-05-28
Grate
Love Notability, but wish there were a way to fix pictures so that it does not move when I write on it.
2024-05-22
My successful studies is because of notability
I love this app . It gets me through my studies!!!
2024-05-02
Needs presents
Would it hurt just to have input/ pen presets. QOL improvement that would make anyone happy
No shapes either
2024-04-27
Lost my notes
I have been using notability for a while now. In the past three weeks, I have lost my notes for two subjects. I would be working on them and then suddenly it would be gone. I would have to recover my backups but they wouldn’t be recent so I would have to redo work. This has cost me time and has not helped me since I have a huge workload from University. For another one of my subjects, it happened twice that I would be working on it, copy and paste a screenshot and then suddenly my formatting would be messed up, my pdfs and all my pictures would be gone. This caused me great distress as I had to redo work I had already done.
2024-04-16
Hello
The app is great but the subscription and editing limit for the free version is horrible.
2024-04-15
The best.
The best, 5/5.
2023-11-01
Brilliant app ruined by new UI
Notability used to have a beautifully simple, clear, intuitive UI that was a joy to use. The UI was uncluttered and clear even in poor lighting or on smaller screens, and you could rapidly switch between pens and drawing options.
Not any more. The new UI released recently scrunches everything into a tiny floating toolbar. The icons for the different pens and options are minute and indistinguishable, even on a big screen at full brightness. Doing anything requires multiple clicks through a tortuous UI. There’s not enough space in the floating toolbar for all the tools. The undo button is now on the far less accessible right side. It’s a mess.
Heartbreaking, because the drawing in Notability is beautiful, but the usability is now terrible. I’m not the only one who feels this - go look at Notability discussions in Reddit and you’ll find hundreds of other Notability users who are heartbroken. Hopefully Notability listens to everyone and rereleases the old UI as “Classic Notability”.
2023-10-20
Best note taking app
It's been 6 years since my introduction to Notability and man still works like a charm, helped me to eliminate the need for paper, and printing (need to say COVID-19 also accelerated the digital transformation). Notability is quite versatile, one can literally do anything.
I though find the filing and organizing notes challenging, takes a lot of effort, hope it could work as smoothly as managing files on Windows. Any help is welcome.
2023-10-05
Used to be great
5 years ago when I got the app it was 5/5 but recent changes have not been the best. There’s been a move towards a subscription model and I am glad I got the full version prior to the change. New features have been getting locked behind the subscription and it leaves bad taste. At least I am still getting what I paid for.
The other recent change that has been very bad is the UI change within notes. I’ve used the app for a good 5 years so you can imagine the muscle memory that has been built up in knowing where all the controls are.I would not mention this but actions now being 2 or more clicks further away from where they used to be makes the app frustrating to use.
I’d recommend it if you can buy it outright and have full license forever. Otherwise if you can’t, rather use alternatives that offer one time purchases, trust me a note taking app as a service isn’t what you want
2023-10-01
Notability update
Good day, Notability was updated with a new look which now allows the tools bar to be moved around which coincidently leaves it in the way no matter what you doing. I am a student and I have the notes synced to my google drive and for some reason it synced to my iCloud as well. When I removed the iCloud sync it deleted all my notes, a whole years worth of notes for all my engineering modules. Luckily I had saved a back up during my semester break. There are more bugs now and simply renaming a file, it closes itself over 10 times. It is becoming frustrating to use especially since it was my favourite app for university. Please fix these bugs !!!!
2023-06-13
Love this but there is one thing I would change …
I absolutely love using this app to make my notes - it is very organised and makes my notes very pleasing to the eye and is very easy to use. The only thing which is frustrating to me is the fact that I cannot access a notes when it is updating to iCloud (and if it was busy updating to iCloud and then I leave Wi-Fi, it carries on loading and I am then unable to access my notes to study when I’m on the bus etc until I reach Wi-Fi again). Could there maybe be an update allowing you to individually click on a notes that is updating to iCloud and ask it to back up later ? Other than that, I absolutely love this app.
2023-04-27
The templates glitch when I’m using my pencil and or writing with it
I think notability is an amazing app however the constant issue I have is that when I’m using my pencil , the app glitches and therefore I can’t write resulting in me losing my thought or progress. Please look into this as I love using the app and would hate this issue to become the reason why I stop using it
2023-01-25
iCloud issues
I am so unsatisfied with this app. When it works, I’ll rate it a 7/10. But every now and again the app crashes and all my notes are gone. It takes me at least half a day to recover my notes from iCloud. This happens while I have more than enough storage available on my iPad. And of course it happens when you use the app most frequently - like right before an exam. It is so frustrating. Once my subscription for the year is done, I’ll be using Goodnote
2023-01-20
From Hero to Zero
Sad!
It is sad to me how my number one favorite application went to my least. I used Notability every day for more than 3 years, and reccommended it to countless people. That unfortunately stops now.
Some of the reasons for my sentiment:
Support is absolutely terrible. Incredibly slow response times, unhelpful replies, needless back and forths and often no reply at all. This is applicable to email and Twitter
No respect for customers, evidenced by the handling of moving to a subscription based model. Complete slap in the face to existing customers, only changing course after massive negative backlash
An INCREDIBLE amount of glitches, bugs and instability - the app barely functions as it should on my partners 2020 iPad Pro. Constant crashes, syncing issues, loss of content amongst many other things - something support seems disinterested in helping with
Requests do not get implemented. I understand that features have priorities, but BUGS don't get fixed. An example is that exporting a document with highlights done with text method results in a PDF with zero highlights
Goodbye Notability. I truly enjoyed it while it lasted.
2022-11-25
Buggy
I’m not very happy with this app that I paid for because I often get bugs like after writing many notes and start typing on a new page it sends me all the way to the beginning of my notes and does allow me to type further. Also sometimes the whole thing zooms out so much all of a sudden while I’m busy typing. Very buggy for me and needs optimisation. I have plenty of storage and my device can easily support it but it still happens
2022-10-10
Not happy with recent changes
I’ve been using Notability for years now and I’ve generally been happy with my experience. I’ve recommended it to other people, who have also been happy with the app.
However, we all paid for the app and for the features that we use. The fact that we still have full access to the full feature set is why I gave this review 3 stars, instead of 2. The reason for my unhappiness is the shift to a subscription service. It feels a bit like I paid full price for the app in order to subsidise the move to make Notability free for other users. Yes, I understand that they have certain features disabled in the free version, but it still feels like a bit of an unfair transaction. I really don’t want to have add another subscription service to my already constrained student’s budget, so I don’t want to subscribe to get access to new templates and features, no matter how useful they might look.
Honestly, I’m considering finding another note-taking app that still has a once-off purchase cost. I really didn’t want to have to do this, because I’ve always liked Notability, but here we are…
2022-07-03
Excellent - hand rejection still an issue though
Works well, and is enjoyable to use. My only gripe is that the hand rejection is not great when using the Pencil - my knuckles are able to zoom and move the page - it would be great if all pinch to zoom features were removed during use of the pencil. Strangely this was not an issue on my original IPad Pro (first gen) but has been a problem on my latest version (11” third gen).
Really great app though.
2022-05-12
Serving a limited purpose
It would be great if Notability can take some lessons from its competitors who offer much more functionality. Perhaps a good example for a reference point is LiquidText. Furthermore it would help if Notability can allow for the headings of one’s folders to be able to move/be visible on the top of the page when one is writing.
2022-02-28
Better note taking app ever!!
Having been using notability for a couple of years now has improved my performance and productivity for work and college. From meeting notes, general notes, to class notes , to dumping my mind on notes. Absolutely love the app.
2022-02-01
Loved it until it became a subscription
This app is amazing. So easy to take notes and buy add ons should I have wanted it. Now they’ve turned it into a subscription which is just a money making scheme and annoying as I would not want to pay a yearly subscription now if I want to add an add on to the feature. I gave it a two star only because the app is still great and they didn’t force you to subscribe if you downloaded the app prior to the update.
2022-01-25
A once great note taking, now plagued by subscriptions
Notability has been my go-to note taking app for the last 4 or 5 years and has worked very well for all that time. Unfortunately they’ve recently switched to a subscription model which I find truly annoying.
I still have full access as I purchased the app previously, but now they are requiring a subscription for things that can be easily done in competing apps (eg they require a subscription to use their new planners and journals whereas in Goodnotes you can add your own templates, complete with hyperlinks between pages).
So I’ve decided to switch to Goodnotes, as it offers many of the same features (and is decidedly better in some areas) all without a subscription. That is the sole reason for the 1 star. I sincerely hope you see how much we despise subscriptions, but I somehow doubt it.
2022-01-18
Great way to study!
I really enjoy this app and find that you can do various things for people’s different studying methods but one thing I would really love is if there could be a laser pointer added in the next update as it helps to keep my hands busy while still learning!
2021-11-21
Good but still somewhat buggy
The application can enter an infinite loop of loading or crash completely when attempting to note switch (using the tab displayed when swiping from the left of the screen) a few microseconds after writing or while writing with the Apple Pencil.
Palm detection can also cause a few issues occasionally and cause you to scroll while writing. But I suspect this is something that most likely cannot be fixed.
Otherwise the app is great! Keep up the great work!
2021-09-14
Love the app but it can be improved.
I’ve been using this app since 2019. It’s amazing. However, recently, I’ve come across a problem of not being able to rotate(change orientation) a page. Developers please add that option. Would be greatly appreciated.
2021-06-18
A little issue
So I’ve been using this app for ages now. And there’s just this one little issue I have. Aside from this issue I think the app is great.
The issue became prominent when I finally upgraded to an iPad Pro and dumped all other styluses, but stuck with the Apple Pencil.
There are two pen options, the first is fixed pen size the second is variable. The variable pen size is the issue. Before updating the middle section would be thin and the edges thick, however now it’s the opposite the middle is thick and the edges are thin. And the weird thing is, when I use the app on Mac it does the exact opposite as what I have on iPad. The middle is thin and the edges are thick! The wonderful handwriting I had come to appreciate on tablet is on alternating ground. Helllpppppp!!
Otherwise the app is breathtakingly gorgeous. Thanks for the fine work.
2021-04-14
AMAZING
Such a versatile app, perfect for literally anything you would use paper for (and more). Also always coming out with updates to further improve the app. Been using it for over 3 years now and I will never try anything else. Love it!
2021-03-18
just easier
I have used many apps that use the apple pencil
there a few that get the pen to paper flow just right this is one of them that can match your thinking and writing speed
Notes are also well organized which enables you to journal or study in seconds
one of the good products out there
2021-01-28
My “Go-To” notebook
Don’t know what I would do without this app. I used to take notes in various meetings and then loose the notes. If I didn’t loose the notes then I would forget why I wrote certain things down and what they meant. Being able to file, sort, search and record audio has streamlined this entire process! The audio and handwriting is in sync. I used to use a Livescribe pen but the pen eventually died and you needed special books for it. This is a great replacement for the Livescribe pen system.
2020-11-28
Perfect but naming the notes is hard
I find pretty much everything about this app perfect, I just find one thing a little annoying, when creating a note with the apple pencil, I find trying to rename it annoyingly difficult. Most of the time I have to leave the note with the default title. But other than that I find the file structure and note writing better than good note
2020-11-12
Simple and Incredible!
It does everything it’s supposed to do and it does it well! Just wish we could have a lock feature for Dividers as a whole and change pen colour as a whole for already-written notes. But still, it does everything you need from a note taking app. Ux is incredible and interface is quick, simple and efficient!
2020-09-13
Had to write a review to say how nifty and useful this app is
Had to write a review to say how nifty and useful this app is.
Only draw back is if you want to upload to G drive you have to allow Notability to have full access to your account: see, edit,delete, move, etc. fullllll accesssssss! Too scary for me to say yes (even though I don’t have anything top secret in my gdrive)
2020-09-13
Crashing while using text box
App repeatedly crashes while I’m typing in textboxes. The document consists of snippets from questions papers and I write my answer in text boxes. After the app gets stuck, I need to exit and then I find that I have to re-do the last bit of work that I had been working on.
Also I can’t select and delete in the text box, I have to select and cut. Then I have to exit the text box and re-enter to continue typing otherwise I can’t edit the text box any more.
Very frustrating. Please look into it. I have been a very satisfied customer till now. I used to write next to the snippets but decided that text boxes will be faster, so I’m not sure if its a new issue on the app. I have an iPad Pro 2017 with iPadOs 13.7. Lots of storage and RAM available.
2020-05-18
App glitch
For some reason with the latest update the app freezes every now and again. I cannot zoom in or out and cannot move around in the doc. Its like it gets stuck. I then have to close the app completely and open everything again.
2020-05-04
Great, but missing links
I have been using notability close to a year now, and I really enjoy it - but I really miss not being able to link my notes. I can't make a link from one note to another note, or even to another part in a current note, and I would really like to be able to do that with my notes.
2020-04-30
Works well but crashes often
I really enjoy this app and it’s note taking capabilities, however, it crashes far to often. I’ll be making notes and the app will either freeze (& force me to close it to resume) or just close on its own. In both instances I lose the last few minutes of work I’ve been doing. Please could you resolve this. It often happens whenever I try and include text.
2020-04-24
Great tool with poor editing capabilities
I’ve use Notability for a while already, and really like some of its features (auto syncing between devices and OSs, the ability to set topics...)
But it’s editing ability is really lousy and extremely frustrating, making it OK for quick-and-dirty note taking, but only if you’re not concerned with any styling (even basic styling like bullet points is terrible!)
I’m not sure how it works, but it also does not feature the editing controls found on the latest version of iOS
If I didn’t have as many notes already recorded, I’d seriously consider an alternative...
2020-03-16
Please add this feature!
Initially I was torn between buying Notability or Good Notes 5 as I think most customers would be. What eventually swayed my decision to buy Notability is the fact that the file sizes in Notability are MUCH smaller than on GN5, and it includes a very nice organizing system. What I do feel that I am missing, however, is the ability to draw nice diagrams on Notability via “stenciling”. This essentially means that I would like to import a picture, trace it and delete the image - leaving behind a perfectly traced digram. For some reason though, on Notability, the images are linked. Please change this feature in the new update!!!!!
2020-03-01
Notability is the best. 10/10.
I’ve had well over 6 years of experience using my iPad for note-taking and my studies, and it has always come out on top as the most useful, robust, stable, and overall best app for it’s many purposes. I would recommend this app in a heartbeat - and in fact, I have already recommended it to various colleagues, family and friends. The app is truly amazing, and I cannot wait to see what the developers have in store for it in the future. 10/10 most essential app on my iPad and Mac. By far.
2020-02-16
Disappointed
I changed my whole medical practice’s notes onto the app. It was fantastic to use for the first 6 months then it started crashing.
I couldn’t access files, couldn’t add to files. Really frustrating. It’s basically impossible to get to a help centre of sorts. I keep getting into a loop that ends me at the same 11 steps to problem solve-that did’t solve the problem.
It was also not ideal to not be able to go a couple more levels deep with the filing system.
Moving to goodnotes today.
2020-02-12
Forward and back button
Notability is a great app but I would appreciate if there was a 10sec forward button to press when listening to playbacks of any recordings. There is a 10sec rewind but would also like to opposite as sometimes, I would like to fast forward a little but now have to scroll which is not always effective as I end up scrolling forward too much.
2020-01-22
Best note-taking app EVER
Notability is the best note-taking app by far. I’ve tried other apps like OneNote, Evernote, Goodnotes 5 and Noteshelf, but Notability blew me away. I use it on my iPad Pro 11” with the 2nd gen Apple Pencil, and love how the app collaborates with my Apple Pencil to make beautiful notes.
The app is easy to understand, with customisable colours for subject dividers, pens and highlighters. It annotates PDF’s with ease and allows me to drag and drop images from Google directly into my notes. The split-screen feature allows me to make summaries while viewing my lecture notes simultaneously. Sticky notes can be added to jazz up your documents, with a bunch of different paper layouts to choose from.
The biggest highlight for me is the recording feature, which I use to record lectures and later annotate the notes I have missed. Perfect for meetings and lectures (for varsity students especially).
Don’t let the price put you off. It is totally worth it, you won’t regret it!
2020-01-08
Buggy
I have using this app exclusively as I my “black book” for the last few years. The latest versions I find very buggy. When I want to move to a open line, it does not want to select it as it did in the past e.g. when wanting to copy and paste information. You have to add to the previous line and then hit Return.
Some suggestions for additional functionality:
*Add OCR to be done by default on the fly thereby allowing this app to automatically capture capture text by handwriting.
*Provide another level in the file structure
2019-12-28
Brilliant (and definitely better than Goodnotes)
With recent updates to the highlighter, Notability has confirmed its number 1 status of note taking apps. I love the sidebyside note functions, but most importantly, being able to record audio linked to my writing! Thats flippen excellent:) The search function helps me navigate the hundreds of notes i have by simply searching for a single relevant word. This app increases my productivity and saves so much time! The perfect app for a college student. The only disadvantage is that it doesn’t support any stylus other than the Apple Pencil (fully).
2019-11-16
Audio Recording
Love love love this app. I can’t go a day without it.
Just one suggestion I have (don’t know if anyone else would find this helpful)
I would find it useful if you could place a marker next to certain written text which would be a shortcut to the recording done on that date / time
2019-10-04
Update
Update: thank you so much for fixing the issue! I really appreciate it and it works so much better now. Love this app for school so much!
The app is really good except whenever I try to write on top of pictures, it selects the picture instead and the writing disappears. It’s really annoying because now I have to write in a blank space of the document and then select and move the writing to the right place which just takes way to much time.
2019-06-19
Really great for studying!
I like to study using hand written notes, because I never retain knowledge by typing or just reading lecture etc. this app makes it pleasurable to make hand written notes and allows them to all be kept and organized. This is great because now I don’t have to sift through a bunch of papers when I want to go over something right before a test. Also, the ability to quickly add camera or gallery photos directly into the notes and being able to annotate them is such a great feature for me. This app has tons and tons of other great features and I feel like I’m figuring them out as I use the app day by day.
TLDR: A life changing app for the studying student :).
2019-05-31
Really Great but could be excellent
Really enjoy using the app, by far the most user friendly and most responsive note taking app. I do have two suggestions:
1) Include an “auto shapes” mode, so that we can draw circles or various shapes without going into a whole other menu.
2) A whiteboard mode that hides the toolbar would be great for presentations or lectures where I would love to use the app.
2019-02-26
Awesome
Really love the way the app works and the ability to take notes on the iPad so effortlessly. A few suggestions though. Please make undo and redo gestures, such two finger tap to undo and three finger tap to redo. This has just become natural gestures that are non existent in the app. As well as better shape tools for making more expressive notes.
2018-05-04
Text and photos
Nice App, but according to me it has one major flaw. When adding text to an existing document which already has text and photos inserted; the text below the newly added text will shift down, but photos or images will remain at one place. Your document will end up being completely disorganized and you will not know which text belongs to which image or photo. Did mention this to the developer a few years ago, but ya!