Our portable devices (smartphones and tablets), being always with us, have replaced the old diaries and post-it notes on which we marked notes and more or less important things to remember. Thanks to the apps presently present, it is possible to do many more things than in the past, with the possibility of attaching photos and voice notes to our notes, to taking notes of anything in a more precise and detailed way.
Furthermore, modern note-taking applications work in the cloud synchronizing all our notes from whichever device we connect to, so just log in with our account to have them immediately available, on PC, smartphone, tablet and for whom also wants to be a smartwatch.
In this article, we will see all the best solutions for taking notes on various platforms, so that you can always choose the best tool.
Google Keep
This is our favorite app for notes, for which you just need a Google account to find the notes in the cloud synchronized on each platform and always accessible. The service created by Google is very minimal in appearance, but with all the main features and has little to envy compared to other paid solutions.
Google Keep allows you to …
- Create all the notes you want without limitations and synchronize them on all the devices you want;
- Insert images in the notes;
- Acquire data from business cards or documents via OCR;
- Create vocal notes;
- Transform notes into reminders with date and time, or place;
- Create collaborative annotations (which can be edited by multiple people);
- Has various formatting options and freehand writing.
Using Keep is very simple, from mobile or tablet just use the client located on Play Store and App Store or directly via browser directly from the page of your site.
On desktop for Windows, Mac and Linux you can use the Chrome browser extension or directly from the site, as indicated above.
Once you reach the service, just log in with your Google account (or Gmail is the same). At this point, you can easily create notes, read and organize the notes and share them. All through the elementary interface, which has a few simple but intuitive buttons.
OneNote
This is the app of Microsoft notes, like Google’s, it’s free and without limits, with a slightly more detailed interface and with some more graphic elements, to personalize your notes in a greater way. To use it you don’t need to have an Office or an Office 365 subscription). OneNote is a very powerful tool and is one of the preferred solutions for students to take and synchronize their notes. The service is available on Windows, MacOS, Android and iOS, just log in with your Microsoft account to have your notes synced. Use is simple, like Keep.
OneNote allows …
- To create notes with different contents (photos, audio);
- To share notes;
- To write free hand notes;
- To create notes without limitation and to synchronize on an infinite number of devices.
Evernote
This application was also very successful, especially before the launch of Keep and OneNote for Android and iOS. Evernote, like the two apps mentioned above, has various versions for different platforms, namely Windows, MacOS, Android and iOS. Unlike the two apps mentioned above, however, the free version has several limitations: it allows synchronization on only two devices; storage space is limited and allows offline consultation only from desktop. You can see specific limitations on this page.
OneNote (Windows, Android and iOS)
We have already talked about Microsoft’s excellent tool; it is an exceptional tool for this category of devices. In addition to everything we talked about in the last paragraph, it allows:
- To write by pen recognizing the levels of pressure, and with the recognition of the spelling;
- To dictate the text by voice.
The application as mentioned is free on all platforms (Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS).
Nebo (Windows, Android and iOS)
This is the best software for converting the stroke to text. The app is simply exceptional and undoubtedly, one of the best for taking and sharing notes on any platform. Whether you have a tablet with a digitize from Apple, Microsoft or any brand with Android on it, you will surely love this app.
Here are its most important features …
- Supports cloud services on which notes can be immediately loaded;
- Notes can be exported in various Word formats and as text;
- It does not recognize the pressure levels, but the stroke is fluid and, as mentioned, the recognition is exceptional;
- The recognition of formulas and matrices is also excellent.
The app costs about ten euros and is available on Windows Store, Play Store and App Store.
Penbook (Windows)
We are facing another popular app for taking notes. Penbook unlike the first two proposed apps does not have text recognition and is not cross-platform, but offers …
- The ability to save notes on cloud services;
- Sharing notes in PDF format;
- Various types of sheets, which make the strength of this app;
- Recognition of pressure levels.
Penbook is available on the Windows Store for around $20.
Our in-depth analysis of the best note-taking apps has concluded, we hope to have indicated all the best solutions the market can offer.