After posting a GBM Shortcut demonstrating FastFinga’s features, I was prompted by Dan Bricklin via Twitter to check out his Note Taker HD app for the iPad. I’ve been using Note Taker HD for about a week, and I can honestly say that it is the best note taking experience I have found thus far on the iPad. There is still room for improvement, but the simple and intuitive design of the app allows me to easily capture notes on the fly. Check out the video below to see Note Taker HD in action.
Below is a sample note that I composed with Note Taker HD. I switched between a Pogo Sketch Stylus and my finger to input letters. You can see that I alternated between print and cursive to see how that impacted the inking experience. Click the image below to see full detail and quality.
Note Taker HD features handy VGA out, colored pens, and various sharing options. You shouldn’t take my word for it that Note Taker HD is a truly helpful app. Apple’s App Store has a lot of positive reviews such as the following from one happy purchaser,
“I almost gave up hope in finding an inking app for note taking. That is, until I stumbled upon Note Taker. I saw the video and thought that it was too good to be true…As a professor, I find this the best note taking app by far.”
What are your thoughts about these note taking apps for the iPad? A waste of time or useful tools that help you be more productive? Hit up the comments to share your impressions. More information, screenshots, and tutorial videos can be obtained by visiting the official Note Taker HD site.
Matthew, has the author built in any sharing options (Evernote, Dropbox) apart from the mail to pdf?
At this point there are no cloud-based sharing options. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of those in the future though. The current form of sharing includes email as PDF or jpeg. It would also be great to see support for sharing to social networks such as Twitter and/or Facebook. I will say that the app’s creator, Dan Bricklin, (http://twitter.com/danB) is quick to respond to user inquiries/questions. I look forward to updates.
Okay, now I’m getting iPad envy.
ok that looks amazing!
Looks interesting. still no reason for me to switch from Onenote and my X61, but it’s getting better, at least.
One criticism about the review- is it any good? Your review says “best note taking experience” but follows up with “still room for improvement.” Well- how was the experience? What are your problems with it? What made it better than similar apps?
Would that be the same Dan Bricklin as in the creator of VisiCalc?
I just went to his Twitter site. It *is* the godfather of Lotus 123/Excel.
If only the industry put as much effort into making canaries as they are putting into trying to make a pig sing…
AMEN!
If I had an ipad, I’d have to give up inking
If I had an ipad, I’d have to give up thinking
If I had an ipad, all I’d do is play
If I had an ipad, I’d waste the day away
If I had an ipad, I’d have to use an app
If I had an ipad, in my head would be a gap
If I had an ipad, I’d wish that I had died
If I had an ipad, it’d be a case of suicide
Sorry, but the whole writing in a small sliding box doesn’t do it for me. I couldn’t work with it in fast finga and I can’t do it here either. And in full page view you definately didn’t rest your palm on the screen, so I can only assume there’s no palm rejection built into the app.
So for quick note app I’m still going to prefer Penultimate, although it’s great to see various solutions appearing. I wonder if Evernote will ever rethink their ever shrinking support of ink and do something for Evernote on the iPad.
Gordon