10 Best Note-Taking Apps

For anyone who does a lot of writing, bookkeeping, research, or stores information in the form of text on a computer for any reason, note-taking apps can be massively useful. 

By copying such a list into a note app first, you can easily strip out all of the unwanted boxes, text, images, and formatting in one step. The alternative would be to type out the list by hand, and who wants to do that?

Of course, copying is just one example of a problem that only a nice, light note-taking app can solve. Here, we’ll briefly review 10 of the best note-taking apps for 2020. 

Maybe one of them will solve such a problem or do something your WP program won’t.

Notes

Notes is excellent if what you want from a note app is simplicity. 

Notes stays out of your way and imposes minimally on your hardware. Meanwhile, it lets you write your notes by hand on tablets and phones. 

It allows you to organize your notes into a folder system. You can pin essential or favorite notes to the top of lists, and best of all, the text is delivered in its simplest format. 

If you feel like a spy, it even lets you scan physical documents into text through your iPad camera for what might be the best copy-paste feature ever made.

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Notability

While it only works in iOS, it delivers everything Apple fans love. You get handy text wrapping and some lovely text formatting options. 

There’s also a ton of touch features for use on touch screen devices and ipads that will appeal to Mac fans. Unfortunately, there’s no free version, but with something as slick as this, you really can’t expect freeware.

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Bear

There’s nothing better than a program that can address a range of different needs for those who perform a lot of different types of text-related actions. 

Bear is one of these, with its impressive flexibility, you can import notes from other applications, and export them. It also supports Markdown, which is equally useful. 

It’s only available on iOS and Mac, and a paid plan is needed to get access to its capabilities. However, if you find yourself needing its wide range of functions, it’s worth it- rather than using two or three other note- taking apps.

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Squid

Anyone who likes to use handwriting supportive note apps will love Squid. This program understands the needs of those who like to take notes by hand, and it is optimized to do this very well. 

You can write fast, even sloppily – and Squid will accommodate you. There’s no faster way, other than dictation, to take notes. Best of all, it lets you translate your notes into PDF form easily. 

It’s only available for Android. But, if you’re a frequent hand-written-note taker, it’s worth switching over to the Android platform. It works especially well on ipads.

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Dropbox Paper

If you use Dropbox regularly to collaborate, then this note-taking program is for you. 

It is collaborative and lets to share notes with your partners instantly. It focuses on collaboration, which means it’s far more complicated than other note-taking apps. 

But if you want to collaborate anywhere, on the fly- Dropbox Paper is perfect. 

It does take some getting used to, but it’s worth it. You can add any type of media, even pictures, audio, and video. So, there’s a ton of ways to share information or ideas. 

It’s compatible with Android, iOS, and offers a browser-based form.

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Notebook

For visually oriented, artistic learners who learn visually and think visually, Notebook is a fantastic and intuitive note-taking tool. 

It stores text, images, audio, sketches, checklists, and file cards. The amount of available images for use on your folders is a bit thin, but that’s a minor complaint. 

Notebook works on Mac, iOS, Windows, the web, and on Android. It also uses a lot of gesture-based commands, a very iPad friendly feature, which is in line with the type of user who would appreciate its visually-oriented design.

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OneNote

There are a few similar apps that attempt to integrate with the features of Windows, and none do it as well as OneNote. 

But its cross-compatibility doesn’t end there. OneNote is also compatible with Apple Watch, Chrome, and other web browsers. 

It also syncs across every device you own. It is easily the most cross-compatible note-taking app on our list. If you’re a mobile worker on the go a lot, using many different devices at different offices, OneNote is a great choice.

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Google Keep

While it sounds a bit dungeon-like, Google Keep is a noteworthy note-taking application. It’s clever because it works most of its features around a colorful and practical system of cards to simplify its note-taking capabilities. 

It offers lots of customizable labels, lets you set time and date reminders, and is well integrated with all things Google. Best of all, it’s free. Now, that’s value.

Simplenote

Note-taking programs that focus on simplicity are hard to complain about. Simplenote offers a fast and straightforward design that syncs to all of your devices and works with nearly all of the most popular devices and formats. 

While it may be too simple for some, it does what it does well while having practically zero impact on your hardware. Best of all, it does this while doubling as collaboration software. 

There are no image features and no text formatting, but as a note-taker, it gets the job done handily.

Evernote

And the winner is the app that lets you organize all of your notes into clearly categorized notebooks. Evernote works with Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android devices. 

It is a web extension. You can also use the web extension form to sync with your device and desktop/laptop versions.

There is a subscription version, but the free version gives you 60 MB of storage, which might be enough if you use it lightly.

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