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Notability Positive Reviews

New Mac App is not goodI’ve been using Notability for the past few years and love it. Being able to upload PPT and PDF decks for meetings and then take notes on my ipad has been a game changer for productivity. I can review documents - mark them up - and then send the notes directly back to my team. Except for a (very) slight delay sometimes between my Mac and my ipad, everything was seamless. I recommended Notability to everyone. However, the latest release of Notability for Mac is a disaster. It crashes often. When it isn’t crashing it’s nearly impossible to use. Trying to drag notes from one folder to another is incredibly frustrating - difficult to accomplish and takes a ton of time to get it to work. Often I can’t seem to drag and drop except on the fourth or fifth try. Imagine if your mouse pointer only worked about 25% of the time. Also - I used to be able to “print to Notability” directly from PPT (incredibly useful for quick uploads) and that feature is gone. And uploading a folder from Finder by dragging it over to Notability is frustrating - super laggy, often results in the “spinning wheel of death”, or just crashes the app. I would go back to the previous version is a hot second if I could. It’s so annoying that I’ve even considered moving to a different notes system - although I really don’t want to do that. I love Notabilty and the ipad version works great. But I need my full Notability ecosystem to work well together. Like it used to..TroyfigVersion: 10.4.2

My Most Used App EverI have used this app for over 3 years at the time I wrote this review. I used it everyday and have nearly 1000 separate articles and notes within it. I am at the end of my doctorate and have found that I nearly live out of my iPad and mostly this app. I average between 4-6 hours a day in the app. I have helped many people to come to use this app in their daily lives. I prepare my lectures, classwork, attendance, and nearly anything else I would otherwise put on paper all through Notability. If you have an iPad and an Apple Pencil, then Notability is a great contributor to success. I want to help the makers of Notability for the development and a continued improvement of this wonderful app that I bought the yearly subscription and I don’t even use the stuff in it. That is not because the stuff in there is not good, rather it is well made, I am just stuck in my ways of how I use the app. Lastly, I would like to thank the developers of Notability, as I am so grateful for their hard work and intuitive improvements. Keep up the great work and I will continue to use this app al long as iOS supports it. ***April 2023 update*** This app is still the best app I’ve ever used. I’ve got so many people to use it, and I use it every day. It is the most useful iPad app ever! I plan on continuing to use it, and definitely, and I am amazed by how many awesome updates and things that keep adding to it, great job Notability! Keeping innovating!!!.DeovalorVersion: 12.1.3

I’m using it! ☝🏾I love the app it is almost everything I’ve ever wanted. I’m very happy with the usability of it in comparison to other note taking apps. I’m not a fan of the subscription model I would rather pay an obscene price one time instead of having an app potentially affect me in the future. My advice is to throw in a lifetime deal for like $50. People could complain but at least they’d have the option. Two features that I would love to see come to the app is to be able to pin audio to a page visually, with a play button and a slider. I use this app for creating story boards and if I can have audio cue in correlation to my my scene breakdowns; I would make more practical use of the audio player. The second feature that I would like to see, is a lasso tool for images. Or an eraser for images. when I create a scene I want to be able to take a picture of my scenes and props and arrange them within the app. The Apple Pencil support is BEAUTIFUL! It would be nice to get some smudging features and paint for it. I would like the option to highlight over pictures as well so I’m able to simulate lighting on my subjects. GIF’s. This is definitely more than two things 😅 but currently AS IS Notability is a complete product is worthy of its asking price. However I feel that if those few tweaks were added it would be worth even more and it wouldn’t be debated..K1lluhk4mVersion: 11.0.16

A real app for workI need to produce about 1000 well-organized words for my editor each week. When I am at home, I can use my iMac. But we travel much of the year. During the time on the road I rely on Notability. Although I have an older iPad and can't use the split screen, I can take advantage of Notabilities Web clips that can be lined up nicely along one side of the paper I am working on...keeping my notes easily available. Better yet, Notability handles the complex notes like a champ...no slowdown in typing, etc. The app is also aces in with a first-rate filing system...I do many versions before I get my 1000 and I can keep the versions together by putting them in the week's subject. I have been using Notability since it came out and find that it has gotten better with each new version. My hard-earned pennies were well-invested in this app. My desiderata: word count and the ability to add space to the lines...It's easier to edit when text is double-spaced. I could use Pages which has both of these but I like how Notability feels as I write....the text comes out smoothly; Pages doesn't have web clipping or the nice filing system. There are LOTS of note taking apps but I find Notability to be really great....I actually can get stuff done with it. Ok, here’s a suggestion. I would like to be able to popup a notability note while I am in another app—.Tsmollett0Version: 11.3.1

Overall, A Really great appSomething that I really liked about notability was the simple and intuitive layout. This made it really easy for me to organize my notes and help me maintain order with my notes. Another thing that I really liked was all of the new updates that really helped with making things run more smoothly (i.e. the favorites bar, being able to search for key words within the notes themselves instead of just the title, and the magnifying glass). Some areas of improvement would be being able to adjust the shape of the magnifying box because there are sometimes when I’m trying to edit a specific place and the magnifying box just doesn’t fit right. Another thing would be to be able to open more than two notes at once. This would come in handy for those to do notes simultaneously on multiple sections. It would also be cool if when your in portrait mode for the notes you have the option to be able to stack the notes top of one another instead of seeing them side. Then one last area of adjustment would be to be able to have a bookmarked notes bar like how there is a bookmarked pages (within each notes) bar. It would make jumping between two desired note documents a little bit easier. Anyways, that’s it from me. Thank you for making a really great app. Totally looking foreword to what’s in store for the future of this app..BibleUser123Version: 10.2.4

Great for note taking and organization, but…I really do love this app. It’s very easy to use, the gallery has endless formatting options, it’s easy to keep your stuff organized, and the pen/ pencil/ highlighter color options are great. I currently use this app for PA school and love it. I do have a few critiques, but none that would make me not want to use it anymore: 1. I wish there were more options for embedded folders. For example, you can create a divider that contains multiple subjects, but there is no way to further organize the dividers. I would love to be able to have a folder that says “Fall semester” with different dividers for each class, with each divider containing multiple subject folders. 2. In the latest update, they changed the page count on the bottom right corner to disappear when youre in 50/50 split-screen view, and I have to say this is what drove me to write a review. When I’m studying I like to constantly know how many PowerPoint slides/ pages I have left, and I am often in the split screen view to read on one side and write notes on the other. Please please please change it back so that you can have page count in the split screen view in the 50/50 view. There is plenty of room on the page to have that !.PAsmk46Version: 12.1.8

Great university study tool with a couple issuesI was using OneNote on a Surface tablet until the digitizer stopped working. I decided to try using an iPad Pro instead, since they’re lighter. Notability was the only app to offer most of the same functionality as OneNote on a Windows tablet. There are many things that I prefer about Notability, but there are a few issues that prevent me from giving it more stars: first, I would like the ability to create a group of commonly used highlighters/pens for marking up documents. I have a system of using certain colors to represent certain things, and I would like to be able to organize all those highlighters and pens into a group where I determine the order and placement. If that is possible in Notability, I haven’t been able to figure it out. Secondly, I use Notability in a setting where I’m regularly working with several languages (including RTL - Right to Left languages like Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic). Notability does not have good support for combining multiple languages in one document at this time, especially not mixed English-Hebrew or English-Aramaic. Please give Notability the ability to recognize and format RTL languages. I can do that natively on most Apple apps, and many 3rd party apps, so the inability to do that on Notability really sticks out. Please improve these issues, and I will gladly give it a 5 star rating. In fact, if those two issues are fixed, I won’t even miss using OneNote for most of my coursework..J micahVersion: 9.0.1

Great app, but does have some flawsFlaws - It is hard to toggle between pen and eraser. The interface isn't as aesthetically pleasing as good notes. It is very hard to add a different page that isn’t the same template as previous pages. The palm rejection is bad. Even if you put on palm rejection it’s still bad and glitches a bunch. Greatness - But through all of that, the app is great. You can record lectures and play them back. There are infinitely more template and page options. And there is a special “social media”, basically a gallery where people can create calendars and fancy note sheets for you to use for free! The reason why I did “social media” is because you can like it and post your own custom page templates. The two tap for undo works much better than good notes, but I turn it off so that it doesn’t randomly undo stuff due to the bad palm rejection. There are more brushes, like dotted and dashed brushes. THE SHAPE MAKER IS BETTER! So you create perfect circles instead of an ellipse or a square. You can also get polygons for those weird boxed. I’m sure there are more things that are great about this app that I may have missed, so please buy it! But if you are more for the aesthetics rather than a student and wanting those good grades, get the other apps! But if you are a student and are okay with a less aesthetically pleasing interface, (but still great templates and note pages!), get this!.LickalottapinkVersion: 11.8.5

Notability is great...but not on iPhoneWriting a review of Notability is hard. On the one hand, I use it every single day on my iPad. I do a lot of reading/research for my job, so Notability has saved me from being buried under an endless pile of paper. I even pair it up with Scanbot so I can quickly scan materials in meetings and then have all my notes/handouts in a single place. Being able to search my handwriting is a game-changer! So is having access to my documents and notes everywhere, including my laptop, and having all changes and edits synced through iCloud. I’ve always wanted to go paperless with ubiquitous access to everything; Notability is my hub for that. Which brings me to my chief complaint about Notability: it’s iPhone app is terrible. It’s nice to see my notes on my phone if I need to skim something quickly on the go, but basic functionality is missing. You can’t search a document, highlight pages, see all the pages in a document—if you’re looking for something, you can only scroll until you find it. That’s ok if you’re talking about two pages of notes; but if you are looking at a 50 page journal article trying to find something, it’s ridiculous. Competitors have this functionality on iPhones, but Notability has never added it. I wish they would! I also wish they would format text-only notes like Google Docs, adjusting text size for a given display without affecting the formatting..Jason 909Version: 8.2.7

New Format Is WorseI’ve used Notability since 2016, and while some of the smaller updates since then have been wonderful (like being able to add new colors, slight format changes, etc.), this totally new format is less easy to use. It’s not just about having to relearn a few things - that was expected - but the functionality is less intuitive and makes it more work to do simple things. Before, I used to be able to easily press the little button on the bottom right corner for the zoom-in feature, now I have to go to the top right within a note to see settings, THEN press the zoom feature, every time? I know there’s another setting to be able to press and hold for it to come up, but it doesn’t work super well, and again -> less intuitive to figure out, especially for new users. Also, when zoomed in, it takes more work to change colors, utensils, undo, redo, etc. when the bar for those features is not automatically brought closer to the zoom-in section the way it used to be. I don’t understand why these updates were made when it makes every little thing take so much longer to write, draw, and edit by hand. The only thing that doesn’t take longer is typing, but there’s plenty of apps that can do that — the reason I chose to use Notability in the first place was to be able to hand write/draw over things quickly, which was working great…until this new format..Icedcoffee33Version: 14.2.2

Needs better organizationThis app is very helpful, especially the feature to record lectures. I can stay on top of what my professor says easier, and use the Apple Pencil to highlight or emphasize certain points. There is a bit of a delay for the notes and the audio, so when I click on a note, I know to automatically hit the “rewind 10 seconds” button, but I just deal with it because it is so helpful regardless. However, while the recording ability is the star feature of this app, the other features need improvement. 1. Since more classes are taking place online due to the pandemic, there should be an option to record lectures using the iPad’s internal microphone. Right now, I play the lectures on my phone and record audio with the iPad, since I do not have a better option. 2. Second, and my biggest gripe with the app is ORGANIZATION. Although you can have subjects, and place notes in the subjects, I want the ability to make folders within the subjects. A lot of my subjects in school are so complex - with labs and assignments in addition to lecture notes and different subtopics, the ability to make folders within subjects is seriously ESSENTIAL. The most I can do is change the name at the beginning of the file to reflect what kind of material it is (ex: Lab 1, Assignemnt 2, etc.) but the ability to make folders really holds this app behind. I still use it for the recording feature, but the lack of organizational options available is really frustrating..Kmc121084Version: 10.1.1

Best Notetaking App I foundI’ve been using this app for years, and appreciate all the updates that have occurred since then. This app has sufficed all my note taking needs, in and out of the classroom. One feature I would like to see is the ability to rename recordings, and possibly to attach these recordings to individual pages. One thing I’ve tried doing this semester is have the recording function on while at a lecture, but having numerous recordings in a file that grows daily is difficult with the current set up. If you don’t remember the time stamp or recording number for a particular point, you have to guess and listen for a bit to see if it’s right. It’s either that, or guess based on the date the notes were recorded. If you could at least rename the audio files, the app would be more useful. It would also be nice if you could change the paper style of individual pages, as well as a feature that easily allows you to draw geometric shapes (adding a figure on top of a graph sticky or any other element get tricky when you click on the wrong one. Sometimes because of that, the graph background ends up on top, and the figure behind it, rendering it useless). There aren’t really any visible bugs with this version of the app, Would recommend for someone looking for a suitable note taking app, whether it’s handwritten or type. I think the addition of a few features would make it better.._Music-Lover_Version: 8.2.7

Palm Rejection Problems Since UpdatingI can attest to the comments regarding the palm rejection issues after the recent update. Since the update, anytime I attempt to take class notes with the Apple Pencil results in erratic screen behavior. It will zoom in or out randomly, delete the last portion of what is written, or the screen will shift/shake. This only occurs when I am trying to write and my palm is resting on the lower portion of the screen. I have had some previous issues with palm rejection, mainly with the shifting of the screen or zoom but it has been manageable up until this update. It has become basically unusable for me in terms of handwriting since the recent update and the handwriting feature is nearly the sole purpose for purchasing the app in my case. I’ve basically had to resort to other apps for note taking because this has become nearly impossible to write on (unless I write without my palm on the screen and that is definitely not an alternative for me). After reading the previous comments, I have already performed a hard reset of my iPad (an iPad Pro 11” on iOS 12.3), turned off the palm rejection feature in Notability and turned it back on, and finally uninstalled the app completely then reinstalled. None of these attempts have rendered any improvement. Hopefully this is something that can be investigated by the developer and corrected quickly as this has been my preferred app for note taking..RobPraterVersion: 8.4.5

Taking two stars off for the new updateHistorically, my experience with this app has been excellent, 5 out of 5. I have over 600 individual notes, all of which are multiple pages. This app is also my app of choice for reading and annotating scientific papers. This is all to say, this app has been one of the best things about owning an iPad for me. However, they pushed a recent update (their “new notability” update) that, in my experience, has significantly degraded the quality of the experience. Favorited pen colors and sizes were removed, and they added a pencil for some reason. To be clear, I appreciate some of the new features (additional multi gesture support, the ruler, etc), but they have integrated these new features and existing features into an experience that feels clunky at best to navigate and somehow manages to run slower on an M1 iPad Pro to the point where it lags when accessing the quick note switcher (something I use heavily). One of the best parts of this app was how snappy it was to use, and how out of the way of what you need to get done the interface was. That is the big downgrade of this update; the interface now gets in my way of using this app to get what I need to do done. Notability team- I know you have people reading the reviews of your app. Take my feedback and make it right- you can have your cake and eat it too if you put some polishing work into it..Hoopla_PROVersion: 14.0.2

New Notability is Not GoodEver since they introduced the “New Notability!” the app has been lagging for me. It’s especially noticeable when I’m trying to write things with my Apple Pencil. It’s really annoying when I’m in a lecture and trying to take notes but I have to concentrate more on making sure I’m actually getting things on the page than on the content of the lecture. I also really really dislike the new toolbar. It is much more time consuming than it used to be to change utensils or even to change the thickness of the utensil to create headings, which is important for me when I’m taking notes. It is also very frustrating that the Undo button can no longer be moved. It is now on the other side of the screen from where I had it, and my muscle memory keeps going to the other side of the page, which again takes time away from what I actually want to be doing. I really like Notability, and I specifically chose it over competitor apps like GoodNotes when I first got my iPad because I felt like I could do more with Notability, but if the lagging continues to be an issue I may have to look elsewhere. I am a student with a learning disability, and time is really of the essence for me. It is not an exaggeration for me to say that every second counts for me, and this updated format has taken way more seconds (and minutes) from me than it should have..Not a Human, a ZoeVersion: 14.2.1

I LOVE version 14! Keep up the great work Ginger Labs!Every change that was made for versions 14 clearly has a distinct and effective purpose and execution. I just have 1 suggestion. When I read about version 14 having individual presets I thought it meant that you could have individual “profiles” of tools that you could switch between, but it means that each tool has its own set of size/color combinations that you can save, which is definitely a welcome change. However, I’d love to see this taken one step further where you can save different “profiles.” For example, sometimes I take what I like to call “chalkboard” notes which is just a black background and using white and neon colors, but when I’m not using a black background I rarely if ever use a white or bright color, so it would be amazing if I could save different sets of colors and other tool settings as their own preset and switch between them on the fly, or better yet, allow me to set a profile of colors for a given notebook, so I can have black on white assigned to a given notebook and have white on black for another notebook. Just an idea, I’m incredibly impressed and satisfied with version 14 and I’m very excited to see what Ginger Labs comes up with next! Keep it up guys!.SteV3nomVersion: 14

Good medicine studying toolI’ve used notability for my 4 years of medicine, NBME tests, step exams, organization of documents, logbooks, and extracurricular. What I like the most was the option to import any document that needs signing or writing on, and being able to do so. Allowing me as a student to have different documents, ppt, word documents and pdfs in a single place facilitated my studies and work. The iCloud setting for apple devices is another good option to be able to instantly refresh documents to your mac or iPhone. Sometimes it would malfunctioning and would not want to refresh as indicated (ie: documents would not appear on their folder, they would appear under all notes) but it’s not that big of a deal. A handful of times the app crashed and I lost all my documents, it is important to have a backup, even though after that incident I still did not backup. I recommend this app to any student who is starting undergrad and/or postgrad and want to take their education seriously. “A well organized education should not be one which prepares students for a good remuneration alone. It should be one that can help and guide them towards acquiring clear thinking, a fruitful mind, and an elevated spirit.” -Haile Selassie.MojonrojoVersion: 11.8.7

Notes, Nickels, and DimesI use this app for all my schoolwork. Its ability to have to notes open at a time has been essential. I have been able to have power point slides open on one half of my screen and my notes on the other, and then easily copy and paste diagrams from power points into my notes. Another amazing feature is the ability to search your own handwriting. This has made it considerably easier to search for a specific topic, when my notes become many pages long. The only downside to this app is its lack of organization. You can only create one layer of folders. Meaning instead of being able to have sub folders for each of my classes such as exams, quizzes, homework, notes, etc. I am only able to divide my content by semester and class. I really hope they add the ability to create sub folders to help with organization. Because have 30+ notes for one subject isn’t very efficient. My other big complaint is with the pricing changes. I liked how you could buy a single sticker pack or a technology piece, and you only had to pay once. However now, you have to subscribe and a pay a yearly fee to access these features. Build the cost of these features into the app, and please take away the subscription, or allow people to buy things at a slightly higher rate… but without need to pay a regular fee..Tye fighterVersion: 11.0.11

Great, one major flawI love what I can accomplish in this app without paying for a subscription, and use it regularly (more on that below). BUT it regularly drops and re-downloads ALL my notes, even whichever one I’ve left open for editing, which costs me both time (waiting instead of working) and data/money (my internet is pre-paid by the Gb). I’ve asked twice and been told both times that it’s probably because I don’t have much free storage on my iPad. I have four or five Gb free, and Notability is one of the main apps I use on here, so I really feel it should have an option to never erase notes unless I have deleted them. If the storage gets full, yes, I’ll have to deal with it, but I’d rather cross that bridge in other ways than re-downloading all my Notability notes multiple times a month. On the plus side, some of the great uses I’ve found: for handwriting notes around pasted-in scriptures during sermons, for pasting in passages in a language I’m learning and practicing my handwriting, for reading & marking up PDFs of academic documents for class, and for marking speaking tests using a rubric - I can import the rubric PDF filled with names for an entire class and then export it back to Drive as a new PDF with all my marks, saving me printing the several-page document week after week..MissJubileeVersion: 11.5.1

A great note taking app for school but the Bugs are becoming annoyingThis app could probably be the best note taking app for students just because of the recording feature. The tools up top are fine but they are missing so much compared to GoodNotes. Most of the size for the Pen are useless. After the 4th or 5th size the strokes become way too big for any practical purpose. Same thing with the highlighter except it the opposite. The varying sizes for the erasers is great though because I can basically erase pixels or entire sentences if needed. The cut and paste tool will not select small strokes or words for whatever reason, so sometimes I’m forced to erase and redraw or write. Other than that its works great. Seriously the only tool carrying this app is the Recording feature, GoodNotes has them beat in every other department. (I never mentioned the lack of templates). If GoodNotes has that feature I would go back to GoodNotes immediately, but they don’t so I stay with Notability. Now the bugs are getting annoying. I cant go a 1 minute without my lines not drawing or the app freezing or the zoom in feature freezing the app. Also the random shapes I get when writing sometimes that I cant delete with the back button and for some reason can only be removed by the eraser. Idk maybe these bugs will eventually send me back to GoodNotes and lectures will have to be recorded the hard way..Rico_927Version: 9.2.4

Best Invention Ever - Student PerspectiveI’m a computer science student graduating in August 2020. Notability has been incredibly helpful as a work tool for school. I bought myself an iPad as a freshman in university. I also bought Notability to take notes. Not having to worry about carrying notebooks and losing papers has been an enormous help. All my notes are taken and saved in notability. I have an entire 4 years of university on this app. The synchronized recording with pen note taking has been the single most helpful thing for me. In some of my toughest computer science courses I would record the lecture (with audio built in on the Notability app) and when I was confused (because I couldn’t keep up with the speed of the lecture) I would go back and listen to the audio and know exactly where the confusion occurred because the writing was synchronized with the location in the audio. I’ve tried multiple note-taking apps (paid ones too) and this is by far my favorite. Thank you Notability team! One thing I would appreciate is a better file management system. Having four years worth of work on my notability app makes file management essential and the current file management could be improved!.Eddy2050Version: 10.4.5

Perfect For StudentsThis app is my go to app for anything I do in school. It has made taking notes fun and easy. And now after using this app for a little over a year and a half, I can absolutely say that this is my favorite note taking app. Practically everything that I do for school is on this app, which when paired to my phone makes it a breeze to quickly scroll through my notes at any time. The writing feels fluid with great options for size and colors. Importing files and documents is extremely easy and fast. On tops of this, the line straitening and shape recognition is amazingly useful and easy, without being intrusive or correcting things that were not meant to be corrected. My one issue I have is with organization. Especially towards the end of the year when I have hundreds of notes and files, they can often be lost in the clutter. I have found ways around this by specifically labeling my files so all of my notes, quizzes, tests, and handouts are all sorted by category alphabetically, but I wish there was a way to put folders inside of subjects. This app is my favorite, but to make it the best it really needs a better way to organize files inside of subjects. Again, I cant imagine creating folders inside of subjects would be hard do and I really hope they include this soon in an update..GDOGUNDERSCOREVersion: 10.0

Best note-taking appI’ve waited a long time to write this because I want to know an app fully before judging it. I’ve used Notability for the past 3+ years along with GoodNotes. I can confidently say that Notability is the superior app. Yes, there are many more features that I wish were present in both apps but, as a whole, this is the best note taking app. In its basic form, handwriting in the app is perfect. Whatever software that GoodNotes uses to try to improve your handwriting is incredibly annoying and causes it to look worse. Its not that way with Notability. What you write is what it shows. The file management style is much easier to follow than the endless folders in GoodNotes. Also, when major updates come, you don’t have to pay for it. Paper templates and being able to set your 3 most used colors and pen sizes right on the task bar will HOPEFULLY be coming to Notability soon. That is the biggest drawback I think. Having to do multiple touches every time I want to switch pen size can be annoying and when taking notes in lecture, can take up valuable time. Having those right on the top bar would be INVALUABLE. Other than that, this app is superior to GoodNotes in general..MillbeanVersion: 9.3.5

This app could be the crème de la crème, if only…This app has almost everything anyone who is going to school could ask for, except one very vital thing, that I know for me makes this app a total nightmare to use. This app is great for grabbing PDF file imports and webpage imports for references, which I need lots and lots for my masters program that I am in. However, the organization of this app is a logistical nightmare! Trying to separate the pages is difficult since they all seem to download into the “new” directory, and then once you locate them, putting them in any orderly fashion is nearly impossible. Why haven’t you, with such a wonderful app, been able how to figure out how to add notebooks and folders? Notebooks for the class subjects, so we could create a folder called something like “625 BUS Ethical Business Practice” and then have file folders within the notebooks to put out PDF files that we need for our weekly research papers, and then have them accumulated for reference if we wanted to use them for our final 10-15 page papers, without having to try and sort through all of the pdf files that have been downloaded again. Because the organization of files is so difficult to do, and working full time and school, I don’t have time to try and force this program to work the I want it to work..RaineraVersion: 11.0.13

Great for Handwritten notes, but inconsistent shapesTo help me diagram charts and graphs I like to use the shape feature where the app tries to guess the shape you’re drawing such as a square or a circle and makes it clean and orthogonal for you. One particular thing that frustrates me is that I would draw a rather crude rectangle and it only registers it as a rectangle like 40% of the time. The app has a tendency to turn my rectangles into an arrow or some random trapezoid or rhombus shape. I think a solution to this problem would be to have the app have a built in calibration setting that the user can set up. This way I can draw a rectangle and tell the app to ONLY recognize rectangle, circles, or oval shapes. I have no need for rectangles or random trapezoid shapes and don’t know why they were even considered when the conversion system is super buggy and inconsistent. Having more shapes for the app to recognize just makes it more difficult for the app to be consistent. Please give the user an option to select what shapes are recognized or at least gives us the ability to draw a shape and tell the app this is what we want and calibrate its sensitivity to how we draw shapes. Either that or give us the option to place the shape into our notes like a sticker as done in Microsoft word..Lyuldo DropVersion: 11.0.13

The worst customer supportI love this app, it is definitely the best for note taking on a tablet out there. However, I had a performance issue last year and I tried to contact support and no one ever got back to me. I’ve had similar issues and didn’t bother reaching out because I knew it would be futile. In my opinion, a product can be mediocre, but if it has great customer service, that sets it apart. Notability is the opposite. The product is great (in theory), but whenever there are issues, there is no support. This app is constantly glitching, between the handwriting jumping around the page randomly, not allowing me to close out of the right side menu that allows you to search in the document, or the most annoying bug where a note scrolls to the bottom of a page and will not let you go back to the top until you close out of the app. Currently, I am having an issue where I have two notes open at once (one is a pdf of my textbook, and one is the notes I am taking from it), and there are numerous problems, including those I just mentioned, as well as tools not working as I am trying to go back and forth writing on both documents. This is the best notetaking app I’ve tried, but the constant bugs are extremely frustrating when this is the main mode I use to read textbooks, take notes, and get homework done..(ง ͠° ͟J ͡°)งVersion: 10.0.2

Great appI absolutely love this app. Between work, school, and life, this app helps with notes, and my planners for everything. It’s so much more convenient to carry my iPad around rather than a bunch of books. This app is very user friendly, making it very easy to take notes and convert from the pen to highlighter, etc. You can even search your own handwriting and text from a pdf that has been uploaded in the same file which makes it easy to go back and look for something specific instantly rather than scroll through pages of notes. Great app!!! Update: I recently tried to access my notes on my iPhone, but half of the files wouldn’t sync between the ipad and my phone, which was annoying. I had down time to study and couldn’t because they wouldn’t sync. The only way to fix was to duplicate the file on the ipad so it would sync to my phone. It wasn’t a huge deal for that day, but could potentially be a major issue down the line if you don’t have the original device you used for the notes. Other than that, I still think it’s a great app and recommend it to anyone who is switching to digital notes and who doesn’t want to carry around a bunch of binders/notebooks!.Busylife0000Version: 8.3.3

Long time userI’ve had this app going on 6 years now. Back in the day this app was the best of the best in its abilities compared to the competitors. For a one-time purchase of $7.99 you had the best note-taking app on the market. I’m unsure when they became a subscription only app for new downloaders, but I imagine my time is coming for when I’m required to start paying the subscription. However, the overhaul of this app in 2023 has been nothing but a downhill slope of Notability’s reign as “best note-taking app” that has me second guessing keeping it altogether. The freezing, glitching, lack of accurate searching, force-closing, and less friendly updated features has made it more of a nuisance than a help. I’ve only got 1 year of schooling left so I will stick it out with this app if I can, but I will definitely tell other looking for a note-taking app to definitely explore the options before paying for this app annually. If you do not need the audio recording option, Apple’s files app allows you to write the same way notability does so make sure the built-in features in the software you already have doesn’t meet your needs before buying this app. One-time fee = app was so worth it. Annual subscription = Make sure you’re ok with some of the nuances that comes with the updates..CmiesterVersion: 14.7.2

Inconvenient UpdateApp has been great for the past couple years. I use it for school, work, and personal life. Unfortunately this last update isn’t the best. It feels like they put more focus on aesthetics instead of functionality this time. Most of the options now require the user to go through a few extra clicks to get what you want (having ADHD, this slows me down at times bc it breaks my focus longer) but it's workable so that's fine. My biggest issue lies with their choice to remove the outlining white space. Not only does the page itself partially block my ipad's own info (date, time, battery life, etc.) now all the tool bars sit directly in the writing space with no way to move or hide them. So if you're writing at the top or already have stuff there it's partially blocked on both sides by the buttons. The same applies on zoom mode. For some reason the button to move lines is WITHIN the writing box. There also is no second undo/redo button closer to the writing box, so you have to reach to the top of the page each time if you don't wanna constantly switch between write and erase. The update is incredibly cute but please fix this or at least give us the option to toggle this type of view on and off..Alpha BumVersion: 14.1.3

Love the app! — BUT THE CRASHING WHILE TYPING NEEDS TO BE FIXED!!I’ve been using this app for a couple of years now and I absolutely love it! It keeps me so organized with the templates, the color coordination I can use while making my notes, and the subjects/dividers on the side panel. However, for the past few weeks I’ve been experiencing problems while typing. Whenever I finish typing in a textbox or just in general, I’ll click the button on my on-screen iPad keyboard to close my keyboard but my Notability freezes. The only way I can continue using the app is by exiting out of it and then opening it back up. Sometimes when I do that, not all of the work that I typed out will save before the app crashes. I’ve also tried to close/exit out of my keyboard using other methods, such as clicking on the lasso scissor tool (which always worked for me before I started to have these issues). However, even with using other methods, such as that, the same problem keeps reoccurring. All of this does make work a little harder to get done and I do know that some people are having similar problems. Again this app is totally amazing (and it’s one of my favorites) but please, please, please fix the typing and crashing issue!.An0nym0us_ReviewerVersion: 14.6

A staple, but disappointingUpdate: I have used this app for YEARS now through high school, college, and now medical school. I love the app and appreciate it to no ends. However, one ongoing issue I have noticed is its unreliability with downloading ppt files to PDF within the app from Canvas. I don’t know if it’s a problem with communication with canvas or just a general issue with converting to pdf within the app, but it’s annoying to have to convert all my lecture notes to pdf on my MacBook then transfer them to my iPad. It’s so unreliable I don’t think I can use only my iPad anymore, which is what my goal was. Anyway, long story short: I love this app, but it’s been frustrating for about the past year or two. The new update added better pencil integration, ,earning now it has actual pressure sensitivity rather than just the way they did it before which was through speed sensitivity determining the weight of the line drawn. This combined with the other amazing aspects of this app that I have always enjoyed make this my favorite app ever. I use it in college to take notes and annotate presentations during lecture as well as at work for taking notes during meetings or as a work log. It is simply an amazing app, well worth the money, and I look forward to continue using it with my iPad Pro through medical school. Thank you ginger labs!!!.MklawatersVersion: 7.1

Amazing apps, needs better organizationI have been using Notability for more than 2 years and it is my absolute favorite note-taking app out there. It got me through Highschool and now university, and the voice-recording feature has saved me countless times. The ability to save favorite pens and highlighters has also made it incredibly easy to take colorful and neat notes, which I really appreciate. My only problem with the app is organization. I have around 715 notes and it is getting extremely hard to navigate through them. The inability to have folders within folders has made it incredibly hard to organize my notes in a way that makes sense to me and allows me to find them easily. Each of my classes, for example, has exams, labs, homework, textbooks, and other important documents. Scrolling through 50 notes per subject has become very tiring, and I believe it will only get worse with time. Right now, I change the name of the note to make them easier to find, but an organization feature will make this app complete for me. I’ve downloaded another note-taking app purely for its organization but greatly prefer Notability’s layout, so I hope they implement better folder management soon..AlienousVersion: 10.4.3

Almost perfectThis app is almost perfect. From the beginning I downloaded both GoodNotes and notability to try both. I can honestly say I can hardly use GoodNotes now, because I can do so much more here I one place. If I could suggest a couple of things that may make this program a little better for a student. First , It would be great if you could choose a folder from the drive or photos(of slides)and then pop the entire file IN the document I’m writing on and it default to a page size image - as doing them one by one , then having to size each one is a real pain when I have a bunch to add. One thing GoodNotes / books does well. Or at least if I could choose more than one image from my note to drag in ...OR not have to click back into the photo options button after each one as its a real pain if I want to import several pages and to a note in a hurry. I would love to have the option to read and turn my pages horizontally like a book and have a book folder file to confine or open it easily - like GoodNotes. Besides these two things - it seems perfect. Its a great well thought out program that keeps progressing with so many great options. Good job to the developers.Lalah-007Version: 8.4.2

Could add more features !!!!! Please !!!!!!!I wanted to type my notes using the Cornell method (where there’s a line about 1/4 from the left to separate keywords and body text/notes). I went to check out the different types of papers but realized there aren’t that many templates. I normally use the dotted one to write out my notes, so drawing that 1/4 line is no big deal. But I wanted to work faster and now type it out. I could always just draw the line but then when I type, the words would just go over the drawn-on line. Using types boxes would be a hassle since it was constantly redshift. I wished there were more templates around it. Also, I wanted to type out something on the center of my page but am having a difficult time trying to center my text. I looked up a way to center my text and found that if I hold down on my toolbar, more functions show up…..but it doesn’t let me use them?? I try clicking on it but it never works. It just says drag items to the edit toolbar, but even when I move the centering tool to the front, it just automatically goes back to its original position. I’m not sure if what I’m using is correct, I just wanted to center my text but it doesn’t seem to be working..LuuuuuuuuuuuyuuuuuuuuuuuuVersion: 10.6

Fix iCloud syncing issuesI love noteability and would give 5 stars if it weren’t for the iCloud issues. I have the app on my phone, MacBook, and iPad. I mainly use noteability on my iPad and enjoyed being able to create a note, and seamlessly read or edit it on my laptop or phone. However every once in awhile noteability would freeze all of my notes on my iPad and I wouldn’t be able to read or edit until it was done syncing which would take at least 30 minutes, sometimes hours. What’s even more frustrating is that sometimes I’ll be editing a note and the app would be syncing that same note to the cloud in the background. So when I exit the note I have 2 sometimes 5 copies of the same note, and I have no idea which one is up to date. This especially happens if I have noteability open on more than one device at a time. I got so sick of it that I’ve disabled iCloud syncing and only use it on my iPad, which is a shame because I paid 10 extra dollars for the app on my MacBook (which is absolutely not worth it on its own by the way). The only device that gives all of the features that noteability has to offer is the iPad. With that being said, I absolutely love the app on my iPad and I hope that the dev team will fix this issue soon..Chris 123abcVersion: 9.1

Saved My BaconI’m currently in grad school and after my first semester, I decided to switch to digital note taking. I was simply overwhelmed by the massive paper trail that often happens in grad school. I shopped around and I saw this app and decided to give it a go. I don’t normally spend $10 on an app, but it has been worth every penny! The organization is top notch, it works with many different type of styli (I use the Friendly Swede interchangeable tip stylus, because of the cost, but Apple Pencil works great if you have an iPad Pro), the recording feature is great, sharing notes is super easy and it’s been so convenient to have all of my school documents in one place. So far, I’m at 600+ documents and I haven’t lost anything since using this app. I absolutely credit this app with helping me pass my comprehensive exams. My only complaints is that I wish I wouldn’t have to buy it again for Mac. I also would like it if they were to incorporate tabs, so I wouldn’t have to back out to the menu every time I wanted to switch between a few related notes. In spite of these shortcomings, I still give it five stars because of how much it’s helped up my game as a grad student. Thanks, Notability!.Coug-Terp92Version: 7.0.1

Great for schoolI’ve been using this for med school, and it has been fantastic. I’m able to download all professor’s powerpoint presentations to notability and sort them in a pretty simple way. I’m able to search all my notes pretty easily, even for things that I write on the iPad which can come in handy. No real complaints about the app, but I can always ask for recommendations. 1. I wish I could search in one division. For instance, if I am searching a drug that works in a combination like phenytoin, one subject it can be found in is cardiovascular and also neuro. I can search all notes or I can search one ‘subject’, but not a division (one tier higher than subject, a division holds subjects). I do think that the phone app and computer app can be improved to be more on par with the features of the iPad, and I think the sidecar ability can definitely be improved to work a lot better with the computer version of notability. Also, I wish it was possible to be able to organize with 1-2 more tiers. That being said, this app has worked way better than I expected it to for school. I’ve never used goodnotes or onenote, but notability is worth a shot for sure..BradZ2023Version: 9.3.4

Disappointed after new updateThere was a new update recently and the look/layout looks pretty different. What disappointed me was that I’ve found more glitches while taking notes, using my apple pencil, or using my apple keyboard. I’ve had this app for nearly 3 years now for all my college course notes and haven’t encountered glitches like this before which is sad. I keep having to exit out of the app and reload it for the simplest things like converting my handwriting to text because the screen completely freezes and won’t let me do anything anymore. This also happens when I try to pop up the keyboard sometimes to type on my notes/documents. I hope there’s another update soon fixing these issues because I truly prefer this platform over any other note taking app. Also in this update, I think the “favorite pens/highlighters” section disappeared? It used to be a moveable bar anywhere on my page which I really loved because it was convenient, but now it’s not and I’m unsure how to get it back. Have to do more work to find my colors/pen sizes and switch between them now. I do like that there are more color options now for subject titles! But please update again soon for the bug fixes :).Hey_its_reignVersion: 14.1.1

DO NOT UPGRADEThe new version has converted to an annual subscription mode, and old purchased users NEED TO SUBSCRIBE AGAIN. This is ridiculous, I used to love notability, but now 🙄.FutandrewVersion: 11.0

Some bugs need to be fixed!First of all, I really like this app and recommend it to anyone who wishes to take notes for classes/work/etc. I no longer need to print out lecture slides for my classes and save a lot of paper. However, I do have couple of suggestions to improve the app and I hope the developers take this into consideration: (1) Make imported images moveable like the text! I noticed that once you import an image and edit it the first time, you cannot go back to edit it for the second, third, or fourth time. I am constantly editing my notes to study and not being able to move around the image when I come to study the next day is frustrating. (2) There’s also a scrolling problem I face daily as I use the app to take notes in class using an apple pencil. The page gets stuck and I can no longer scroll up or down and have to restart the app to get it to work again. It’s a minor bug but it can be frustrating when it happens while I am in a hurry to copy down notes in class. Thank you..OhtmealVersion: 7.0

FreemiumAbsolutely terrible.RepurityVersion: 11.0.1

Very usefulAllows you to follow along with the teacher with synchronized recording of the session to what you write down. however i really wish there were different viewing options like 4 slides in one page or face to face and not only continuous downward flowing pages. I have a problem writing notes in this app. i download PowerPoint lectures and i dont have enough room on each slide to write my notes and i keep find myself adding new pages after each slide to write it the teachers notes. I wish there was a blank paper adjacent to all the imported slides to give me a place to take notes freely. Please developers i hope this gets noticed..AsdjungVersion: 8.4.2

Split Screen the same noteLove the app, would love the ability to open 2 pages of the same note on split screen. This would really improve my workflow rather than scrolling back and forth between two pages from the same note. Thanks,.Game VibrationVersion: 9.3.3

Very good but missing convenienceI use it for notes all the time but I’d really love a two finger tap to undo and three finger tap to redo instead of the tiny little button up top.DissapointinVersion: 8.2.8

FavoriteI love this app but In this version the favorite/presets are kind of broken, I set my preset but later the same day it become the default preset?.ChezSylvainVersion: 7.0.1

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Notability Negative Reviews

I’ve never had this issue beforeI’ve been using Notability for about 7 years now. As a student, it is important to make sure you don’t miss any information and sometimes that can be difficult if the professor goes too fast. One tool that I started using about 3 years ago was the microphone to record lectures. I loved it because I could follow along with what the professor was saying and what I wrote as well. Right now I’m really upset with Notability because of a bug. Recently I’ve been having problems when I completely close out of the app. Not only are my recordings getting deleted, but so are my notes!!! That’s a major problem that needs to be fixed immediately. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find an app quite like notability, so I will have to stick with good old fashioned pen and paper until this problem is resolved. I’ve also been having problems with the other tools. I usually have no problem with changing colors, font sizes, or anything related to that nature but I can’t even do that anymore! This isn’t a huge issue as I can still select the right tool, but it’s hard to organize my notes. I also can’t create subjects or dividers anymore which is driving me insane! It’s the beginning of the semester which means I need to be able to organize myself from the start to work efficiently throughout the rest of the semester. I’ve never had any issues with this app before, but these are some major problems that need to be fixed before I continue using it..Horse girl 710Version: 9.2.2

PUT ZOOM VIEW BACK ON THE PAGE PLEASE GODI’ve had this app for 6 years. I had to switch accounts a little over a year ago and now I have pay an additional 15 a year? Would be more accepting of the price increase if the app wasn’t getting objectively worse in the meantime. Thinking about switching to GoodNotes and if that doesn’t work I guess I’m going back to paper. This is borderline unusable. Most updates this app has undergone since I started using it have made it worse in one way or another but this last one is just kind of ridiculous. The new layout is awful, the interface is unrecognizable, the floating tool bar is a pain, all the useful features have been moved around or hidden to make way for a selection of significantly less relevant new ones. It all feels like change for the sake of change without real consideration for utility, and the app has been glitching constantly since. Genuinely pretty sad about it and really hoping at least a couple of the changes are reversed. Please don’t waste your money on it. And if anyone at corporate ever reads this- please, please, please take zoom view back out of settings. Or at least make adding it to the toolbar an option. It is such an unbelievable pain to have to go through multiple steps to get to it every time I want to write. Especially because you have to exit zoom to copy/paste, move things around, etc. It makes such a big difference to just have it out there on the screen..StopitplsidontubderstandVersion: 14.2.3

Solid, but could easily be betterThe app is solid, as everyone else has already pointed out. The thing is, it could easily be better for those that like tiered organization. If you’re using a divider for a subject, you can’t use dividers within that subject. Dividers are meant to /divide/. The app describes a “divider” as “dividers group subjects,” which is literally not the definition of dividing. GoodNotes’ organization system is bounds better, but this one has a few features that make me stay with it. It would be perfect if they just added additional organization levels, but it’s a real hinderance for the schooling that I do between my engineering major and sociology minor. Update: I moved to Apple during my internship 2 years ago. For school, I try limiting everything to just my iPad and MacBook. I even get digital copies of my textbooks. I used Notability and GoodNotes to try testing which was better. They each had their pros and cons. What ended up nudging me to GoodNotes was how engaged they were with their forums and feature requests. I forgot what Notability didn't have, but it was a big thing people had been requesting for literal years. In their feature request forums, there was absolutely no engagement from the devs. I knew they were only making this product for money. Now they're going subscription based? Especially with lack of interest for customer input? Lame..ThatThomasGuy13Version: 11.0.6

Not as great as I thought it would beMany issues that I don’t like. The microphone function has a lot of potential but ultimately the only thing I can hear after recording in large lecture rooms are staticky background noises and the tapping of my pencil when I’m writing. The left handed mode doesn’t make much sense to me. I’m used to functions being on the top and now functions are on the bottom and don’t actually help with being left handed. There’s also A LOT of skipping that occurs which is incredibly annoying and there are times when I will be writing a letter but it is automatically changed to a shape. When I try press the back function to erase the shape, letters written before the shape are erased so I have to use the actual eraser. In instances like that, it would be nice to have a forward function because somethings are accidentally erased but now I have to completely rewrite it. The font size for pencil and higher are completely out of wack. I tend to write pretty hard so the writing gets very thick even though I have it on a thin setting and the examples of the thickness aren’t very representative. I also wish we had more control over the colors we prefer. All default colors are first which I only use black and it comes with a bunch of colors I don’t like but can’t delete them or change them to colors I’d prefer. I came from GoodNotes and I’m very use to their functions which might be the issue but since I paid for notability I actually want to use it..AngrmtzVersion: 9.3

Not sure what the hype is all about..So, here’s the thing. There are a lot of note taking apps on the market. I feel like if you want a quality one, maybe you need to pay for it. So, I purchased this one and Good Notes. I’ve used Evernote and Microsoft OneNote as well. Nothing sets this apart from competitors besides the price. And please beware: that price for the iOS app does not include the desktop app. That’s a separate charge. You can’t access it through a browser either. That’s a huge negative in my opinion. Additionally, sometimes this app will crash (like during iOS updates) and you’ll lose your subjects and dividers. So, there’s a way to get your subjects back, but you’re out of luck with your dividers. What does this mean? It means that all of the classes you’ve set up for multiple semesters will be wiped out. Whatever was organized under is able to be obtained, but you have to go back through and sort all of it. Do you know what an incredibly awful and tedious task that is? When you contact their customer service, they’re basically just like “Oh, sorryyyyy yeah we don’t care.” If you’re still reading this, oh hey. One last final note: don’t waste your money. I’ve tried them all and think Microsoft OneNote is really the way to go. It’s free, you get cloud storage, the app on the computer is free, and you get full functionality of program. Recent updates means it does EXACTLY what notability does..Mandy VanzVersion: 8.2.9

Have loved this app for years, and then…I will start by saying notability has been an amazing note-taking app for me. I purchased notability for iOS and macOS. Two separate purchases. The reason for the one star review though is the planned change in their pricing structure. Giger labs has determined it best to transition to a subscription model. I don’t mind this on it’s own. Where I take issue is that they are legit removing features such as iCloud sync, hand-writing detection, and math from the upcoming “free version”. These are not new features- but instead features that were added in previously to those who paid for the app, essentially crippling our versions and “stealing” our money. Ginger labs are going about this transition all wrong. If they want a better model, look at fantastical. They too transitioned to a subscription, but when they did, all the features added up to that point still accessible to those who previously paid for the app. I strongly believe that Ginger Lab’s plan to lock away features previously provided to those who paid for the app amounts to theft, and unless this policy is changed, I suggest everyone who bought this app files a complaint with the BBB, Apple, and their State’s attorney General. For those that have paid for this app, please do not update to subscription until they change course. Goodnotes is also a wonderful not taking app, and even Apple notes has become pretty darn good..TheGreenMilesVersion: 11.0

July 2023 updateI have just been working with the recent update to Notability. I’m so disappointed in these changes. First of all, the previous way to create a customized set of tools was far superior. It took up less space and it was much easier to access the exact tools that I wanted. Now, I’m forced to use the main toolbar, which requires additional steps, and it takes up much more real estate on the note when placed on the side of the screen (my preference w the previous mini toolbar). The second change that has really hampered the way I use Notability is the removal of the undo and the pen tools buttons within the zoom box. Before, I could write at the bottom of my screen, and the tools that I needed were within easy reach. Now the undo button is only at the top of the screen, and the pen/erase tools are now only in the main toolbar. this might seem like a ridiculous complaint, given how the iPad screen is not that big, but as a person with a disability, the less reaching I have to do, the better. Notability was almost perfect in my eyes. They were a few changes I would’ve loved to see. Unfortunately, this update changes the some of things that I find most useful. is there a way to install the previous version? Hopefully there will be some new updates that restore some functionality..An_nepVersion: 14.0.2

Extra Charges and No Support- find another note taking app!I’ve had issues with syncing across Apple devices and received no assistance from notability due to lack of customer service. Out of desperation I rebought the app across all 3 of my devices ($45) as advised and my issue was still not resolved. Not only was my issue not resolved, but all of my notes from 3 years of college were completely erased since they weren’t properly synced as promised by the app. I had no issues with the app after this, however, within the last year they began advertising notability plus for an additional yearly fee. Since I was satisfied with the version I had already purchased, I elected to not start paying an extra $15/year just to continue taking my notes. Unfortunately, they are clearly desperate for subscribers because they have begun gradually removing all of the features that I love and were included in the original price. I am no longer able to do basic things such as select my own colors. Today I got a message that I have “reached my use capacity” and can’t even continue using the app to take notes for school for another 2 weeks. This is super frustrating since I’ve been using it with all of these features over the past 5 years and have recommended the app to several people. Please save your money and give your business to another app such as Goodnotes..Kylie1551Version: 12.1.12

Needs more organizational abilityI have seen several other complaints about notability needing better organization, so it is upsetting knowing that nothing has been done to address this issue. There needs to be some kind of additional their of organization that allows you to either 1) put the dividers into a folder. For instance, all my dividers have a bunch of subjects in them, and when i am done with this semester, I would like to be able to put those dividers into one large folder that says “fall 2020.” Or, 2) you could keep the dividers/subjects, but add another teir underneath subjects where you could subdivide specific lessons. All in all, the divider and subjects organization that is in place is too simplistic. I cannot recommend this app to someone who is doing most (potentially all) their school work on it. It just doesn’t have enough organization. Another issue is when you go to send a file to notability, it brings up a ton of subjects, all the subjects you have ever created. If you are using the subjects tab for weekly modules like I do, it gets very annoying to find the correct subject as I have around 50 (and i have only been using it for one semester). This app is nice to take notes in, but not long term. It has worked well for a single semester, but I do not know how I will be able to continue adding files with such a simplistic organization style..Jfletcher2020Version: 10.1.5

Do not buy - Orwellian DoublespeakSo Notability is now “free” but you’ll have to buy a subscription to continue to enjoy the basic features (cloud storage, unlimited editing of your notes) previously included in your purchase. Oh, and they didn’t opt for this subscription model to maximize profit but to give more people access to this hobbled trial version. As if they couldn’t offer a hobbled trial version without moving to a subscription model. Come on Colin Gilboy. This pretense that it’s now free is insulting. I’ve used and recommended Notability practically since it’s inception. And I’m an educator who won’t be personally impacted by this move, at least until you decide students and educators can be squeezed along with the rest of your users. But no more. I will never again recommend Notability to my students or colleagues. Instead, I will go out of my way to tell anyone and everyone AVOID BUYING ANYTHING FROM GINGER LABS. What get’s me heated is not the change in model but the pretense that you’re making the app “free” when in fact you’re eliminating (setting an expiration date on) functionality for which I’ve already paid. If you need a subscription model to adapt/grow, then own up to it. Don’t insult your customers by pretending you’re not doing what you’re obviously doing. There’s nothing “free” about charging customers a monthly fee to retain functionality they’ve already purchased..Pargiter6Version: 11.0.1

New update is horrible… so horrible that I am considering going to GoodnotesI have been an avid notability user for many years now. It has gotten me through all of high school and my first year of college. However, my notability has just updated and I hate being on this app now. WHY did you feel the need to delete favorites bar?!?! It was easy AND convenient. Now I have to search through all of the colors and pen sizes to get the perfect pen. Not only that but the new pencil you added is DISGUSTINGGG. I get people wanna sketch but come on… this is notability. People use this app for school work. Trust me when I say, no one wanted a pencil feature. Another feature that I loved that is gone, is the zoom mode button. Before, it was so easily accessible. I could just press a button and boom zoom mode activated. Now I have to go through A BILLION steps to activate it and then ANOTHER billion steps to turn it off. It’s just so wild to me how Notability creators can take such a beautiful app and turn it into something so god d*** ugly. The new font is really ugly too. Never would I imagine myself writing a one star review for my used-to-be favorite app. Notability creators, I beg you please go back to the old notability. This new update is not usable anymore and I am so upset. It breaks my heart that I have to transfer to goodnotes. Notability, I can’t believe you. One star for me..NotabilityhateryousuckVersion: 14.2

Giving upI've used Notability for years, but have finally given up. Overall, it's a good App, but still lacks a lot of functionality that other note apps have. However, Notability continues to have issues regarding saving notes and working with iCloud. Last week, I lost over 100 notes and all my notebooks (36) have been lost. I have followed all the instructions online to try and recover, but with no luck. I know they are there in iCloud as the Notability app has not changed regarding memory usage. For some reason, those notes and notebooks are lost. Notability has a serious issue of linking with iCloud. So many times my notes had to be downloaded to my iPad every time I opened Notability. Every time before I boarded a plane, I made sure my notes where downloaded. I can't tell you how many times I have download partial notes because I didn't have time to download the remaining before boarding. In the end, Notability blames iCloud, but not another single app that I use linked to iCloud has this problem. So, I'm done with Notability. I HIGHLY recommend that if you do use this app to make sure you backup to another cloud service (Dropbox, Google, etc.). Good App, but I have lost all faith in this App going forward. More importantly, I need the confidence that my note App will function at all times. Notability failed that important test..Richshar1Version: 10.4.5

I paid for this app and for its features which is now subscription basedWhat? I literally paid for this note taking app, I’m glad it’s free now but where’s the features I bought? iCloud sync is now a monthly subscription feature? I’m so confused and extremely disappointed..Aayush29Version: 11.0

Subscription unfair to current customersDO NOT UPDATE if you still wanna have customized pen colours and many other features for your notes in the future. This new version is only allow existing users to enjoy the app until November 1, 2022. Afterwards, you can chose to downgrade to free version (no auto-backup/iCloud backup/customized pen colours and so on….) or pay 14.99 per year..BinarystaranVersion: 11.0

Why freemiumBought this app a couple years ago so I wouldn’t have to pay annual and now they’re changing it, you should have given all old users the subscription forever and start charging new customers annually. Not happy, choose a different note taking app over this. This is one of my first reviews on here because it’s so scummy to change payment models like that..LazyjhVersion: 11.0

Don’t buy thisThey are charging you a subscription fee for something you already own..Oppel174Version: 11.0

Used to work very well.None of the customizable fonts and sizes have worked for me since the past few updates on my SE. I’m stuck with one style of font and size. Until it’s fixed, it’s really just the Notes app that’s already on your phone with a price tag slapped on it. It’s a five star app otherwise, but I don’t even wanna use it until this is fixed..Bbbbennie99Version: 7.0.1

False advertisingSubscription model is taking away functions users previously paid for.Number one One Piece LoverVersion: 11.0.1

Too bad for existing usersThey betrayed all the users who supported them in the past years. I won’t use it any more. Greedy company!.VkbssVersion: 11.0.1

Battery drain issue!Please fix the battery drain issue asap! This happened since the update of IPadOS. The battery just drains 20% within an hour use!.Molson1132Version: 9.1.4

DisappointingCan’t believe they turned it into a subscription service. Why would you pay more for this app while the other one is just as good plus it’s cheaper? GoodNotes didn’t cheat their users like notability..NappybdvsnsVersion: 11.0.1

Subscription? Really?I have been an avid Notability user…will no longer be supporting Ginger Labs! Not impressed! Greedy and unethical developer!! Trying to harvest payments from current users. You cannot downgrade my current version and remove features that I have already PAID FOR!! Are you following Apple’s guidelines (3.1.2a). Plus your app isn’t THAT great or different from other apps out there. Shame on you!!! Good-bye Notability!!.CiapkaVersion: 11.0.1

Bait and SwitchThe developers of this app are literal scum. They create an app that they charge up front for and then decide arbitrarily that they are going to void that (whilst keeping your money) and change to subscription based platform. DO NOT BUY. You have been warned..LinearContinuumVersion: 11.0.1

No grandfathering?Paid for the app. Liked it pretty well but now I'm going to lose features that I've already paid for? That's a clear violation of Apple guidelines. Time to move on. Subscription overload..DaeusVersion: 11.0.1

Another app falling to the subscription modelAdios..ABritishMelonVersion: 11.0

Why？Let my money back, trash company.Zero616616Version: 11.0.1

Subscription? No thanks.So disappointed that Notability has become a subscription app without grandfathering in a plan for the users who actually purchased the app (and possibly add-ons too) the way other apps have done. It almost feels fraudulent to have services you paid for in good faith taken away. Went from a 5 star app to a 1 star for me. I don’t do subscriptions, so guess I’ll be switching to Goodnotes..JennLynn1Version: 11.0.1

Themes are not free...Why though?,why so greedy?! I just don’t understand why charging for something when u already sold the app, is not that I’m having a trial!!!!.The victim 00Version: 9.0.6

Removed edit option, are you kidding me??Updated notability and found out they removed “unlimited” editing unless I upgrade for $16/year. Absolutely unacceptable, I use this app for vet school…not anymore, currently trying to find a way to switch everything to GoodNotes. Seriously, anyone who is even considering using this app, just don’t. P.S. Thanks Notability for implementing this “feature” 3 days before my midterms starts…..C_T223Version: 14.2.6

New update is unusableThey recently did I big update to the system and the whole app has become unusable and there seems to be little attempt to fix it. I am repeatedly un-able to open the pen tool after switching to a different tool, which has led to me missing a lot of important information from my lectures because I am unable to write and have to spend time trying to fix it. There are plenty of other bugs in the new update that need to be addressed. Really annoyed I am paying for this after they took a well functioning app and broke it. I am going to need to now switch systems even though all my notes are on this platform because I can no longer use it in my lectures.Duncan1345Version: 14.2.6

BuggyMy highlights will not straighten for most documents and it is so annoying. I don’t know what happened but before the highlight would automatically straighten. This is extremely frustrating. They need to fix it immediately..D1EVASVersion: 11.7

Hear me outTo potential notability users: GoodNotes just went free this week BUT retained the same pricing just like before ($11), as a one-off in app purchase now rather than an upfront payment. Existing users are of course not affected. AND it continues to allow family sharing. Definitely give that a go if you haven’t already made up your mind. Don’t fall prey to notability’s $15.5 yearly subscription model or listen to their crap about not supporting family sharing for whatever reason. If audio recording is a must, head over to Collanote instead. It’s completely free and works well. Now I’m actually glad notability went subscription to push people to discover other apps that undergo more conscionable transition to not jeopardize customer relationships. I feel sorry for the people stuck with this once-epic note taking app by a greedy company.Atlantic scotianVersion: 11.0.17

Good job freemiumThat’s why Good notes are on sale now.YuankamiVersion: 11.0.2

Variable Palm Detection is Extremely AnnoyingLook, I like this app. The organizational features and the ability to back-up to google drive is a lifesaver. However, one thing that I absolutely HATE is the broken palm detection. Essentially, every now and then, I’ll be writing a sentence and randomly drawn, straight lines will appear on the screen. I’d go back and worth with the native notes app to ensure it wasn’t just the iPad that was acting up (which it wasn’t). I also tried lifting my palm off the screen while I was writing, to see if it would fix the issue (which it did, but it is completely impractical to write that way). All-in-all, I like this app when it’s NOT jittery and writes the way it’s supposed to, would definitely give 5 stars but this is just the worst..BruhpleasefixVersion: 10.3.2

Really bad decision for the subscription policyWas a normal application with many bugs, for example night mode switch overnight, however the violate of the “single time purchase” is just pure scam, not recommended at all, good notes is on 50% off, don’t miss it.MedicAgVersion: 11.0.1

U r cheating on all of your royalty customersStop cheating! Do right thing!!.WjxycbfjdkkfVersion: 11.0.1

BugsA lot of people hated the new update but I thought it was fine. What I’m NOT fine with is the bugs that came with the update. Frequently, when I use some other pen/tool (other than the main one) and then try to switch back to the main pen, it just doesn’t work (like the button is broken). When I try to press it it just either writes behind the button or asks me if i want to paste clipboard?? I didn’t think I would have to write a review because I figured it would have been fixed in two updates or so but the issue still persists. For a paid app thats been around so long I expected better.111homell111Version: 14.2.5

Update makes no sense?I paid for this app years ago and this new update is making me subscribe to the premium membership to have iCloud sync and all the other features I thought I already paid for?? Ridiculous.InstagramreviewsVersion: 14.1

V14 ruined itNotability went from best to worst overnight: v14. They removed the good features such as the favourites toolbar, made a floating toolbar and very clunky “modern” ui..BN750Version: 14.4.1

App was greatBefore they updated the interface. Please return the option for a favourites bar, with all the different tools I can choose to put there. The new toolbar is inconvenient and clunky. At least, give people the option to choose between old and new styles of interface..Arthur IvanchenkoVersion: 14.2.4

WORST UPDATE EVERSince the update, this app has changed drastically. I downloaded and even paid for an annual subscription because I often use the Split View feature for school which I think is great especially with note taking from PowerPoints. This app is so frustrating that I would rather write on paper again. I wish I can get a refund for this. I do not care for aesthetics as this used to be the most functional and practical app for note-taking and honestly loved it so much in the beginning. My biggest frustration since the update is how OFTEN my screen freezes especially on Split View and I know this is from the update because it was not happening before the update. It was FLAWLESS like why do they have to update the app?? I am writing this in class right now because I cannot keep up with my notes since the app keeps freezing. I am so frustrated. I unfortunately have a semester and a half worth of notes in here and I will have to transfer all of them to a different app. So disappointing. FIX IT. Also the toolbar SUCKSSSSS. Why ruin a perfectly functional APP?! WHY?!.Iaa.iaeaVersion: 14.1

Lost access to all featuresI purchased Notability back in 2019 (in fact I purchased it twice back when you had to pay for the iOS and Mac apps separately) and I was granted the full Classic plan when the company switched to a subscription model. As of last week, I am unable to use the features of the app as I have suddenly been downgraded to the free tier plan without notice or explanation. I’ve contacted Notability support all they’ve provided me is a regurgitation of the same troubleshooting steps posted on their site for general subscription issues along with an assurance that this is a “known issue”. Here I am, a paying customer, unable to use the app I’ve purchased during a crucial time in my studies. This is unacceptable..Cabdi97Version: 12.1.12

FraudI just paid for the app, and now you said that I should pay monthly after a year! This is a total fraud! You never mentioned we need to pay monthly!.Howard H LiaoVersion: 11.0.1

ScamPaid a stupid amount of money to unlock the full app for a “lifetime” only to have to pay a subscription after one year. Do not buy.Dd5509Version: 11.0.1

GREEDY SCAMPaid for lifetime services. Not even after one year, the app is now “free” and forces us, the loyal customers who paid for the full service, to switch to a subscription plan just to keep the same functionalities THAT WE PAID FOR. Such a greedy company. Will switch to other apps..VeggieslgVersion: 11.0.1

Stole my moneyI purchased this app full price. Now, they have literally taken it away from me and I was forced into a subscription model. This is against Apple’s TOS - Section 3.1.2(a), but they don’t seem to care..Dcoutinho15Version: 11.0.1

The new subscription based model is a scam!Notability is cheating loyal customers by forcing us to use the new subscription model!! Report their scam to Apple so actions can be taken against them!.Eric Hua SBVersion: 11.0.1

Awful Business practiceWith the recent announcement of switching to a subscription based app, this app has just lost all credibility. I paid full price for this all to access its features and software fully. A one time payment plain and simple. You can guarantee that I will not continue with a subscription. Off to look for a new note taking up!.2vpblazeVersion: 11.0.1

Good app, but ARE YOU SERIOUS?😡😡I can’t believe this is happening, I paid for this app already and now I have to subscribe it just because you made it free now????? It doesn’t even make sense, I bought this app already you can’t start charging me just because you made it free now😡😡😡.YuxuanCheungVersion: 11.0.1

Subscription for users who paid the full price?So ginger lab decided to switch to a subscription based model? So every existing user who paid the full price for a lifetime access to basic features of this app will be blocked behind a paywall? How can you take away features when I paid 14$CAD for this app? This is probably the worst move ginger lab could’ve made. This is also a breach of apple’s guideline..User35739Version: 11.0

The dev double dipsWhy am I paying for text to speech and stickers and math Functionability when I already purchased the app. STOP DOUBLE DIPPING Don’t buy this one note is free and far superior.1126dichezVersion: 10.5.1

This useTo be a fantastic app. Now I'm using Apple Books as it allows me to work and listen to an audiobook or music. The Notability app has a negative effect on all audio..YhbgtrfvVersion: 10.4.4

Used to Work Great but now it just crashes constantlyCan’t get this app to stop crashing. I can’t believe I paid so much for this for it to stop working on me..Z SilvaVersion: 10.3.5

AwfulI can’t believe I paid for this app, I thought it would be better than Microsoft one note because of how heavily marketed it is by other students on YouTube etc. The notes crash all the time, and PDFs go blank so my writing is there but the PDF is gone. And the online version is different and you have to pay and half the time the notes don’t even sync..What whateversjdVersion: 10.3.5

DisappointingThe longer I use the app the more bugs I come across. Not a user friendly app..Yo yo waz up dowgVersion: 10.3.3

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