Best note-taking apps of 2022 | TechRadar

1. Microsoft 365 - Best all-rounder · 2. Evernote - Best app dedicated to note-taking · 3. Ulysses - Best for iOS users · 4. Simplenote - Best user ... Skiptomaincontent TechRadarITInsightsforBusiness Search Subscribe RSS AsiaIndiaSingaporeMiddleEastAfricaSouthAfricaEuropeDanmarkSuomiNorgeSverigeUKItaliaNederlandBelgië(Nederlands)FranceDeutschlandEspañaNorthAmericaUS(English)CanadaUS(Español)AustralasiaAustraliaNewZealand TechnologyMagazinesTechnologyMagazinesWhysubscribe?Thebesttechtutorialsandin-depthreviewsTryasingleissueorsaveonasubscriptionIssuesdeliveredstraighttoyourdoorordeviceFrom$7.15View News Reviews Security Websites VPN Insights Resources Business More Huawei Windows11forbusiness Besthybridworkingtech MicrosoftTeamsupdates LatestMobilenews Office2021 TechRadarissupportedbyitsaudience.Whenyoupurchasethroughlinksonoursite,wemayearnanaffiliatecommission.Learnmore PRICE VERDICT REASONSTOBUY REASONSTOAVOID VERDICT REASONSTOBUY REASONSTOAVOID (Imagecredit:Pixabay) Jumpto: Bestnote-takingapps:Howdidwechoose? 1.Microsoft365-Bestall-rounder 2.Evernote-Bestappdedicatedtonote-taking 3.Ulysses-BestforiOSusers 4.Simplenote-Bestuserinterface 5.Bear-Bestlookingnote-takingapp 6.DropboxPaper-Bestforcollaboration 7.GoogleKeep-Bestforsimplicity 8.Atom-Bestforcross-platformusers Thebestnote-takingappsmakeiteasytotakenotesonthego,whetherforinspiration,ideas,businessinsights,orevenreminders.Note-takingappshavebecomeincreasinglycommon,notleastwiththewideavailabilityofmobiledevices,notleastsmartphones.Thismeansmobileappsfortakingnotesnowallowyoutowritewhereveryouare,andtherearealargerangeofappsavailable.Itdoesn'tmatterifyou'reanengineeronacall,asecretarytakingminutes,orsimplyinspiredbyanideawhilecommuting-theabilitytotakenotesonamobiledevicecanbearealbenefit.However,whiletherearebasicsoftwareappsfortakingnotes,sometimesbundledforfreewithmobiledevices,thesecanbequitelimitedtosimplyallowingtyped-intexttobeused.Thesedaysmuchmorefeature-packednote-takingappsarenowavailable.Thesemoreadvancedappscanworkinmultipleforms,fromtryingtoreplicatethewordprocessingexperience,toimitatingblanknotepadsindigitalformandsoallowforhandwritingandsketching.Additionally,somenoteappsalsoincludetheabilitytoaddimages,audio,evenvideo,toyournotes,andevensharethesedirectlywithcolleaguesandworkingteams.Herewe'lllookatthebestinnote-takingappscurrentlyavailable.Bestnote-takingapps:Howdidwechoose?Therearenowaplethoraofnote-takingtoolsavailabletousers-whethertheyneedtokeeptrackofimportantworktasksorsimplyneedtojotdowntheirshoppinglist.Withsmartphonesnowubiquitous,individualsexpecttohaveaccesstoanote-takingappthatissuitablefortheirneeds.Withthatinmind,we’veassessedseveralappsforeaseofuse,features,aesthetics,andanumberofotherfactors.Whatworksforonetypeofusermaynotnecessarilybesuitableforanother,butthisreviewwillletyouknowthebestnote-takingappwhetheryouneedsomethingsimpleorthelatestfeatures. 1.Microsoft365-Bestall-rounder(Imagecredit:Microsoft)1.Microsoft365ThebestnotetakingandmobileofficeplatformTODAY'SBESTDEALSVISITSITEReasonstobuy+Fullsuiteofapps+Cloud-basedforaccessibility+Mobilefriendly+SynctoPC+CollaborationMicrosoftOfficehascomealongway,frombeingachunkysoftwareplatformforyourPC,tothenewMicrosoft365cloud-basedappwhichissleekandaccessibleforAndroidandiOSmobiledevices.WhilemostpeoplemightthinkofMicrosoftOneNoteorStickyNotesasthebasicnote-takingapp,whysettleforabasicappwhenyoucanhavethefullpoweroftheentireMicrosoftOfficesuiteonyourphoneortablet?ThatmeanshavingaccesstoWordforstarters,whichiseasilythemostimportantdocumentsoftwareavailable,andmuchmoreflexibleandmanageableasaformatwhenitcomestonote-takingthanmorebasicapps.Forastart,youwon'tneedtoworryaboutimportingyournotesintoWord-whichiswhatmostpeoplearegoingtoneedtodo-andtherearealsotheadvantagesofbeingabletosyncdocumentswithyourPCaswellasworkcollaborativelywithcolleagues.Perhapsmoreimportantly,itmeansyoucanwriteandeditandsendessentialdocumentsonthegoratherthanhavingtotypeupnotestolaterre-useormine,savingsomuchtime.Andthat'sbeforeweevenmentionExcelforspreadsheets,Powerpointforpresentations,orMicrosoftTeamsforvideoconferencingwhichisnowbuiltintotheplatformasstandard.Overall,Microsoft365isfarmorethanjustanote-takingapp,whichiswhywe'verankeditasthebest.2.Evernote-Bestappdedicatedtonote-taking(Imagecredit:Evernote)2.EvernoteThebestdedicatednote-takingappTODAY'SBESTDEALSVISITSITEReasonstobuy+Freetouse+Goodfunctionality+SavewebpagesforofflineuseReasonstoavoid-Doesn'tintegratewithMicrosoftOfficeNolistofbestnote-takingappsiscompletewithoutEvernote,whichisoneoftheoldestandmostfully-featured.Evernoteletsyoucreatebothsimpleandcomplexworkflowsusingacombinationofnotebooks,notesandtagstokeepeverythingorganized.OneofitsbestfeaturesforgatheringresearchistheWebClipperextension(supportedinChrome,FirefoxandSafari),whichletsyousaveentirewebpages-includingtext,imagesandPDFs-withasingleclick.Notescanbeaccessedonlaptops,mobiledevicesandtheweb,soyou'rerarelyleftwithasituationwhereyoucan'tretrievewhatyou'vesaved.Otherfeaturesincludetheabilitytosetreminders,presentnotesPowerPoint-style,andmergethemtogether.RecentadditionsincludenewtablesandaSiriintegrationforthoseusingtheiOSedition. Whilethere'safreeplanwithsomelimitedfeatures,therearealsotwopaidplans,theEvernotePremiumplanforindividualusers,andtheEvernoteBusinessplanforbusiness. TheEvernotePremiumplanallowsforintegrationswithSlack,Outlook,GoogleDrive,MicrosoftTeams,andSalesforce,aswellasprovidesanAIforcontentsuggestionssuchassimilarcontentinothernotesyou'vemade,aswellascontentinfofrommediasites. TheEvernoteBusinessplanincludestheabovebutalsocomeswithcollaborativeoptionsandteamadministrativefeatures.3.Ulysses-BestforiOSusers(Imagecredit:Ulysses)3.UlyssesThebestiOSnote-takingappTODAY'SBESTDEALSVISITSITEReasonstobuy+Gooddocumentmanagements+SyncbetweendevicesReasonstoavoid-iOSonly-NotfreeUlysseshasbeenaroundforawhilenow,andit'soneofthemostpolishednote-takingappsonApple'scomputingplatform.(Onethat'sperfectlyequippedforlong-formwriting,too.)Notesarewrittenandstoredintheapp'sproprietaryMarkdownstyle,whichallowsforinventive(andcolorful)useofheadings. Addedtothat,imagescanbeembeddedintheformoflinkswithindocuments;ratherthandisplayingtheminthebodytext,youcandoubleclickthelinkstopreviewimagethumbnails.Ulyssesalsopositionsimagesinasidebarthatcanalsodisplayawordcount,mininotesandotherinformationataglance.UlyssesusesiCloudtosaveandsyncyourdocuments,andthesecanbeexportedtoanumberofotherformats,includingPDF.Word.doc,ebooks,andHTML.Alltheseextrafeaturescomeapricetag,withmonthlyorannualsubscriptionsavailable.4.Simplenote-Bestuserinterface(Imagecredit:Simplenote)4.SimplenoteThesimplestwaytokeepnotesTODAY'SBESTDEALSVISITSITEReasonstobuy+Freetouse+Cross-platform+SyncandbackupacrossdevicesReasonstoavoid-TextonlySimplenote’ssellingpointisitsclear,simpleuserinterface,makingiteasytokeeptrackofnotes.ItisavailableforiOS,Android,Mac,WindowsandLinux,withdatasyncedautomatically.There’salsoawebappifaclientcan’tbedownloaded.Taggingandsearchtoolsensureuserscanfindwhatthey’relookingforandnotescanbesharedorpublishedtoothersworkinginthesameteamoronaproject.Simplenotebacksuppreviousversionsofdocumentssoit’salwayspossibletoreverttoanearlierone.Simplenotedoesn’thavemanyadvancedfeatures,butisanidealcandidateforsimplenotetaking.Andbest,ofall,it’sfree.5.Bear-Bestlookingnote-takingapp(Imagecredit:Bear)5.BearElegantwritingandnotetakingTODAY'SBESTDEALSVISITSITEReasonstobuy+AdvancedMarkupEditor +Cross-linknotes+Free,withcheappro-versionavailableReasonstoavoid-iOSonlyArelativenewcomertothenote-takingappscene,Bearliessomewherein-betweenEvernoteandUlysses,allowingyoutocreatenotesandsyncthemacrossvariousAppledevicesusingiCloud.UsingaSlack-likethree-paneinterface,youcanarrangenotesbyapplyinghashtags,whichallowsasubfolderstylesystem.BearusesrichMarkdownforediting,soyoucaninsertlinksintodocumentswithouthavingtodisplaythefullURLsinasimilarmannertoUlysses.However,Bear,whichisprettyeasyontheeye,andoneofthefewpolishedMarkdownappsthatallowyoutoinsertimagesdirectlyintonotes,whichcouldmakeitafarmorevaluableappoverallifimagesareabigpartofyourworkflow.LatestfeaturesincludeTagautocomplete,lightanddarkthemes,annotationofPDFs,encryptionandapplock.MostofBear’sfeaturesarefreetouseonanyiOSdevice,butthereisapaid-forpro-versionwithadditionalthemes,exportoptions,whichareavailablewithasmallmonthlyorannualsubscription.6.DropboxPaper-Bestforcollaboration(Imagecredit:Dropbox)6.DropboxPaperAcollaborativeworkspaceTODAY'SBESTDEALSVISITSITEReasonstobuy+Freetouse+Collaborativeworking+IntegrationsavailableDropboxPaperlaunchedinAugust2016 andworksacrossthecloudplatform’smobilesuiteforWindows,iOS,andAndroid.WhatseparatesPaperapartisitsfocusoncollaboration,allowingteamstosharetheirideas,imagesandvideosforprojects.ThereareintegrationswithproductivityappssuchasGoogleCalendarandSlackaswellassomemoresurprisingtoolslikeSpotify.Recentadditionsincludeneworganizationtoolssuchastheabilitytocreatemobilefoldersonthegoaswellasimproveddeleteandarchivefeatures.DropboxalsoredesignedthePaperhomepagewhichbringsusersPaperdocsandDropboxfilestogether.Itsenterprisefeaturesmakeitanidealnotetakingappforbusinesses,butitgoeswithoutsayingthatyougetthemostoutofitifyouarealreadyaDropboxcustomer.7.GoogleKeep-Bestforsimplicity(Imagecredit:Google)7.GoogleKeepGoogle'ssecretlittlepadTODAY'SBESTDEALSVISITSITEReasonstobuy+Simpletouse+FreeReasonstoavoid-StandaloneonlyGoogleKeepisthesimplestnote-takingapponourlist,bothvisuallyandhowitoperates.ThinkofKeepasyourplaceforstoringdigitalpost-itnotes,witheachnotedottedaroundtheinterfaceasiftheywerelaidonatableinfrontofyou.Notescanbegivenlabels,pinnedtothetop,givenacolor,pairedwithremindersandcollaboratedoninrealtime.Additionallyitalsooffersspeech-to-textfunctionalitysoyoucandictatenotesonthegoratherthanhavetowrite.There'salsotheabilitytosetupcheckboxesforliststoworkthrough.Overall,though,GoogleKeepismoreminimalthanotherwritingapps,whicheitherworksfororagainstitdependingonyourviewpoint.Ifyouwanttobreakawayfromyouroperatingsystem'snotesapp,butdon'twantallofthefeaturesthatcomewithotherappsonourlist,GoogleKeepisan,ahem,keeper.8.Atom-Bestforcross-platformusers(Imagecredit:Atom)8.AtomAtexteditorwithpossibilitiesTODAY'SBESTDEALSVISITSITEReasonstobuy+Crossplatform+Editmultiplefilesatonce+CollaborativeeditingReasonstoavoid-Notarich-texteditorSomethingofaleft-fieldchoice,Atomisprimarilyanappusedforcoding,butitssheerrangeofcustomizationoptionsmeansthatyoucanmoulditintoausefultexteditortoo.Becauseit'sbasedoncommonwebstandards,youcanhackitsCSSstylesheettocreatejustaboutanyvisualthemeyoucanthinkof.WanttomakeitlookandfeellikeWord2016withaSmoothTypingAnimation-styleeffect?Noproblem. WanttowriteinMarkdownwithasolarizedcolorscheme?ThendownloadtheMarkdownWriterextensionandchoosefromoneofthehundredsofcommunity-generatedthemes.Atomisfarfromperfectasatexteditorduetoitslackofoneortwostandardfeatures-suchasanautomaticgrammarchanger-thathavebeenstandardinothernote-takingappsforyears.Butit'scertainlyoneofthemostinterestingandcapablewhenintherighthands. AspecialnoteaboutAtomisthatit'sacrossplatformeditor,whichmeansit'scompatiblewithWindows,iOS,andevenLinux.Collaborativeeditingmeansmultiplepeoplecaneditthesamefilesusingdifferentoperatingsystems.Othernote-takingappstoconsider Theincreaseduseofmobileappshasseenanexplosioninthenumberofnotetakingandtexteditingapplicationsreleased.Hereareafewmorethatitmightbeworthkeepinganeyeoutfor:ZohoNotebookisanote-takingmobileappwithagoodstackoffeatures.Usersareencouragedtocreateseparatenotebookswithintheapp,eachwithacustomimage.There'sgoodsupportforimagesandrichtext,andit'sabletosyncandbackupacrossmultipledevices.ColorNoteNotepadNotesisanappforAndroiddevices,includingtheAmazonFiretablet.It'sonlyasimpleprogramthatissimilartoStickyNotes,butColorNoteNotepadNotesgetsamentionpreciselybecauseit'soneofthefewnote-takingappsthathavebeensuccessfullyportedtotheAmazonappstore. Milanoteisn'tsomuchofatext-applicationasmuchasapinboardforvisualthinkers.Itallowsamixofimages,blocksoftext,andlists,tobeputtogether,andtherearealsodrawstothesideforholdingpageelementsyouhaven'tusedbutplantodosolater.Althoughnotamobileapp,itisawebappoptimizedformobiledevices,whichprovidescross-platformfunctionality.SquidNotesisanappforAndroidthatsupportshandwritingandsketching,whichcanbeespeciallyusefulforworkingwithtextandimagesmorequicklyandeasily.Therearedifferenttypesof"paper"backgroundsavailable.Youcanalsousedigitalsignaturestoaddtoyourfilesandexporttheminotherformats,suchasPDF.Quipislessofanote-takingappasmuchasacollaborativeword-processingandspreadsheetapplications.It'spitchedespeciallytowardbusinessuse,notleastfordifferentteamstoworktogether,whetherinsales,HR,IT,orprojectmanagement,andispricedperteamoruser. BrianTurner Brianhasover30yearspublishingexperienceasawriterandeditoracrossarangeofcomputingandtechnologytitles,andhasbeeninterviewedmultipletimesforBBCNewsandBBCRadio.HisspecialtyonTechradarisSoftwareasaService(SaaS)applications,coveringeverythingfromofficesuitestoITservicetools.Heisalsoasciencefictionandfantasyauthor,writingasBrianGTurner.