Review of iPad notetaking app: Notably

(Also see my reviews of other writing and note-taking apps for the iPad.)

Basic info:

Notably (iTunes link) (Website link) (Twitter: @ThinkNotably)

Version 1.0.0 released Apr. 01, 2010 (new version is waiting for approval)

Developer: Derek Lyons

Size: 4.5 MB

Price today: $2.99

In my continuing obsession with note-taking apps for the iPad, I was intrigued by the interface for Notably. The basic layout is very similar to other note taking apps I've tried so far, but the user interface is markedly nicer. I'll be posting an overview comparison of all the notetaking apps eventually, but here are some comments specific to Notably.

Things I liked about this app:

I like the fact that the first line of a note is automatically assumed to be the title of the note.

REALLY like the fact that the list of documents (seen when the iPad is in landscape mode) includes an excerpt in smaller text and a timestamp.

Over a dozen choices of font faces.

Changing the size of font is straightforward and similar to e-book font size controls.

You can e-mail the text of your note directly from the edit page.

You can search your notes.

Easy to delete documents: just swipe to the left.

Click to view large

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What I wasn't so crazy about:

You can't rearrange the order of documents in the list.

Feature wishlist:

Wish that I could add formatting, like bold and italics.

Wish that I could organize documents in folders.

Other file sharing options.

According to the developer's blog, new features include a new options menu that will be especially helpful for writers who regularly use a Bluetooth keyboard (ooo, looking forward to that) and workspace persistence (app returns you to the note you were working on last). The developer is also working on a folder system (yay!).

Summary:

A good first version of a notetaking app. I'm going to keep this on my iPad for now and use it for one writing project, but the lack of list re-ordering and folders means I wouldn't use this for multiple projects. Looking forward to seeing what future versions bring.



Comments

[Melvyn]

Do you know of a note taking app that supports proper bulleting and numbering of lists within a note? I'd also like to have nested lists but again, I'm not looking for a list app, I want these within my notes which could have large blocks of text but occasional bulleted lists within them.