Whether you’re in an important client conference call, video-meeting while on the go, recording your favorite chocolate recipe from the television or making your grocery list, jotting down notes, and bits of information becoming a routine. I believe hardly anyone is relying on handwritten or sticky notes in this era. And this is where note taking apps are becoming more and more popular with time.
Our generation has dozens of note-taking apps to record the abundance of data that is revolving around; these handy apps keep notes of everything – from texts to voice memos – all in your smartphone.
Though the App Store has several fine options, only a few have walked into our list of the top note-taking apps for Mac. We’ve chosen them based on their effectiveness and how well they work. Dive right in along with me to take a close look at ’em!
Simplenote’s biggest selling feature is that it’s completely free, and there are apps for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android, thus neatly spanning the major platforms (you can also access your notes by logging on to Simplenote.com in your browser for good measure). But to dismiss it as a basic note-taking app is to do Simplenote a disservice.
Official native apps are available on popular platforms such as Android, iPhone, iPad, Kindle, OS X, Windows and Linux. Open-source clients extend this support even more widely to various other platforms, such as webOS and the BlackBerry PlayBook. These apps embody the core philosophy of Simplenote: minimalism and focus on the note taking.
Drafts is a launching-off point for text – use the actions to copy it, share it, or deep link into other apps and services. Compose a tweet or message, create a file in Dropbox, send a task off to Reminders – there are hooks into tons of your favorite apps.
The reason is our focus on choosing the best apps for taking notes fast and with minimal effort. Trying to sum up this article in a few words, we would get the following: Unclutter – a neat and handy triple productivity tool with instant note-taking. Ghostnote as the best app for contextual notes. Simplenote is obviously for simplicity lovers.
Note-Taking apps change the way we work. Why?
No matter if you’re a supervisor on a call, taking minutes secretly, or merely making your to-do list while commuting. Having a productivity app in your mobile devices is a real benefit. Whether your note-taking style syncs with minimal design, gesture-based functions, and/or cataloging of various forms of media, chances are there’s a note taking app right for you.
However, there are basic note-taking software apps – some are bundled for free with mobile devices (they can be quite limited to typed-in text). At the same time, there are many more feature-packed (ability to add visuals, audio, video, sharing options) note-taking apps available.
The 10 Best Note-Taking Apps of 2020
With some many note-taking applications, choosing one that caters your need is not easy. I had the same issue when I was looking for a good taking app for my iPhone and Mac. I tested loads of apps before becoming an advocate of one. Here is my review of the ten best note-taking apps that you can use this year, I mean in 2020.
Being a cross-platform note-taking app, Evernote is excellent for processing all your hand-written notes and clipping articles from the web. It is free, but there are certain limitations tied up with the freemium plan. But, if you’re on its paid plan, then you can hold anything – PowerPoints, PDFs, project’s requirements of three different sheets, or else – your professor throws at you. Don’t forget to try one of its fun extras: paste a Google Docs link and let Evernote create a Google Drive icon in-line and change the URL to the name of the respective doc.
The list of best note-taking apps is incomplete without Evernote, thanks to brainchildren behind for surviving for a longer period of time and remained feature-rich. Use Evernote to create both simple and complex workflows by using a combination of notes, notebooks, and tags to keep everything organized. This note-keeper lets you retrieve all your notes on any device from anywhere; if using edition, do try its recent additions – new tables and a Siri integration.
The Evernote Premium plan lets your notes integrate with Outlook, Slack, Google Drive, and Salesforce, also provides AI content suggestions, and as well as content from media sites.
If you use Evernote to save research papers and scan documents as I do, then the 60 MB included in the free plan is more than enough. And if you want to use optical character recognition and have more than two devices to be used with, then you have to go Premium.
2. Ulysses: Best Note-Taking App for Mac, iPhone & iPad
Pros
Great doc. Management
Easy to sync between devices
A fully-featured writing app
Ulysses is relatively a new contender, but one of the finest and the most polished note-taking apps for Apple’s computing platform; it has been built perfectly for long-form writing, too.
Notes in Ulysses is written and stored in the app’s Markdown style, allows for inventive yet colorful use of headings; all your notes will be sorted by date created or modified. Resize enable mac app. It has different views, like an Inbox holding new, yet-to-be-sorted notes; you can create custom filters to sort out notes in each folder, too.
In this note-taking app, images can easily be embedded in the form of links in the documents, rather than traditionally displaying them in the text – double click the links to preview image/s. Scroll through Ulysses’s sidebar to check the images, mini notes, word count, and other information at a glance.
Ulysses saves data in iCloud in all your desired formats – PDF, ebooks, Word doc, and HTML; many book writers write their entire books in Ulysses, thanks to its full-screen Focus mode.
Ulysses is the only app that will handle your entire blogging workflow; write, edit, and format a blog post within Ulysses, and forget to log in to your WordPress dashboard to publish, let Ulysses do all that for you. Photos app mac save location folder.
3. Google Keep – The Most Colorful Note-Taking App
Cons
Only standalone
Google Keep is the most basic, simplest, and a cross-platform note-taking app on our list. It is just like a place to store all your digital post-it notes, each note dotted around the interface as if lying on your writing/working table.
You can label the notes, pinned them to the top, color them, sync them with reminders, and collaborated on in real-time. Following the speech-to-text trend, Keep also offers the functionality so you can dictate notes while on the go rather than writing them.you can also set up checkboxes for lists to work through. This minimalist writing app can be the best or worst option for you, depending on your viewpoint and usability.
Get bored with your operating system’s notes app? Google Keep, ahem, a good note-recorder.
4. OneNote – A Microsoft-friendly Notepad
Pros
Can easily integrate with Microsoft
All basic MS Word features are included
Still free
Freeform
Cons
Not suitable for multiple accounts
Messy Interface
Limited tagging
This free cross-platform give Evernote a run for its huge money, though the interface leaves a few things to be desired. The only difference is the messy interface that lets you put text boxes everywhere on screen. You can draw as well.
Just like Evernote, OneNote lets you sync your notes across various devices. In fact, it plays nicely with the entire Microsoft Office suite.
5. Bear – The Elegant Note-organizer App
Pros
Hybrid Markdown Editor
Cross-link notes
Cheaper plans
Longer archive versions
Another new entrant on the note-taking app, Bear, is somewhere in-between Ulysses and Evernote, letting you create notes and sync them across Apple devices using iCloud. It’s Slack-like three-pane interface lets you arrange notes using hashtags – kind of subfolder style system. Bear uses markdown for editing so that you can insert links into your documents without displaying the full URLs.
Thanks to Bear for being easy on the eye, and availability of Markdown that to insert images directly into your notes, this would be more valuable to you if images are a significant part of your workflow. The latest features are Tag autocomplete, PDF annotation, light and dark themes, encryption, and app lock.
Most of these features are free to use on the iOS devices, but there are paid-for pro-versions too that offer additional themes and export options.
As the name refers, Simplenote is one of the simplest note-taking apps one can find. The core functionality is listing down of ideas, sorting them using tags, and you’re pretty much done for your busy day.
The quick searching functionality lets you find what your desired note/s, without unnecessary delays. The only biggest advantage is its massive cross-platform support, allowing you access your notes from a range of devices as you want at any time.
Simplenote’s selling point is a clear and simple user interface, cross-platform availability, and auto-syncing of notes; there’s a web app too if a client can’t be downloaded. You cannot create checklists or to-do lists and not even set reminders in this so Simple Note-keeper.
7. Squid – Note App for all your Digital Handwritten Notes
Pros
Multiple paper types (e.g., blank, ruled, graph) and sizes
Great for handwritten notes – use stylus or finger
Easy PDF markup
Cons
Not for iOS or Mac
Difficult to sync with other devices
Squid will help you relive the old-fashioned pen and paper time with a touch of modernization, using digital features to enhance your note-taking experience. Being freeform, Squid will let you Just use your finger or stylus to write notes in your own handwriting just like you would do on paper. Similar to Google Keep, all your most recent notes will always be displayed in a card-like interface for easy accessibility.
You’ll find a toolbar option at the top of every note that allows you to customize ink, resize it, duplicate the written content, erase mistakes, zoom in or out, and much more. This note-taking app also allows you to embed PDF files for markup so that you can highlight text and insert new pages if you want
8. Zoho Notebook: A Good Note-Taking App
Pros
Web clipping
Sketch card for hand-written notes
Drag and drop interface
Passcodes and touch IDs
Most note-taking apps support different note types, using a similar method to handle all of them, but it is not the case with Zoho Notebook. It uses different approaches for different note types.
Want a note-taking app to manage all types of notes well, Zoho Notebook is just perfect.
You would love its gorgeous card-based design, Zoho Notebook will make your note-managing, a cakewalk. Don’t confuse with its colorful cards -Blue for Checklist, Yellow for Text, Red for Audio; only a simple glance, and you’ll get to know everything. All the cards have customized functions to manage the notes associated with them simply.
Text card is for to-do lists and capture whiteboards, while the File card makes it possible to add word documents, PDFs, and spreadsheets. To look your notes better, there’s Smart Cards, that automatically formats the saved content in Zoho Notebook. Zoho Notebook also supports multiple gestures, pinch to group notes in a stack, flick to find the note you’re looking for, etc.
All these rich features are completely free.
9. Dropbox Paper: A Fully Collaborative Note-Taking App
Pros
Free to use
Collaborative working
Easy integrations
Dropbox Paper works across the cloud platform’s mobile suite for iOS, Windows, and Android. What stands out paper apart is its collaboration, allowing teams to share ideas, images, and videos for projects – great for businesses. There are integrations, too, with some productivity apps say Google Calendar, Slack, and some others like Spotify.
Recent additions are new organization tools, including the ability to create mobile folders on the go, improved delete and archive features, redesigned homepage to integrate Paper docs and Dropbox files easily. Its enterprise feature is what makes it an ideal note-taking app for businesses; Dropbox users will get the most out of this app.
10. Notion: A Simple & Hybrid Note Organizer App
Pros
Powerful tables
Database-driven note-taking
Hybrid editor
Cons
Free account is a demo
Slight quirks in the editor
Naturally powerful, Notion is more than a note-taking application, a project manager, and a task manager; you can call this an “All-in-one workspace,” slowly making waves and becoming the new norm in the note-taking space.
Just like lego, in Notion, you can add your own blocks and build the space as per your needs; what you want – take notes, a task manager, a project management base for your team – Notion will do everything for you.
To organize your information, Notion has “databases” – table, calendar, list, gallery, or board database to express al sorts of information, allowing you to create anything from a recipe to a table of upcoming tasks. It’s quite smart. Notion app also lets you create new pages and own layouts with no limitations to the structure; find a list of templates and duplicate them into your workspaces. Notion’s desktop is quite popular; their mobile experience is a little slower than traditional applications.
Some other honorable mentions are…
The increased use of mobile apps is witnessing an explosion in the note-taking and text-editing applications; here are a few more options keeping an eye out for:
Notejoy
Joplin
Agenda
BoxNotes
DevonThink
Slab
Million
BoostNote
InkDrop
Keep It
Notable
Trillium
Well…
The best note-taking app depends on what your needs are; we probably heard that our messaging app should be secure, can anyone think of the security of the notes?
You’ll find three types of security approaches in the world of note-keeping
Some handle their data themselves
Some use the infrastructure from other cloud companies – Apple or Dropbox.
Some are outliers, explicitly offering encryption where only YOU have the keys.
Take some notes your way!
The note-taking space is quite interesting, with new yet powerful entrants, use this guide to avoid switching and improve longevity with the app.
While Apple Notes checks off most of the boxes, it may not fit into everyone’s needs. This is where the best Notes app alternatives for Mac come into the play.
Aside from making the task of note-taking pretty straightforward, these third-party apps also double up as a super handy annotation and writing tool. Besides, they allow creating projects in many formats like text, audio, video, and whatnot.
Though the App Store has several fine options, only a few have walked into our list of the top note-taking apps for Mac. We’ve chosen them based on their effectiveness and how well they work. Dive right in along with me to take a close look at ’em!
#1. Evernote
Despite the cut-throat competition, “Evernote” remains one of the most appreciable note-taking apps both for macOS and iOS. The highlight of this app is the wide range of tools that provide more flexibility.
The option to make notes in several formats like video, audio, web clippings, sketch ensure you are able to give your thoughts the right shape. With easy-to-format word processor at your disposal, you can write your thoughts elegantly.
You can create an agenda to be discussed in a meeting, write a quick memo and transfer your Evernote notes to Apple notes.
Often forget to do some important tasks? Make a checklist of all the things you have to do. Besides, you will also create presentations to express your thoughts with the desired impact.
Price: Free Download
#2. Microsoft OneNote
“OneNote” is a complete package. The app lets you capture your ideas in a variety of formats and offer you the needed freedom to keep everything in the perfect sync.
You can tag your notes to find them quickly. Make a list of to-dos and keep track of them so that you are able to do your tasks in time.
The collaboration features works immaculately, allowing you to work with your colleagues. For more security, you will also add an extra shield to your projects to keep them private.
Better still, OneNote for Mac is compatible with a ton of international languages including French, German, Greek, Simplified Chinese, Slovak, Spanish and more. So, a language should never become a roadblock to your note-taking.
Price: Free Download
#3. Notebook
Zoho Corporation is well-known for producing powerful apps. And Notebook does have all the qualities to be highly efficient.
While there is a lot to like in this app, I find “Smart Cards” very adorable. What it basically does is automatically format the contents into specific cards like the recipe, video, and link.
The app provides several predefined note covers to let you design your stories elegantly. If you don’t like the readymade options, you can create a custom cover. Moreover, there is also an option to make public notes using shareable links so that anyone can view them.
With the dark-themed night mode, you will enjoy working till late at night. Plus, the reminders won’t let any of your tasks go out of your notice.
Price: Free Download
#4. Bear
Should you want to have a top-notch writing-cum note-taking app for your Mac, give a close look to Bear. I’ve used this app for long and always found pretty neat.
The best thing about it is the simple interface coupled with the easy-to-use tools. Therefore, you can write amazing stories and give your wildest thoughts the ideal shape.
Bear has a good library of more than a dozen themes that make it a lot easier to design stories. Features like tagging, archiving and adding tasks to notes enable to take control of your stuff. Furthermore, you can export your projects in multiple formats such as HTML, PDF, DOCX, MD, JPG, and EPUB.
Lastly, after a free trial of one week, you will have to upgrade to Bear premium’s $1.49 monthly or $14.99 annually plan.
Price: Free Download
#5. Agenda
If you want to streamline all of your projects and get them ready before the deadline, pick out “Agenda.” One of the notable features of this app is the advanced text editor.
Depending on the specific theme, you can give a befitting look to your notes. It allows you to convert your text into multiple formats like Markdown and HTML. Segregate your files into different categories so that will access them instantly.
The app lets you connect your sticky notes to the events in your personal calendar. As a result, you can plan your meeting perfectly.
Better still, you don’t have to pay any bucks to use all the features of Agenda.
Price: Free Download
#6. Notability
For annotation and crafting rich notes, “Notability” is one of the better options. With a wide range of fonts, sizes, custom colors at your disposal, you can design your stories with complete peace of mind.
You will be able to import PDFs, DOCs, PPTs, images, GIFs to your projects and fine-tune them with more flexibility. Easily convert your stories into PDF to share them with your friends and colleagues.
Make the most of the super handy tools to annotate photos elegantly. Thanks to the automatic iCloud syncing, your tasks automatically sync across your devices.
Additionally, Notability works with multiple cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, and OneDrive.
Price: $9.99 Download
#7. Simplenote
There are very few note apps for Mac that look as familiar as Simplenote. Its user interface is pretty clean, and you hardly have to spend any time to master the tools.
One of my favorite feature of this app is focus mode. Times when you want to write with maximum concentration, this feature comes into play really well.
You can use pins and tags to organize your notes. And with Markdown, you will ideally format your projects. To ensure your eyes don’t burn while working in the night, the app comes with the dark mode.
Price: Free Download
#8. GoodNotes
I have picked out GoodNotes for a couple of main reasons. First, it makes annotating docs really fun. And if you are fond of giving your docs a creative look, this one can be your thing.
You can highlight or strikeout the text in your PDF documents. Easily move, scale and ideally customize the object color. There is also an option to add the bookmarks to your docs.
Courtesy the fast iCloud sync, you will find your notes on all of your devices. You can share your notes with others and also print them. The compatibility with a number of languages like English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese and more make it an evergreen tool.
Price: $7.99 Download
#9. Quip
“Quip” is a lot more than just a simple note app for macOS. To be more precise, this is what you should use to collaborate with your teammates. Thanks to the chat and messaging integration, it helps you work with your colleagues in a fun way.
You can use the app to note down your thoughts faster, create to-do lists, and edit your docs. It also lets you make comprehensive spreadsheets.
Another notable feature of this app is that it allows you to import your address book from several services like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Microsoft Outlook, Google, and iCloud.
You will create insightful charts by using the data from spreadsheets and Salesforce records. The smart slides would not just make your presentation more impressive but also save your time.
Price: Free Download
#10. BoostNote
If you are a developer, “BoostNote” should be your preferred option. The reason why I say it because the app has the support for code syntax highlighting in over a hundred languages such as Javascript, Python, HTML, CSS and more.
This open source markdown editor offers several tools that allow devs to take notes faster. The formatting features have semi-live previews so that you can quickly check your writing.
Besides, the text is automatically formatted as you type, which speeds up your task and also saves plenty of time. That’s not all, BoostNote works offline as well so that you can work anytime and anywhere.
Price: Free Download
Mac Note Taking App That Works With Simplenote Keyboard
Bonus
Unclutter
“Unclutter” is really smart! It’s designed to be a multitasker and lets you organize your clipboard data, files, and notes. If you aren’t able to take control of them, give it a chance to sort out the mess.
You can keep an eye on your clipboard history and manage it with ease. Store all of your files at once place and access them quickly. And yes, make sticky notes to never forget to do essential things.
The easy editing tools allow you to make changes conveniently. Due mainly to the quick search feature, you will instantly find a list. Besides, the app can be set up with Dropbox to sync data across the devices.
Price: $13.99 Download
Mac Note Taking App That Works With Simplenote Free
That’s pretty much it! So, this sums up our roundup of the top note apps for Mac.
What’s your favorite?
Now that you have known our favorite note apps, tell us about the ones that can walk into your personal roundup. We’d really appreciate your collection and the valuable feedback.
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The founder of iGeeksBlog, Dhvanesh, is an Apple aficionado, who cannot stand even a slight innuendo about Apple products. He dons the cap of editor-in-chief to make sure that articles match the quality standard before they are published.
Mac Note Taking App That Works With Simplenote Students