The 7 Best Note-Taking Apps For The iPad in 2023

If you are an avid note-taker, you can tell that if you have an iPad, iPad Pro, or Apple Pencil, that's insufficient to handle your notes. These apps may impact the quality of note-taking. But a wide range of apps are possible, and many do not have the same functionality.

For instance, all the applications have different features including the ability to annotate PDFs, take notes, or save to your google drive on your iPad pro.

Let's see 7 top app notes on the App Store today!

1. Apple Notes - one of the free note taking apps for iPad

Apple Notes is essential to any conversation about note-taking apps. The program is built into all macOS and iOS devices, allowing you to type or write notes manually. Also, it has powerful drawing tools, so adding diagrams and visuals to your notes is simple.

Likewise, the most significant benefit of Apple Notes, besides being free, is its seamless connection with iOS. So, you can quickly move between using your iPads, phone, and Mac to take notes, thanks to iCloud and other Apple products.

Additionally, users can encrypt their notes by setting their iPhone or iPad's password on notes as well. This way Apple ensures that your notes are kept private.

Furthermore, there is an automatic organizing system, which manages your notes in an easily accessible way. Chronological order can be adopted for organizing your notes, such as 'today' and 'yesterday'.

You can also filter your notes into a Smart Folder. You can make rules for data created, date modified, any checklists, attachments, or your locked notes, giving you the upper hand in making and writing your digital notes.

You can even take voice notes with AI while you're on the go, and anything you make is automatically saved to iCloud dropbox. All these amazing features make Apple Notes one of the best notes app for iPad.

2. Simplenote - Free note-taking app

As the name suggests, it is the simplest way to make digital notes. It is one of the most popular free apps of all time. Simplenote is a note-taking utility with a dedicated fan base.

So, if you don't need a lot of bells and whistles on your note-taking program, it is an excellent option. And it's great for taking and organizing text notes but can't be used to save web pages and clippings.

Do add tags to find your notes with ease through instant searching. You can share your to-do list, add instructions, or even publish your notes on the world wide web and share notes.

All of your notes are backed up with every single adjustment, so you can check what you noted the previous week or month. There is no need to sync your notes each time; the notes are synced to all of your devices automatically.

Furthermore, one of the best features of Simplenote is its compatibility with other programs; for example, you can use it in tandem with Scrivener or Notational Velocity, two of my other favorite programs.

Moreover, downloading the app from the App Store for your iPad and creating an account with your email and password couldn't be simpler. Next, once you've logged in, moving around is simple. To facilitate rapid note retrieval, it provides a search bar and a few navigational tabs at the page's top.

Additionally, when you make a new note, it will appear in a list on the left of your homepage, where you may access it whenever you like for reading or editing.

Lastly, since it is a text-only program, it does not permit adding multimedia files such as photos, music, or PDFs. Many individuals can't live without multimedia integration, but if you're content with the very minimum, then I recommend Simplenote.

3. Evernote - Paid

If you take notes frequently and want a powerful tool, go no further than Evernote. In addition to the note-taking features, your account can be synced with your Google calendar for complete scheduling flexibility. Also, the Web Clipper feature of Evernote allows users to save web pages they find attractive and create to-do lists and tasks.

Furthermore, it has handwriting recognition that helps change your handwritten notes or printed notes on paper using your camera. Similarly, you can sync as many devices as your subscription allows.

With Evernote, you can add more than just images to your digital notes. You can include images, files, and to-do lists. Some applications limit what you can copy from the web, however, Evernote’s Web Clipper allows you to save and annotate anything from web pages to pdfs.

All of your most important ideas and notes could be placed in your own personal space. There is no need to organize the notes if you don't want to. Evernote has an extensive searching system, that finds the notes you are looking for by keywords, even if they were part of the images, whiteboard scans, handwriting, or documents.

Evernote is able to work with a number of applications that are used worldwide, for instance, Google Drive, Slack, Outlook, MS Teams, Microsoft office, Zapier, and Gmail. You can easily sync all of your notes to your devices so that they stay with you, even if you’re not connected to the web. Finally, the number of your notes and the number of monthly uploads are also limited by your plan.

4. Notability - Free with paid options

Due to its intuitive design and extensive features, Notability has quickly become one of the most popular iPad note-taking apps. Similarly, traditional notes take on a new dimension with multimedia elements like music and video.

Also, it combines features from numerous other note-taking apps, letting you jot down ideas, keep a journal, and use specialized features like a pen and highlighter. It can also take notes and carry out PDF annotation. It's a valuable bonus for anyone who spends a lot of time per day using and editing PDFs, such as students and professionals.

Additionally, you can use one of the provided templates to jumpstart your project or upload a file of your own to get started immediately. The software can be used with an Apple Pencil, a handy addition.

It has the ability to convert handwriting to text, making it easier to jolt down digital notes. You can even work on two notes at the same time because of its Multi-note support. It has a search engine that is able to scan text and handwritten notes easily, to allow the user to find notes easily.

Unlike most notes app, Notability makes adding files incredibly easy by its Drag-and-drop support for all sorts of files, images, GIFs, and even web pages. Lastly, while the basic plan is a free version, it only allows a few changes to be made to existing notes. You'll need to upgrade to the Plus plan to avail more and better options.

5. GoodNotes - One-time payment

GoodNotes is a text software tool for iPad that can help you organize your thoughts and research before writing your next major piece. Fortunately, it has improved its document search capabilities the most over the years, which would otherwise be a great disadvantage.

GoodNotes takes inspiration from the traditional notepad and features multiple note-taking pages. In that regard, the change from the previous category system to the new one, with its nested folders, is an important improvement.

Moreover, GoodNotes's top-level organization is based on documents. It's where we keep data or jot down urgent notes. As a result, a brand-new addition, the quick note feature lets you write down ideas before transferring them.

Finally, the updated edition of GoodNotes 5 has an improved search function. You can now quickly expand your search beyond the currently open page and even retrace your steps, which was impossible in earlier software versions.

The price is a one-time purchase from the App Store for the full version. GoodNotes 5 app currently has excellent reviews which have placed it at 4.8 stars.

It is available for use on all apple devices such as the iPad, iPhone & Mac.

6. Bear - Paid

The Bear app for iOS devices (Mac, iPad, and iPhone) is feature-rich and free to download and use. You may take notes, organize them with tags and documents, and export them in several formats without paying for the full version.

Bear Pro, available monthly or yearly subscription, adds more robust capabilities like cross-device syncing, enhanced security, and expanded export settings. The Bear app is one of our favorites because of its new aesthetic and intuitive functionality.

There are three primary parts to it. You can access your custom tags in the app's Sidebar (the first section). In the Editor area, you can compose new notes, while the Note List provides a chronological listing of all your notes (with the option to pin a note towards the top).

Finally, the Editor's sleek design is a big plus for us. The top of the screen is blank, and the bottom is your keyboard. In the center, you'll find a neat, scrollable icon menu with instant access to formatting tools, including text style, bulleted lists, link creation, date addition (in several forms), image insertion, and attachment uploading.

7. LiquidText - Great study and research tool!

For a note-taking app, this program allows you to do more than you could imagine! When you open up a PDF or some other document using this note-taking app, you will have the document on one side of the screen and open space on the other for note-taking.

Use your apple pencil to get the most out of this app! As you read your document, you can highlight and mark your text as you would in any other notetaking app.

You can easily connect your notes, ideas, and observations with others and the context can be analyzed with ease. If you wish to find something in another part of the document, you just pinch and it comes together. LiquidText’s unique features allow you to highlight and search results to see a bigger and better picture.

Furthermore, LiquidText helps standardize your content and converts it into pdf and Docx format to make the documents easy to share. LiquidText is compatible with apple devices, such as the iPad and MacOS devices. It is also able to run on Windows 10!