Goodnotes Reviews & Product Details

The ease of use and the real paper simulation

I use it for note-taking, writing books, my kids drawing, wireframing...almost anything that requires a paper and a pen Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I almost like everything about it that's why I use it since 2016 till 2021 Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Good notes is simple in its design. The functions are easy to understand. The UI is pleasing to the eye. What I like the most is

The touch of handwriting experience. No amount of typography beats this.

Gives the flexibility to choose the page layout.

The easy storage and use of it in other places.

I love that the app is available for both mac and ipad, giving the flexibility for users. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Allow new users to experience the app for a day/2 before purchasing. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Everything, this app is my go to for reading pdfs, doing homework, taking notes, making presentations, making templates and more. This is one of the best apps I ever came across that gave me a reason to pick up my iPad, quit using wasteful paper, and go into full digital note taking mode. The directions to using this app are fairly straightforward and easy to follow. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I did not like that they removed some features that they used to have in goodnotes 4 such as the tool bar being in the movable expanding window tab when using the zoomed up feature. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Accessibility across most apple products and the Apple Pencil compatibility. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I wish that it were more template friendly for user-made templates. Additionally, I wish that there were more color options available than 3. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Goodnotes gives me the ability to write on my iPad using my stylus. So I can write in 'notebooks' and fill them up with pages of my handwritten stuff. I can even draw basic shapes. I can also do that with PDFs -- these could be any sort of PDF documents, and I can highlight text, annotate text. It is brilliant! I can add 'stickers' which are basically png images of stuff, and write on those stickers, to make my annotations look even special.

I also use it for digital planning and project planning. I like to track what I did during my day, and plan out my week. I also like to journal my thoughts during the day. It is a form of Digital Bullet Journaling, if I may say so. And Goodnotes is a great place to do that -- I buy a "digital planner" from Etsy, and I use it in Goodnotes.

Another brilliant feature is that it recognizes my handwriting and can convert my handwritten text into typed text. It really is such a helpful feature, especially if you want to email out your notes to someone, and don't want to type out all those handwritten notes.

I also like that they have an app for my iPhone and Mac and that I can easily sync between them to see my stuff on either of my devices. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

When you have more than one file open, you can see them in the tabs. And you can close them too. Except for the one last file. There's no way to close that file. It frustrates me.

Another thing that ought to be there, but isn't, is the ability to layer stuff. Say, for example, I write something and then I want to put the image of a sticky note behind that text, I can't do that. Typically, you'd do something like "send to back" or "bring to front" to arrange your layers. But not in this app. Here, you need to put in the image first, and then type stuff over it, and that's that. You can't adjust the sequence of layers.

And that then carries over onto another frustrating part. I can select and move text -- except when it is on one such image. In that case, I will have to move the entire image! Sigh! Why can't I just select which layers I want to move or copy? I would love to see these feature requests show up in the app -- it would really make my life easier, writing in this app. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I love the best is that it can convert handwriting to text! You can create your presentations as you go...easy to import images and clipart, drag and drop, annotate in PDF and create hyperlinks, customize text, and share. Very convenient for a busy life. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It doesn't have stickers or does any math conversions. Just work with apple, so very inconvenient sometimes if you have windows at work! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It helps me stay organized by consolidating all my notes onto one digital platform. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I wish I could export only select pages of notebooks. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There are a lot of options to customize notes, including a large set of tools. Ability to have presentation worthy notes without reworking them. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Honestly, it would only be the cost, but it is reasonable for a notes app with this high level of creativity options. Everyone likes free apps :) Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

You can keep all you notebooks just in on place, with easy access on laptop, tablet and even in your phone. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There's nothing I dislike about GoodNotes! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Simple organization and light customization. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I would like a better web viewer, especially one that's more interactive. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.