In Summary
- The need to write down your thoughts or ideas can occur anytime.
- When this happens, using your smartphone to note down the thoughts, ideas, or anything else you feel like is a good idea since it gives you the ability to create, access, and modify all your notes in one place.
- On iPhone, you can do this using the built-in Notes app. However, it isn’t meant for everyone. Hence, the need for third-party note-taking apps.
In a world where countless thoughts pass through our minds every second, writing down some of the most important ones can be beneficial. Although some people prefer to use a pen and paper to note down things the old way, note-taking apps have become the way to go for most people nowadays for the convenience they offer.
Depending on the device and the platform you’re using, you can find a notes app based on your needs. If you use an iPhone, there’s an array of note-taking apps available on the App Store that can help you to take better notes on your iPhone.
However, since choosing the right note-taking app from such a wide range of options can be time-consuming, we’ve curated a list of some of the best notes apps for iPhone or iPad to save you the trouble.
1. Evernote
Evernote is one of the most popular note-taking apps for the iPhone. It offers a ton of features and is an ideal choice for those who want better control over their notes and their management.
Evernote syncs your notes across all your devices, so you can access it from any device anywhere.
Apart from notes, Evernote also allows you to set reminders, create to-dos, and attach documents, photos, videos, webpages, and more. And for times when you feel more creative, it also gives you the option to sketch or take handwritten notes.
Features
- Cross-platform syncing
- Document scanning
- Passcode protection
- Set reminders
- Clip and highlight articles
- Plan and collaborate
Free, Offers in-app purchase
Download Evernote
2. Bear
Bear is a flexible writing app that can be used by anyone, from a blogger to a coder. It offers a variety of themes and typography, with emphasis on making note-taking a beautiful experience on your iPhone. And the best part is it supports markdown, so you can write faster and stylize text on the fly.
Bear offers different editing tools and exports options to help you create/edit and share notes anywhere. The export options present on the free version of the app include HTML, PDF, DOCX, MD, JPG, and EPUB.
One of the best things about Bear is that you can hide all the tools to get a clean slate where you can write without getting distracted. Similarly, there’s also support for Siri and iOS Shortcuts, which lets you create new notes using voice.
Features
- One-tap formatting with a custom shortcut bar
- Markdown support
- Create notes with Siri and Shortcuts
- Encrypt notes
- Lock notes with biometric
- Quick organisation using tags
- Cross-platform syncing
- Multiple export options
- Clip web pages, images, files, etc., with Bear’s app extension
Free, Offers in-app purchase
Download Bear
3. Microsoft OneNote
OneNote is a feature-packed note-taking app from Microsoft. Apart from a wide gamut of features it offers, one of its headlining features is Microsoft Office integration, which gives you complete Microsoft Office experience to fulfil different needs.
Similarly, this also lends the ability to sync your notes via OneDrive, so you can access them anytime, anywhere. If you use Office Lens, you can leverage it to save/add photos or printed documents to your notes for more context.
For times when you don’t want to create a dedicated note to write something down—perhaps because you need it temporarily—Microsoft gives you sticky notes inside One Note that you can use instead. Sticky notes are also accessible across all your devices, just like your regular notes.
Features
- Cross-platform syncing
- Secure notes with a password or TouchID
- Collaborate with friends with a shared notepad
- Create to-do lists, memos, and quick reminders
- ‘Convert to Shapes’ mode to draw shapes confidently
Free, Offers in-app purchase
Download Microsoft OneNote
4. Paper by Dropbox
Paper by Dropbox is a note-taking app for teams to collaborate and work on the same project. It focuses on offering features that come in handy when working in a group, like the ability to create and edit shared documents, add comments and revisions, and reply to comments to keep the work in progress.
One of the handy features of Paper by Dropbox is the ability to access, edit, and comment on your starred and recent docs and create new docs, even when you’re offline. Since it’s included with Dropbox, it makes accessing all your synced notes and folders convenient.
Features
- Get team updates
- Access, modify, create new notes when offline
- Post and reply to comments
- Star a document
Free
Download Paper by Dropbox
5. Simplenote
If you don’t fancy too many features and customizations in a note-taking app, Simplenote is the best note-taking app for you. Unlike some of the other feature-rich notes app, Simplenote takes more of a feature-light, text-oriented approach toward offering you a clutter-free and easy-to-use note-taking experience.
As a result, it provides better speed and efficiency while retaining essential features like formatting and text sharing. All your notes are shared across all your devices, and you can easily share them or chip in others to collaborate on them.
Among other features, Simplenote also supports direct WordPress publishing. So if you use WordPress for blogging, you can write and directly publish through Simplenote to eliminate the extra steps you’d otherwise need to take.
Features
- Cross-platform syncing
- Organise notes using with tags and pins
- Pin favorite notes
- Create to-do lists
- Automatic backup and synchronisation
- Share and publish notes
- Direct WordPress publishing
- Lock notes with passcode
Free
Download Simplenote
6. Notability
Notability is a simple, powerful, and feature-packed notes app for taking notes and annotating PDFs on the go. It offers a slew of features for customization, in addition to the most trivial ones, like signing and sharing documents, annotating images, word count, different options for fonts, sizes, and colors, ability to import PDFs, DOCs, PPTs, images, GIFs, and more.
Besides note-taking and marking up documents, you can also use Notability for journaling if you’re into it. Likewise, the app offers a bunch of different drawing tools, which let you explore your creative side. Plus, you even get handwriting support for when you want to write notes using your Apple Pencil.
Notability provides some unique features too that differentiate it from other notes app. Working on two notes side-by-side and switching between different input methods are two of such popular features you get with the app.
Features
- Drag and Drop to move content
- Secure notes using FaceID or TouchID
- Search for handwritten notes
- Convert handwriting to text
- Work on two notes side-by-side with Multi-Note
- Auto backup and sync
- Import notes/documents in different formats
Free, Offers in-app purchase
7. Drafts
Unlike most other iPhone notes apps, Drafts takes a different approach altogether. Rather than creating a simple and static note, it focuses on creating an actionable note. In a nutshell, the app combines a notebook, an editor, and a writing automation tool to allow you to create a simple note without requiring templates.
Once you create a note, Drafts offers a wide variety of actions with various app integrations that you can perform on the note. You can also customize your notes to make them look and behave the way you want.
Adding to its vast feature set further is the ability to apply tags, query, or sort settings to your drafts list. Widget support is also pretty impressive with Drafts, and you get to choose the one that fits your needs. And for times when you don’t feel like typing, you can use Siri to capture notes handsfree.
Features
- Create notes using Siri
- Markdown support
- Use actions to copy, share, or deep-link into other apps and services
- Organise using tags and sort settings
- Flag or archive notes for importance or long-term storage
- Adjust fonts, line height, and margins
- Advanced automation support
Free, Offers in-app purchase
Write and Manage Notes on Your iPhone/iPad Effectively
A good note-taking app is among many of the must-have apps on your device. Listed above are some of the best iPhone and iPad notes apps, which should easily suffice your note-taking requirements.
Some of these apps are totally free to use, while others charge a monthly/yearly subscription for a few extra features. For most users, the free versions of these apps should provide more than enough features and work well. However, if you want advanced functionality, like collaboration, automation, unlimited device sync, or some other feature, you can opt for a paid version of the app based on your requirement.