Notes vs Goodnotes

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

1. [R3] Notes 3/5 · US Missing scanned attachments: As much I like Apple. I truly dislike not having a version history option within the app. I’m literally scanning and taking notes only to find out days laters it’s gone. I cannot fathom doing over again. It’s not in recently deleted and no matter how long I kept pressing the undo button has anything changed. I’m truly tired of these glitches. Please fix it. I should ha
2. [R9] Notes 3/5 · US Good for typed notes, serious performance issues for handwritten notes.: It pretty much does what it says on the tin, and is great for taking down quick notes, lists and reminders from your phone. However for longer notes I prefer to hand write them, and this app causes massive overheating and battery drain on my M4 ipad air. Putting lines on a page should not be this taxing on my tablet, and it s
3. [R62] Goodnotes 5/5 · US Loving this app: This app has been so helpful for my digital planner and organizing everything.
4. [R65] Goodnotes 5/5 · US Excellent Note App: I’ve tried multiple other ones that integrate with iPhone and iPad. GoodNotes has been the best overall so far. The time between syncing in the cloud between devices is far better than most other apps. The ease of use and user friendly options as well. Give it a try and see for yourself ! Thanks Goodnotes team!
5. [R2] Notes 5/5 · US Notes not easy to organize: I need to learn all the options for accessing the notes with ease. I will say, much of my difficulty is not being given enough instruction.
6. [R11] Notes 5/5 · US Genuinely life saving: It’s user friendly but living with ADD i find notes the go to place to store stuff and all the above… can share certain ones too… it brilliant! My kids use it one is 12 the other 20 so it’s def for everyone!!
7. [R69] Goodnotes 3/5 · US Slow launch time: When I need to make a note, I need to make it now. Fraught iCloud sync and periodic updates make it so there is a lag between opening the app and when I can start working. I’m not sure if Apple prompts the review pop up or if the app developer controls that, but whenever I get that pop up I am compelled to leave a negative review as it prohibits me from getting to work. Goodnotes
8. [R72] Goodnotes 3/5 · US Been A Supporter From Day One!: I have been with Goodnotes a long time. Have been a strong supporter. Rarely any issues, well complaints. Other issues seem to be corrected with update Kudos! However, the dropdown to access the toolbar to get started is not accessible unless you’re in Full screen mode (window). The red, yellow, green buttons cover the tool bar. It’s safe to say most of us probabl
9. [R10] Notes 1/5 · US horrible: all of noted over the last few years with important information just disappeared with no way to get them back???? thanks apple!
10. [R58] Notes 1/5 · US Bugs, errors and slow: Always have so many bugs is so awkward and slow. Worst note app
11. [R66] Goodnotes 3/5 · US Good most of the time.: For the most part it’s great! I do experience some bugs sometimes where it will start deleting stuff that I have written as I continue my notes then it will continue to give me an error message if I try restarting the app and I have to restart my IPad to get it to work properly again. These are recent bugs for me as I used to not experience them.
12. [R100] Goodnotes 1/5 · US Fails badly: I bought it to record audio and transcribe a 12-hour meeting. Turns out the transcription uses tokens. When my token allotment ran out 2 hours into the meeting, the recording stopped too. The next day, I go back to review the transcript, or at least the audio: nothing past hour 2. And no warning that the recording had stopped, nothing about tokens being used or needed to keep going, jus
13. [R15] Notes 3/5 · US 2 steps away from being the perfect note taking app: So as a student i wanted to try out the notes app for note taking with the Apple Pencil. Its honestly great, i love the layout, the tools, the syncing with iCloud,and, most importantly for me, its free. MY ISSUE: When the note is large enough, the ipad a16 i am using atm starts to struggle for no reason. It heats up and the latency for writing
14. [R88] Goodnotes 1/5 · US 1 star: Have to pay to do anything
15. [R90] Goodnotes 3/5 · US Unsure: I can’t find the code to login
16. [R91] Goodnotes 1/5 · US Subscription model SUCKS: I already paid for this app years ago and it was amazing. But now it locked me out of ALL features stating I need to start paying subscription. It was a great app but now it is the literal worst due to being a completely unusable app when I’ve already paid money to download it to begin with. This app is going straight in my virtual trash.
17. [R19] Notes 1/5 · US Planned torture: Note: does anyone find it interesting when researching & developing, the system tends to freeze on you in moments of progress. Almost like intentional blocking, hiding, changing. Food for thought.
18. [R117] Goodnotes 3/5 · GB do NOT get this app: The stars was just so i could reach people, please don’t put trust into this app. I have had an issue of notes going blank before exams which is frustrating. They will literally just make your notes disappear. My note books are all blank. They don’t have a phone number for the purpose of ignoring you when you email them. The customer service is genuinely terrible. They will gi