Notability vs OneNote

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shaqfu2019

D1 at University of Iowa
5+ Year Member
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Hi everyone,
I recently started D1 and switched to an iPad+Apple Pencil for note taking as I have heard that hand written notes are too difficult to keep up during lectures.
What are some of your recommendations of apps that you found more suitable for note taking? Many of my classmates use Notability while others use OneNotes. I'm also open to heard about other apps as well for note taking purposes.
Thank you for your comments/suggestions!

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Only people that use Onenote in my class are people that have PCs and don't have iPads. If you have an iPad Notability all the way.. it's a no brainer.
 
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Don’t you have better things to stress out about?
 
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onedrive also has editing features that can be used if you arent tryna make super amazing notes. and with your university you get unlimited storage with it anyways.
 
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Seriously I'm still debating which one I should stick with so if there's an upperclassman here that can shed some light on long term benefits I would love to know what your thoughts are.

I just started school as well and have the same conundrum. I'm using both apps. Here's what I've found (some of these categories could switch for you based on your personal preferences):


Notability pros
Notability cons
OneNote prosOneNote cons
Handwriting: excellent apple pencil capability/text adaptation. Magnification window on screen is helpfulhandwriting: ok apple pencil capability/text adaptation; doesn't match my handwriting as well

note: if I import notability handwritten content into onenote, I lose quality/sharpness. This is annoying.
super cute colors/highlightsmore clicking for colors/highlightspre-set pen colors on ribbonuglier pre-set colors but you can customize so kind of a non-issue
word formatting more challengingexcellent word formatting
A4/5 sizeinfinite scroll
pdf takes up whole pagecan edit around pdf
SEARCH FUNCTION!!! search function/OCR basically non-existent. My main beef with the app. How am I going to find things quickly for boards studying?!
file organizationfile organization is superior. It is way easier for me to quickly find a topic/lecture with sidebar view than with a busy thumbnail
iCloud storageOneDrive paid for by my school!
audio recording (slide by slide)audio recording: a feature I don't really use on onenote...but I've heard it's not as good as notability so just put it in this column
 
Get them both
10 dollars for each is such a cheap price compared to how much you would spend every day and every night!
 
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