Review: Evernote vs. Notability

Over the past few months I have been utilizing Evernote as my primary source of note-taking during meetings. It is easy to use, syncs between systems and catalogues notes into “notebooks” per the user’s definitions. One of the benefits of using Evernote is its ability to record audio and save pictures directly into the note you are writing. I’ve used this function on more than one occasion and it comes in very handy. Evernote keeps notes organized and allows users to find their information quickly. Users can search by keyword, tag or even printed and handwritten text inside images to find information.

I actually log in to Evernote with two separate emails — personal and professional — and I use multiple notebooks with both. The only shortcoming that Evernote really has is that it is ad-supported. Evernote is free to use unless you decide to upgrade to a premium account. Evernote free accounts have the limit of 60MB used per month, but the premium accounts allow 1GB per month for $5.00 per month or $45.00 per year. Evernote is available on a variety of platforms — Web Clipper, Mac OS X, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone 7, Blackberry and Palm Pre — through the app store. Evernote – Evernote All downloads are free to use.

So, with my apparent rave review of Evernote, why is the title of this review, “Evernote vs. Notability?” Well, about a week ago I started using Notability and found that while it does many of the same functions that Evernote, Notability is a superior note-taking app. With only one platform to date (iPad), Notability fully integrates handwriting, note taking, audio recording and PDF annotation. Users can sync notes through the cloud, Dropbox or WebDAV. Notability allows you to export notes through email, iTunes, Dropbox, iDisk, WebDAV or by printing.  The biggest plus that Notability has going for it is the ability to include handwritten notes into typed ones. I was in a meeting this past weekend where taking notes was essential. I found myself utilizing typed notes at first, but followed up with the handwriting function to highlight important parts of the note. This is invaluable to me. Notability is currently 99 cents through Notability – Ginger Labs

Which app wins? In my opinion, both apps are valuable, however, I believe I prefer Notability. Even though it is only available for iPad currently, because it can be exported, I think it will be a valuable tool to me, both personally and professionally.