Notability

 Notability 

Have you ever found yourself misplacing paper you scribbled notes on, spending too much money on colored pens and markers, or hauling around multiple heavy notebooks and folders? I was right there with you until I stumbled upon an app called Notability. I was hesitant to download this app as there was a one-time $4.99 fee to obtain it, but after using it for the last couple of months I can’t imagine my academic life without it. 

Notability sounds just like what it is. An app to take notes. It sounds silly to spend money on that right? But no, it was the best $5 I have ever spent. I downloaded Notability onto my iPad and started trying out the features using the Apple Pencil. This app has different paper options, such as graph paper, lined paper with different line spacing, colored paper, and just plain white. The app allows you to change the colors of your writing, and you can create your own colors. Tools such as highlighter, pencil, eraser, and text are all at the tip of your fingers with options to change the size of each. The eraser feature makes it super quick to start over or clean up mistakes on your ‘paper’. My favorite feature of this app is the ability to upload documents, or powerpoints and write on them. You can search the web from inside the app for different images to upload, and mark those up as well.  I have created tabs for each of my classes and filed syllabuses, powerpoints, and articles to take notes on. This app has transformed the way I do classwork and made it easier for me to stay organized. The app automatically saves all your work, and you can have the contents of your app backed up to an email or to google drive in case you need extra security. I have actually used this app to complete assignments for this course, and track my homework. In addition, I turned in an entire page of notes for a separate class straight through the app into Canvas. This avoids the trouble of having to take a picture of your work, email it to yourself, download it, and then upload the file. Notability saves me a lot of time and energy when creating notes, studying, or reading. Furthermore, I never have to worry about running out of paper because of the seamless option on the app. As long as you keep writing the paper just continues. I have also found that the app makes handwriting more legible, and notes more uniform. 

Notability is a really cool, and simple way to take notes digitally and store them all in one place. I will never take traditional pen, and paper notes again. I have only used the app on an Ipad using an Apple Pencil, but I have seen others use it on a computer and their mobile phone. I find the app to be very user-friendly, and easy to navigate. It did not take me more than 15 minutes to figure out all the features and begin customizing my app. I highly recommend this app to anyone who is spending too much time writing their notes on paper, or who is looking for a way to effectively organize their classwork.