For the past week, I’ve been experimenting with using a stylus with the iPad. Now that I’ve gotten into the habit, I find it preferable to using the iPad without. There are a two uses, though, that I find the stylus to be especially powerful for.
Note-taking: At meetings, it is faster for me to write notes than to type them, and the stylus enables me to take notes in several available apps. The app that I like most so far is Notes Plus. It has a simple notebook interface, but a lot of added features including the ability to zoom in on the writing area, highlight, insert shapes, use the keyboard when needed, and record audio. You can export your notes as PDFs to iTunes or email, or upload to Google Docs.
screenshot from Notes Plus
The biggest challenge to incorporating this form of note-taking into my workflow is just being consistent with using the app and storing the notes in a space I use often.
Visual design: My favorite use for the stylus, though, is for drawing. I certainly don’t have any particular skill in this area, but for design work it is helpful to be able to mock up an idea to have something to react to.
Notes on design with SketchBook
I’ve been using SketchBook to visualize some design ideas and to mock up images for review. It has more functionality than I’ll ever need, but is intuitive enough to use in the ways I want to.
So far, the stylus, in conjunction with a few good apps, has proven to improve my experience with the iPad.
Hey Kate, I am looking for some kind of notes app to use during my independent study this summer. I will mainly be taking notes on readings and as I meet with my instructor. The Notes Plus app seems cool, but I am wondering if it makes the most sense for me – since I will mostly be typing out my notes before and during our meetings. What do you think?
Hi Jillian,
There are a lot of note-taking apps out there, and perhaps others in the group will weigh in, but a good one to try is Evernote. The advantage of Evernote is that your notes are stored “in the clouds,” so you can access them from your desktop, iPad, and phone.
Notes Plus does allow you to use the keyboard as well, so you could type up notes in advance, and then markup notes in your face-to-face meetings with some of its other features (writing, drawing, highlighting, etc), if you wanted to try that option.
It’s all a matter of preference, and what integrates easily into your workflow. Good luck!
I just bought a stylus, I have to agree with Kate here. It is a very useful tool.
Notes Plus (particularly when using a stylus) is a great app. The ability to pinch and zoom is nice as it allows you to get a bit more content on one sheet, which is helpful for more extensive note taking. Audio recording has been very useful when I’m taking notes at a conference or whenever I need to match up my notes with what someone was saying at a particular moment. I also very much like being able to sync to Google Docs, which allows me to review my notes away from the iPad (and to backup). Overall I’d say this app and the stylus constitute about 90% of what I use my iPad for.