Sometimes you might find taking and organizing notes in classes or in in Meetings in a digital format helpful to your process. While there are a variety of options of Notetaking tools out there here are three that are available at Bowdoin that work on iPads, iPhones, and on Mac Laptops. Each tool may have offer something different!
Notability
Notability is a powerful app that allows you to transcribe recordings, annotate PDFs, and more. Its clean and intuitive interface meets many note-taking needs. The full version of Notability is available free to faculty, staff, and students to install on Bowdoin managed mac laptops and iPads using the Self-service app.
Uses: Text to speech, PDF annotation, audio recording and transcription, math equation conversion
Download: Download Notability Plus for free from Bowdoin's Self-service app on your laptop or iPad.
Additional Features
- Turn recordings into transcripts and sync them with your notes.
- Convert hand-written equations into typed math symbols.
- Annotate and mark-up documents and PDFs.
- Use presentation mode or multi-note view.
- Customize notebooks from scratch or with a template.
OneNote
With speech-to-text conversion, an immersive reader, and real-time collaboration, Microsoft's OneNote can be a great note-taking tool for any project. OneNote has built-in accessibility tools for reading (immersive reader) and dictation. OneNote is available on MacOS, iOS, Windows, and Android.
Uses: Speech to text, PDF annotation, audio recording, immersive reading, real-time collaboration
Download: Download OneNote from the Self-service app on your laptop or iPad.
Additional Features
- Use the immersive reader or adjust space, font, or text size for more focused reading.
- Collaborate with other users in real-time.
- Copy-paste words from pictures without converting images to text.
- Use custom tags for different items, such as questions or to-do lists.
- Customize notebooks with different chapters, like a physical book.
Apple Notes
Apple Notes is a stock app built into all Apple devices. With a minimalist design, Apple Notes makes note-taking straightforward and simple. Enable Apple's built-in Dictation and Text to Speech to use within Notes. Find the full guide for Notes here.
Uses: Speech to text, text to speech, annotation, real-time collaboration
Download: Notes is a free stock app on all Apple devices.
Additional Features
- Use Apple's Dictation tool to take speech-to-text notes.
- Use Apple's "Scribble" to automatically turn handwritten notes (with finger or Apple Pencil) into typed text.
- Take screenshots, photos, videos or scan documents directly into a note.
- Search for text across notes, images, and even scanned documents.
- Create smart folders with tags (#).
- Secure specific notes with FaceID, TouchID, or a custom password.
Feature Comparison
Comparing Note-taking Features Across Notability, OneNote, and Apple Notes
| Feature |
Notability |
OneNote |
Apple Notes |
| Automatic Syncing |
to iCloud |
to OneDrive |
to iCloud |
| Real-time Collaboration |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| Handwritten Notes |
Yes (with math equation conversion) |
Yes |
Yes (with automatic converting to typed text) |
| Audio Notes |
Text-to-speech and Speech-to-text |
Speech-to-text |
Apple dictation or speech-to-text features |
|
PDF Editing/Annotation
|
Yes |
Only when PDF is imported as an image |
Yes |