Note Taking on Tablets

January, 2014

Paul Unger Affinity Consulting Group

www.affinityconsulting.com

Mark I. Unger, Esq. The Unger Law Firm www.unger-law.com

Table of Contents

Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... 1 

Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 2 

Note Taking Solutions .............................................................................................................. 3 

Other Note Taking Options .................................................................................................... 11 

What Other Hardware Do I Need with my Tablet for Note‐taking? ........................................ 14 

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Introduction The iPad has dominated the market, but no matter what device and platform you select, excellent note-taking programs are available. This session explores those options and will surely provide solid ideas about how best to maximize your note-taking workflow.

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Note Taking Solutions There are many fantastic programs and apps for the tablets that can be used by lawyers and legal professionals for note-taking. The list below is a good place to start when you're ready to start developing your own workflow.

1) Notes for iOS (FREE on iPhones & iPads) Every iPad and iPhone comes with a free Notes app that is pre-installed in iOS. While it's not the prettiest or most feature-rich app, a lot of people use it for taking notes because it's a) FREE! and b) already installed on their iOS device.

The Notes app is most useful when connected with an iCloud account because every note you type on an iPad or iPhone will be synched with your iCloud account. That means if you type a note on your iPhone it will sync over to your iPad as well. In addition, you can visit www.icloud.com on any computer that is connected to the Internet and access those same notes.

2) Evernote (FREE) www.evernote.com Evernote is an amazing note-taking application and service for just about any computing platform (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, BlackBerry, etc.). Evernote is free for most users and allows you to write notes that are synched to all devices you use Evernote with. Evernote is also very effective

for "clipping" information from webpages and keeping track of tasks like legal research. Evernote is an effective method for sharing information between your computer(s) and iPad.

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EverNote

Platform iOS, Android, Windows, Mac

Typewritten Notes Yes

Handwriting/Drawing Yes

Handwriting to OCR Yes via Penultimate

Record Sound No

Sync to Dropbox Yes

Collaboration (internal) Yes

Collaboration (external) Yes

Easily Maintain Multiple Notebooks Yes

Unique Feature(s) Strong collaboration capabilities

Excellent handling multimedia

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3) OneNote www.onenote.com OneNote is an excellent note taking application. Notes can be typed, hand written, or drawn. OneNote is also an excellent tool for collecting research as it can accept and store output from web pages or printed documents. OneNote is also a collaboration tool and multiple people can work in the same notebook at the same time. OneNote is available on Windows, Windows RT, Windows Phone, Android and iOS.

OneNote

Platform Windows, Windows RT, Windows Phone, Android and iOS

Typewritten Notes Yes

Handwriting/Drawing Yes (Windows only)

Handwriting to OCR Yes (Windows only)

Record Sound Yes

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Sync to Dropbox Yes

Collaboration (internal) Yes

Collaboration (external) Yes

Easily Maintain Multiple Notebooks Yes

Unique Feature(s) Strong collaboration capabilities

Excellent handling multimedia

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4) Noteshelf ($5.99) www.fluidtouch.biz Noteshelf allows you to write notes on the iPad similar to the way you would write notes on a yellow legal pad.

I've found that Noteshelf comes closest to providing the similar experience of handwriting notes on a piece of paper. Noteshelf offers the smoothest handwriting experience.

You can use your finger to write notes on the iPad, but we highly recommend that you invest in a stylus (such as the Wacom Bamboo Stylus described below) so that the writing experience is as similar as possible to writing with pen on paper.

Noteshelf

Platform iOS

Typewritten Notes Yes

Handwriting/Drawing Yes

Handwriting to OCR No

Record Sound No

Sync to Dropbox Yes

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Collaboration (internal) No

Collaboration (external) No

Easily Maintain Multiple Notebooks Yes

Unique Feature(s) Best handwriting experience

Excellent user-interface

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5) Notability ($1.99) http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/notability-handwriting-note/id360593530?mt=8

Very few note-taking apps perform all three functions of handwriting, typing and audio.

I have found that Notability provides a great writing experience, with the ability to change the thickness of the point, add lines, width of lines, gridlines … all important to simulate an experience similar to writing on a piece of paper.

You can use your finger to write notes on the iPad, but I would highly recommend that you invest in a stylus so that the writing experience is as similar as possible to the experience of writing on paper with a pen.

I find the ability to record your meeting, lecture, etc. to be immensely helpful in certain situations. I absolutely love this feature, and quite frankly, I do not want to have a separate notes program to do this (like Auditorium), a separate typing program and a separate audio recorder. I want an all-in-one. Notability provides me with all three functions.

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Notability

Platform iOS

Typewritten Notes Yes

Handwriting/Drawing Yes

Handwriting to OCR No

Record Sound Yes

Sync to Dropbox Yes

Collaboration (internal) No

Collaboration (external) No

Easily Maintain Multiple Notebooks Yes

Unique Feature(s) Audio synchronization with typed notes excellent

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Other Note Taking Options

CarbonFin Outliner $4.99 www.carbonfin.com 

If you are one of those folks who create notes in the form of outlining, you should strongly consider CarbonFin Outliner. CarbonFin Outliner allows you to organize your thoughts, notes, and projects. You can also track an entire project anywhere you are or share your outlines, edit your outlines online with their free Outliner Online.

With an external keyboard, indenting (space bar while editing an empty line) and unindenting is very easy (backspace while editing an empty line).

Only downside to collaboration is that other collaborating would need an iPad or iPhone to contribute. This will not work across multiple platforms.

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CarbonFin Outliner

Platform iOS

Typewritten Notes Yes

Handwriting/Drawing No

Handwriting to OCR No

Record Sound No

Sync to Dropbox Yes

Collaboration (internal) Yes

Collaboration (external) No

Easily Maintain Multiple Notebooks No

Unique Feature(s) very easy outlining (indenting)

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iThoughtsHD (mind-mapping) $9.99 iThoughtsHD is one of the best "mind-mapping" apps available for iOS devices. Mind-mapping is an visual way to take notes while being able to

move "bubbles" around on the screen.

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What Other Hardware Do I Need with my Tablet for Note-taking? We recommend purchasing some kind of external keyboard for note taking.

For typing, the on-screen keyboard on the tablets works surprisingly well, especially when the tablet is in landscape mode with the back slightly propped up.

But for serious typing, we recommend purchasing a Bluetooth keyboard that can connect to the tablet.

For the iPad, by far, the most popular external keyboard is the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover (http://bit.ly/1jhrb2Z) that retails for $99, and is available for all models and generations (except the iPad1) in multiple colors.

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Finally, we highly recommend that every tablet user invest in a good stylus.

When Steve Jobs announced the original iPad in January 2010, he made a big point about the fact that you don't need a stylus (or a mouse or a keyboard) to interact with the iPad. And while that is fantastic, and true for the majority of tasks on the iPad, there are times when legal professionals will

benefit greatly from using a stylus with the iPad.

With all the great note-taking apps on the iPad or Android tablet that allow you to write just like on a yellow legal pad, a writing utensil is a good investment and is far better than using your finger.

This also holds true for highlighting text and annotating documents.

There are several excellent styli for tablets on the market today, but one of the best is the

Wacom Bamboo Stylus (www.wacom.com). This stylus is well-balanced and approximates the size of a regular ballpoint pen.

Wacom offers the Bamboo stylus "solo" which is only a stylus, but the company recently launched the "duo" which also features a regular ball point pen on the other end.

Another option is the Adonit Jot Pro (www.adonit.net). This retails for $20 - $30 at most places and writes or draws with more precision. Some complain about the noise it makes when the plastic tip touches the screen of the tablet. In response to that, Adonit has released a sound dampening tip that is less “distracting”. Many artists who sketch or draw on the iPad use the Adonit Jot Pro.

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