GoodNotes App Reviews

Editing feature was added to this app so that it can be edited on Mac as well as on iOS. The iOS counterpart is awesome, and is heading for better and better update for sure. The support for Goodnotes is great and they are planning to add a lot more features into their apps as they show it on ‘feature request’ page in their website. The organization method is easier on Mac compared to its iOS counterpart, and it is easy to organize, add, edit PDFs and notes from this app. You probably will rarely use Mac version of this app except for reorganizing and checking previously written notes, so this app basically performs those functions well. I hope to see more features and usability updates in further development, and faster sync if possible, but I understand iCloud syncs are not very fast. Anyway, keep up the good work!

The ios version is hands down the best “handwritten” notepad notetaking app, great versitility and folder hierarchy. I work in Sales and the ios version is literally enough of a reason to buy an ipad pro & apple pencil by itself, litertally life changing when you swap from paper and pencil to digital notepads and organization tools, anyways... hands down this is the one app guaranteed to be in my dock and now add in the ability to view AND edit notes on my MAC… love it, just adding to the versatility. Import and sign/fill docs import and markup pdfs convert files actually take notes actually have your notes available, in order, making them effective plenty of highlight, sizing, styles and so forth to enable effective note taking and support of personal styles could use some more templates especially cover colors and themes and easy form inserts (think checkboxes), but thats just an easy (hopefully) update away!!! This is a Great companion App overall

This is a great app and I use Goodnotes for all of my classes. The only issue I have been experiencing is that it takes forever to sync between notes taken on my iPad. For that I have to give it 3 stars. I would like to take notes on my iPad and pull them up on my Mac.

Goodnotes has been a great help for me in classroom. It makes note orgnization so much easier. This is a good counterpart with the ipad version. Everything works smoothly with iCloud so you dont have to manually upload it to your computer. I like the various editing features of the mac version. But it could be so much better had it been able to support wacom’s tablet with pressure sensitivity like Onenote. What’s more, Onenote is able to tell when your writing on a tablet and when your using a mouse. I look foward to improvements and more refined editing features in future updates.

Until there is a software update providing compatibility with Mac OS Sierra, I would be extremely reluctant to purchase this app. I have had the public beta of Sierra since its iniital release and with each release the Mac version of GoodNotes crashes once a connection is made with iCloud Driver. Without the connection, it works fine but since most of us purchased GoodNotes Mac as a convenient way of getting documents to and from our iPads, GoodNotes Mac serves little purpose without the ability to synch with iCloud Drive. I am currently using the golden beta of Sierra which should be the one released to the public shortly and there appears to have been no effort by the developer to correct this problem. Thinking that there could be a document that had been inserted into GoodNotes, I have even gone as far as deleting every GoodNotes file but once a file is inserted, the crashes continue. The developer appears unresponsive to the problem.

The concept is pretty good. I wish it worked. It is very unstable. Rarely it syncs but most of the time no luck.

I love goodnotes, almost half of my time spending on Macbook is using goodnotes. But it keeps crashing in Sierra and I’m not able to access my documents now.

This is one of my core apps. This app just keeps getting better. I’ve used the iOS version on my iPad for a few years to take notes and annotate PDFs for unniversity classes. When the Mac version came along, it was the (start of) the perfect companion. As the options and features of the Mac version have gotten better and better, this app is getting closer and closer to the perfect note taking/pdf handling/document organization app around. The iCloud sync and back up features work great for me. I have tried a number of different apps for both Mac and iOS but none have come as close this awesome combination of utility and continuity. I haven’t had any problems with GoodNotes on my Mac running Sierra. I really want to thank the developer for keeping this app up to date and continually improving it!!

I have purchased many notetaking apps, both for iOS and Mac. This is the best handwritten note app so far, but really, really lacks some basic functionality and some functionality that competitors have. Wish List: - Don’t force me to include a “cover” on every new note… I don’t want your covers! (well, OK, occassionally) - Audio recording (*ahem*, Notability) - Let me free rotate my content (*ahem*, everyone else) - Let me change the properties of drawn elements (thickness and color, ala Notability) - Why can’t I paste images from the OS clipboard? - The Mac companion app is great to have, but little more than a more convenient way to organize - SugarSync compatibility? - Import from iCloud Drive… Does. Not. Work. (Dropbox and OneDrive work beautifully) - Why, oh why, is iCloud sync so painfully slow? This isn’t an issue for other note apps (except OneNote). - Maybe let me use Dropbox, OneDrive, etc. for syncing, since iCloud seems to be a performance problem Why I still use it: - Fantastic support for iPad Pro and Pencil (not unique, but necessary) - Big thumbnail view - Interface gets out of the way - Best bookmarking system. Period. - Drag to create new page… intuitive and convenient - Auto-backup to PDF - Freehand masking of placed images? Why, yes, it does that very well! - The ability to place a PDF or image as a new page… For. The. Win.

YAY!!! finally the goodnote Mac version is out, connects with my other devices very easily. My only complaint is that you cannot edit the document on the Mac version. Let’s hope they make this a feature.

Good Notes 4 has been fantastic to use in my home improvement business. Now I can get to my notes when I’m on the Macbook Air. Awesome!

I love Good Notes on iOS and it is great to see a Mac version available. (This is a real version, too, not the knock off that was on the App Store for a while.) Since this is the first version of the Mac version it is important to note what the app is and is not (yet). This app works for organizing files that you have in Good Notes. That’s it, right now. It does this job very well. Syncing with Dropbox was instantaneous when I opened the Mac version. Moving files to different folders is very easy and fast. And document annotations made on iOS are updated within a minute or so. (It would be cool if the updates were instantaneous a la Google Docs, but that’s not what this app claims to offer.) Because it does what it says it does well, this app is five stars. This app is not (yet) an annotating app. It is clear in the description that annotating ability will be gradually implemented and that will make Good Notes for iOS and Mac awesome in my opinion. I can’t wait for (at least) the ability to annotate documents with text. I still don’t like to type on my iPad. Great to see this app and can’t wait for updates.

This version does NOT support folders in categories like iOS did.

Nice to see this and glad to see they have plans to continue to update. I will be happy to see all the edit features when they are added. Keep updating please !!!

Kind of disappointing. I love it for ipad and I love note taking abilities. But—the compter version offers zero additional capabilities, if not less than its ipad counterpart, and won’t even let me edit my work on my mac. Also the syncing across devices could use work. I am trying to get a PDF onto the ipad and cannot for the life of me get the version on my computer to sync with my ipad app. Eeek! Please update.

I’ve had the Good Notes iOS version for my iPad and iPhone for years. I use it every day for my notes, pictures, drawings, signing documents. Finally I can see my notes on my computer!!!

The primary purpose of this basic app is to interface with the iOS counterpart. It does this well. Sometimes, especially when replacing files with newer versions, the synchronization doesnt work. Even if you first delete and then add again. Likely even removes the file from the display entirely. But these are mostly annoying display quirks and no data-loss issues. The iOS version of GoodNote is really pretty good, and youll want to use this basic app for that. The biggest nuisance of GoodNote is that sharing is just a little sluggish. GoodNote doesnt register itself under the Mac OS Share Menu Extension so theres no easy way of sharing documents. If youd like to share a document that you then update, theres an arkance process to go through to see that on the other side, too. With a decent chance that it doesnt work and you have to delete and resynchronize. Thats just a little painful. I think GoodNote should still work on a smooth Mac-feel integration that makes things fast and easy. But the basic functionality seems to be all there.

I bought it right after it released and waited more than half a year for a update. It says note-taking and annotation will be graduated added. However, never happened!! Please add them ASAP.

I use the iOS Apps daily. I was having some issues importing from Google Drive so I uploaded the Mac OS app. I LOVE the functions that it provides but it lacks some of the basic functions like annotating that are critical for my use. Keep up the good work and get those functions added and I will continue to sing your praises Goodnotes!

Fantastic app for handwriting on the iPad. Now allows full editing on the Mac. The best ink on iOS is now a complete notetaking solution. Fantastic!