Notebook by Zoho Corporation is a new note taking for iOS users. The app lets you take notes in four different types of note cards and organize them in different notebooks. It also automatically syncs your notes to all your iOS devices and offers customization, search and sharing options.
There is no lack of good note taking apps. From the default iOS Notes app to apps like Paper, OneNote, Google Keep and Evernote, users are spoilt for choice. How does Notebook fare against the competition? We go hands-on to find out.
Getting Started
- The app opens with a detailed tutorial on how to use features of the Notebook. It includes information on selecting covers for different notebooks, categorization of notes in four types of note cards as well as combining and separating them. The onboarding experience is very helpful and gets you started on the right track.
- Users can sign in by creating an account on Zoho either by using an email, Facebook or Gmail account.
- Before opening the homepage, the app provides more instructions on how to set up the homepage. customize notebook covers and titles.
Design
- The home screen is attractive and simple. The emphasis is on the notes so rest of the user interface is very minimalistic. The top bar includes settings, search and add notebook buttons. The middle section displays the notes while the bottom bar contains buttons to add notes of different types: text, audio, pictorial, and checklist.
Creating notecards and organizing notebooks
- From the home screen, you can get to creating notecards right away. Tapping on any of the buttons in the bottom bar gets you started with creating notes.
- To create picture note cards, you can either use the in-app camera or use photos from library.
- To create note cards, you can either use different types of note cards individually or use combinations of different types of note cards to make a single note. So one note card can contain images, text, checklists as well as audio.
- All note cards are automatically saved to “View all notes” folder and from there you can open individual note cards and send them to desired notebooks.
- You can add as many notebooks as you want to your home page by tapping on the ‘+’ feature on the top right of the homepage.
- The app has some nice animations and gestures support. You can flick between note cards, pinch to group them into stacks or fold them like an accordion and more.
- You can also create Notes using 3D Touch Quick Actions if you are using an iPhone 6s or 6s plus.
- The app also has a Notification Center widget which lets you jump to your recent notes.
Customizing your Notebooks
- You can pick colorful covers of your notebooks from the available 25 covers.
- For each type of note card, you can select a title and change the color of the background.
Saving and Sharing note cards
- Different types of note cards are be shared in different ways:
- Picture note cards can be shared via email, Facebook, and Facebook messenger. They can also be saved in the Photos app and as PDF files to iBooks.
- Voice note cards can be shared via Messages, Email, and Whatsapp as well as saved in the app.
- Text and checklist notecards can be shared via Messages and Email as well as saved in the app.
- Through your Zoho account, you can sync your notes tp all of your iOS devices. Changes made on one device are automatically synced to other devices. Everything is also backed up to the cloud.
Notebook on Apple Watch
The app is compatible with iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple watch. You can record audio note cards and view latest notes on your Apple Watch. Checking items off your checklist through the Apple Watch app is a handy feature.
Verdict
Notebook has an intuitive and beautiful interface and the attention to detail is impeccable. The ability to create the different types of note cards reduces the hassle of opening different apps for taking pictures, writing notes, and recording audio. The app’s design makes it a joy to use too. The best thing? The app is completely free, with no ads or in-app purchases.
We highly recommend Notebook if you are looking for an alternative to your current app.
Notebook is available for free in the App store and requires iOS 8.0 and later.
