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Ultimate iPad Guide: Note Taking & Idea Apps for Architects

  • Anthony Frausto-Robledo, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP

    • Note Taking & Idea Apps for Architects on iPad

    New in 2.0

    We have a lot of new apps to talk about and list in this category. Like the sketching category there is considerable overlap in apps between both. Some apps like Penultimate work well for notes and free-hand sketching. Importantly, as in the previous page we now have specific stylus technology. In particular we have the Adonit Jot Script and Jot Touch technology, a series of digital pens for your iPad that provide pressure sensitivity, narrow tips and fine lines, plus app intelligence and shortcuts from the pen stylus itself.

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    At the end of this page we touch on these Adonit Jot digital pens.

    As mentioned last year, we included mind mapping apps, along with apps for dedicated note taking on this page and a limited number of To-Do apps. There are literally hundreds of these types of apps altogether but we sorted through the best of the bunch to give you a high-quality range of apps to learn more about. These are the best of the bunch.

    Although Evernote is often regarded as the best note taking app, it has now really become a platform which even rival apps can utilize. We are highlighting the same three apps from last year starting with Notability (see image 01). This 4 1/2 star app is highly reviewed and rated and has great cloud-service options. These days your data needs to live everywhere, so a great cloud service option is key. A key newcomer we talk about under the Gem section (lower part of page) is NoteSuite which we strongly encourage you to check out as well.

    01 – Notability is a very full-featured note-taking, ideas management and capture app with super cloud options.

    02 – Even David Allen admires this GTD-compliant tasks manager. This app is one of the better to-do apps out there.

    03 – SoundNote records audio while you sketch, write, etc and enables you to play back what was recorded by touching on a particular word in your text.

    Of course taking notes is great and extremely essential for architects but what about “action items?” Architects need to be harnessing a very solid GTD-compliant app to make sure they master task (to-do) management. This helps them stay productive, relaxed and in control despite the profession’s natural tendency to throw curveballs. The actual creator of GTD (Getting Things Done) philosophy, David Allen, and his organization, feel that OmniFocus is a top GTD-compliant tool. (see image 02 above). Finally, we think SoundNote is unique. (see image 03) It records audio while you take notes, sketch and type and enables you to listen to particular parts of recordings by simply touching a part of your sketch or notes. Notability can do the same thing.

    The List (20 Apps)

    Here is a listing of some of the most excellent note taking and ideas apps useful to architects on the iPad at the time of this writing. Again, if we have somehow missed an app that deserves to be on this list we would sure appreciate your email on the subject. It may also be listed in another category in our series. Without further ado:

    Apps That Support Jot-Script Ready Pens

    All of these apps for note taking and even sketching support “Jot-ready pens.” Developed by Adonit, Jot Script is advanced technology that enables smaller point more advanced styli for tablet devices and specifically in this case the iPad devices. The following apps focus on note taking primarily, other Jot-ready apps will be featured on other guides in this series.

    The Gem in the Group

    Last year we felt that Things for iPad was the gem in this group. Cultured Code of Germany has done an outstanding job at creating a great To-Do GTD-compliant task (to-do) list manager with the right amount of features, all wrapped in a simple and elegant interface. And they have a Mac version. But this year there are some good rivals for great apps in this particular category. (image 04 below)

    04 – Things for iPad is a GTD compliant task management app that works with Things Cloud. All your to-do tasks can be perfectly synced between all your Macs, iPads and iPhones. Best of all, it just works!

    The easiest competitor to Things would be NoteSuite. (see image 05 below). It is not just a great note-taking app with cloud sync via iCloud, but it has a Mac version that is reportedly very nice to work in. Again all your notes get synced between devices and quickly. The interface is clean and the USA Today called NoteSuite an “excellent software suite.”

    05 – NoteSuite for iOS and Mac is a truly integrated suite of tools in a beautiful and capable UI.

    We will do a full review of NoteSuite (image 05) soon but a notable highlight feature is that with this app you can create To-Do items “inline” with your note taking as you type. These To-Do’s then end up in your To-Do manager where you can process them further, tag them for searching, et cetera. The last feature we will mention is this: you can sketch in the app next to your notes and your drawing becomes an editable viewport layer which you can scale, drag around the page and let the text wrap it with several options.

    06 – A view of the excellent To-Do manager window. Sub-level To-Dos plus tagging and date setting.

    In essence, this is a very complete note taking app, plus a GTD task management app, plus a PDF highlighter, document integrator for offline reading, web clipper and a whole lot more. (image 06)

    next page: Project Management Apps for Architects

    series index page: Ultimate iPad Guide: Apps for Architects

     

    [Last updated: 20 Sep 2014 – 8:45 PM EDT]

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