Take A Note – Review
By App Type: Uncategorized
Our rating: 
By: Take A Note
Version #: 1.0
Date Released: 2008-12-19
Developer: Igor Zhadanov
Price: 4.99
User Rating:
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Readdle (the developers behind Readdle Docs and OneDisk) recently released TakeANote. Take A Note addresses two major limitations of the built in iPhone Notes app by providing access to notes from any Macintosh or Windows computer and by supporting a wide variety of notes — including voice notes, drawn notes, and photo notes. In addition, Take A Note offers custom categories, the ability to send notes by e-mail, a search function, and an interface that I found to be quite easy to use.
There are a number of different notes apps currently available for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Take A Note is clearly among the most polished. In addition, it distinguishes itself through its connectivity since it can be viewed and accessed as a shared network drive. Once a connection is established, you can browse notes as text, as sound, or as image files like you would on any other drive. As such, files can be copied, or existing text documents on the computer can be added to the program as new notes.
A Brief Walk Through
I’m rarely one to take notice of the icon but in this case the icon says a good deal about the overall app. It is a detailed graphic of a notebook and reflects the four kinds of notes that can be taken with it. Tapping the icon briefly brings up a splash screen of a leather bound spiral. notebook.
Aside–
This is anything but a subtle choice. In fact, it’s incredibly astute. Those of us who are steeped in mobile tech are comfortable with the idea of taking notes on a tablet PC or in this case an iPhone or an iPod touch. We’re equally comfortable with the notion of doing the majority of our reading on the screen — be it a laptop, desktop, e-book reader, or iPhone. There is, however, a majority of the population who are just beginning to make the shift and sometimes a discomfort with taking notes on a screen or reading a book or magazine on anything other than processed tree pulp.
Back to the review —
When you tap the icon you’re offered four options along the bottom — an icon to add a note, an icon to access all of your notes, an icon to start a WiFi connection, and an icon for searching within the applications notes. The bulk of the screen is taken up by five choices positioned vertically. The first allows you to see all of your notes regardless of type. The other four divide the notes into specific type –text, audio, drawing, or photo. Tapping "add a note" brings up a selection of note types. When taking a voice, drawn or picture note you can add a comment and assign the note to a category.
Interestingly, although the current firmware for the 2nd generation iPod Touch allows line-in recording (so long as a microphone is attached), the application currently does not support audio notes on the 2nd-generation iPod Touch. (My assumption is that it will after a future update.) Tapping "text note" offers the image of a spiral notebook with the tab for accessing user-defined categories, and two icons in the lower left — one to trash the note and the other to send it by e-mail. From there it is simple to create a new note. It even permits taking text notes with the iPhone in landscape.
In all, Take A Note is well-designed and well executed. It is easy to use, stable, and while this initial release is limited with regard to the formatting of text, it is an excellent first attempt that will only improve with time and updates.
So is this my new note taking application for my iPhone and my iPod touch? Probably not.
Not because it isn’t an excellent application, it is.
Not because it isn’t a stable application — it is.
And not because it isn’t a powerful notetaking application – it is.
No, Take A Note won’t be my new notetaking application because my heart belongs to Evernote.
There are, however, many situations in which Evernote is the absolute wrong application and this is the right choice. For example — if you are hyper-vigilant about security and don’t want your notes to be shared across a third-party server (even if that server has a high degree of encryption and security), this is a far better choice. If you want your documents to be shared directly between your iPhone or iPod touch and your desktop — this is a far better choice. If you want an application with a low one-time cost and no residual expense — this is the right application for you. (Evernote does offer a free version but the desirable premium services only come with an annual subscription.)
Quick Take
Value: Very high. For $4.99 you get an excellent, well-polished, flexible notes app.
Would I Buy Again: I would not, but only because of my specific work-style and needs. I would not hesitate to recommend it to others.
Learning Curve: Very low — the sign of a well conceived and executed application
Who Is It For: someone who wants to use their iPhone or iPod touch for taking notes and wants to have the ability to share those notes with their desktop or notebook computer
What I Like: polished, stable, overall an excellent note taking app
What I Don’t: look forward to future updates which, no doubt, will include text formatting and other assorted enhancements.
Final Statement: This is, overall, an excellent app. By version 2, I suspect it will be a superb one.
Take A Note is available for $4.99 (USD) exclusively at the App Store.
