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Goodnotes 6 App Complaints & User Negative Comments 2024
Goodnotes 6 app received 97 complaints, negative comments and reviews by users. Have you ever had a bad experience using Goodnotes 6? Can you share your negative thoughts about goodnotes 6?
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Goodnotes 6 for Negative User Reviews
✓ Horrible updateThe idea is there, but it is insanely buggy, it disconnects from wifi, it crashes, it has duplicated things multiple times… It does not work, I’m writing notes and it crashes and does keep any of the notes I had written, leading to having notes to be redone…. I would not recommend this app and it is a complete waste of money…. I should just go back to google drive.Version: 6.1.8
✓ Pen thickness tool bar changeI like that the new update allows for expanded colour options beyond just three pens, however, I hate that I now have to use more than one click to change pen thickness every time. Can we please have the option to have 3 quick pen thicknesses available without having to click in once to be able to view them? It makes a massive difference in workflow..Version: 5.9.88
✓ Scam, update and payWhy should previous owners pay for update? Nothing new has been added, the style looks old as well. Remove payment for old customers..Version: 6.0.13
✓ Issues, Issues and more issuesI’ve been using this app since 2020 and I’ve recommended it to so many people who use iPads but now I think I’m going to stop. I don’t know what was done with the update but now my app crashes like nothing whenever I’m recording while taking notes. Please take note that I NEVER had this issue prior to the Goodnotes 6 launch. Now, every single time I record my notes, this app crashes midway making me lose my notes all the time. I already downgraded from Goodnotes 6 because it was happening even more frequently with Goodnotes 6 so I stuck with version 5 because why fix what was broken? But the same issue has persisted for months now. It hurts me to leave this bad review because I used to LOVE this app and I still use it for all my note-taking and so many other things—planning, presenting, you name it. But I cannot keep using something that time and time fails me because now I lose so much progress with all the notes I thought I’d kept recorded. I want to say that it’s my iPad but the same issue has also come up on my Mac when I record my notes. It really is frustrating because no matter how many times I update the app, the same issue occurs. I hate that now I have to find another alternative because I thought I found my forever app but I guess not. If this is a bug, I really hope it’s fixed soon because I don’t want to have to migrate but it seems like I will soon have no option..Version: 6.2.9
✓ NO CUSTOMER SUPPORT AVAILABLEConsidering I paid for this app twice (v4 and then again for v5) I would expect that there is some way to contact when having issues. I have searched and searched for the answer to this and there is absolutely no way to get hold of you guys to request help. I am currentlu using Goodnotes on my MacBook as my Apple Pencil has gone missing and I rely on Goodnotes for work. However when using the typing tool, the keyboard shortcuts randomly take over and I cannot type anymore (eg if I type E, it switches over to the Eraser.) The only way I can get it back to typing properly again is by restarting the app and opening every single document again (I work with 5 documents at a time switching between). This could all be simply fixed by adding another key to the start of the keyboard shortcuts instead of allowing a single letter to be pressed, or at least give an option to turn off the shortcuts. Sort your customer service out, or make your app free..Version: 5.9.4
✓ Would be the best 5/5 notes app if they would address 3 very key points.++Add an Endless paper document type, like a whiteboard which can expand in any direction. Cannot stress this enough. Notes sometimes work best when they can grow organically, one idea spreading to others. Paginating between content pages is often not suitable to see context behind the current active working area and it can completely break one’s flow. Please implement this. I am having to switch away from GoodNotes because of this shortfall! It’s a digital medium, let’s make highly practical but physically impossible paper types like this. ++ Change folder icons to a custom image. All folders are the same blue icon. Terrible discoverability if you want to effectively curate your notes. ++Ui items to the right of the apps toolbar strip are inaccessible when in Side-by-side mode. Please remedy this by allowing the tool strip to be scrolled by dragging or even add an arrow. Aside from these problems, the app is flawless. The controls are otherwise intuitive and the input methods are handled well. I want to 5 star this, I just can’t when it has these utterly glaring oversights present. I hope the developers do address the endless paper type at very least so this app is actually valuable. As it stands, I’m regularly having to use other solutions that are inferior In all other ways..Version: 5.7.58
✓ I HAVE TO PAY AGAIN???I already paid for the previous Goodnotes app and now I have to pay another $30??? How many times am I going to have to pay? I made a one-time purchase and now I have to make ANOTHER “one-time” purchase. Do you know what one-time means? How is this even allowed on the Apple Store???.Version: 6.2.21
✓ Gross!I have to do another payment to update to gn6! Hello????? I already paid before😅.Version: 6.0.1
✓ Amazing Interface but there are a lot of new glitchesThe update is a 180 degree change from the previous version which is why I didn’t hesitate to download it despite being content with GoodNotes4. However there are quite a lot of glitches that are hindering the full potential of the app. 1) more often than not the app gets stuck whenever I attempt to flick through the pages and to fix it I change it from reading mode to editing mode before going back to reading mode again, this usually fixes it until the next time it happens. 2) the pen tool gets stuck sometimes I.e. if I’m scribbling something the text will get dragged out of the line or it’ll create a random line that extends across the page 3)the random “connect to Bluetooth to use GoodNotes” message that appeared only when I wasn’t using the app. The glitches are making me contemplate going back to the older version which was much more functional. I hope these issues are improved on in the next update!.Version: 5.0.17
✓ Why would you want to ruin a really good app?I use (maybe used will now be more appropriate) goodnotes as my main tool at work. It was a wonderful app that allowed me to keep track of ideas and projects, comment on work by my staff, sign off documents and a lot more just in one app. I was forced to change to version 6 on my iPhone and this change affected my iPads. Since then I had to spend a lot of time trying to get rid of the default settings like autocorrect for hand written words that make the app almost unusable… It is a wonderful example of changes made by programmers that don’t understand how their customers use their apps… Most people write handwritten notes to themselves… It is much easier to type or dictate if you want write nites for others… One of the many other problems is that when you import files now it doesn’t ask you whether you want them in the file you have open, meaning you have yo go back to the main menu and identify that file if you want it in it… There are many more extremely frustrating changes that ruin a perfectly good program. Seem like changes its competition would have suggested GoodNotes makes to be able to steal away its market share ….Version: 6.1.6
✓ Quite goodI really got excited about GoodNotes5 and planned to take all my meeting notes for work directly onto my iPad. I purchased a licence even before it was made into a bundle. However, it hasn't really met my expectation; the licence I bought will not allow me to put it on my two work laptops, iPhone and iPad - one is an old Mac I use as my office workstation set up in my study at home, the other is my newer Mac that I use for working while I'm out and about and travelling. I also always carry my iPad which I had hoped to be my writing pad along with GoodNotes5. It will sync with my traveling laptop, but refuses to sync with my home station! I guess it's a licence thing - but I do not love it enough to pay for two licences. I have persevered with the direct note taking which is good, but tricky at speed (I find). Anyway I am partially hoping some one from GoodNotes will read this and cut me some slack with the licencing so I can sync across all my devices - my iPhone as well!.Version: 5.6.11
✓ Update? More like a downgradeThe app basically forced me to update to this Goodnotes 6 versions in order to keep my files synced with iCloud, even though it was promoted in their website that the user is not forced to update. They made the people who already paid for Goodnotes 5 pay again to DOWNGRADE their experience. The app adds nothing that is actually useful to students. Instead of adding actually helpful tools like occlusion tools or a brush to cover information and revise from it, they instead decided to make the UI harder to navigate through. My complaints: 1- the app is overall slower and more laggy 2- scrolling is not even close to the smoothness that it was 3- everytime you leave the app the document has to reload for a few seconds, a problem that was not there in Goodnotes 5! 4- when I import a document now, it does not automatically select the file that I am in, instead it just automatically saves it in the document, so you have to make 10 extra clicks to get a feature that was there before this downgrade. 5- the app just decides to get stuck on a tool, even when it shows that you selected another one, it decided to keep using that one tool until you quit the app and restart it. ANNOYING! Please make your updates actually useful if you’re forcing students to pay from already low income… Awful..Version: 6.1.6
✓ Disapointing Practice From The DevelopersI could not be more unhappy about the transition of Goodnotes 5 to Goodnotes 6. Gn5 lifetime was 12$, Gn6 is now 33$. About 3 times the price for a few app features update, for an app i already bought. Also everytime you open Gn5 there is a pop-up about upgrading to Gn6, could have one the first time only but no it needed to be EVERYTIME. Very disapointed in the developers. This used to be my favorite note app..Version: 6.0.1
✓ No, just no.I only brought this app not that long ago and while it wasn’t perfect it was better than a lot of other options out there… my main issue being the auto-uncapitalisation of words, which while frustrating was manageable. But this upgrade to goodnotes 6 is a scam!!!! I upgraded hoping it would be the update that fixed the issue I mentioned but instead I was hit with a paywall…. excuse me, I just paid for this app and now it’s a subscription? So I tried downgrading back to 5 because I paid for that and I didn’t need the extra “features” that comes with 6. But guess what, now you can only have 3 editable notebooks!!! WTH! So do not get this app, it might have been good in the past, but they have turned money hungry. And sure maybe I should have read things more carefully and that’s on me, but that doesn’t excuse this shady BS. Don’t get it..Version: 6.1.6
✓ Don't upgrade to 6Don't upgrade. I upgraded to Goodnotes 6 , and Now I can't get my mac to sign in at all despite using the same sign in credentials. I can't believe I dished out more money for this, and lost all functionality. I'm considering contacting VISA to get my money back. Just despicable. Clearly this release was very rushed, and they didn't care that it wasn't going to work. There's no way to get help with it, either, no support..Version: 6.1.6
✓ Loved this app till the recent update.This app has been a great go to for my daily journaling as well a my studies and web dev lifestyle. The only problem I had was on the Mac sometimes you’d click to add or edit text and it wouldn’t type. You had to click outside the box then click back in to get it to work. I could live with that but I hoped this latest update was going to fix that but it has sadly made text unusable! Now I have to click multiple times in and out of the text box on the Mac to get it to work and on my iPad I am having the pages go blank, freezing and text will sometimes type or copy etc other times it won’t. I am so upset and am having to spend an entire day switching to a different app as I can’t use the text tool as I need to and should be able to do. Developers please fix this ASAP..Version: 5.8.7
✓ Great app, but text (typing) can improve a lotThis is a great app for writing notes with your pen. It feels robust, syncs quickly, and easy to use. The one big downside is the text tool is very difficult to use. It has a number of bugs associated with it. Overall, I would recommend this app!.Version: 5.6.30
✓ Loved but forced upgrade?Used to love this app but what’s with the forced app? I paid to be able to use it when I initially bought it so why is it 30 dollars?.Version: 6.0.1
✓ Subscription serviceWhy is everything a subscription service now? like really ? way to discourage potential buyers. NO ONE LIKES SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES. no one is expecting constant updates with a one time license. Just let us have access to the version we are paying for. Update from 5 to 6 is entirely useless and a cash grab..Version: 6.0.14
✓ Loyal User of 4+ Years DisappointedBacking up the other negative reviews of GN6 and the additional fee, I am incredibly disappointed in this company. You're making users pay 3x more for an app they've ALREADY PURCHASED. Many of the updates are simple things (ie. folder colours) that users have been asking for over years. Also disappointing to see an encouragement in using AI for academics. I have loved and used this app through university, but this feels like a slap in the face. Will not be upgrading and possibly moving to different apps. Shame..Version: 6.0.1
✓ BEST APP FOR IPAD - WORST APP FOR COMPUTERI have used Goodnotes for a long time now on an Ipad and Its the best hand notes app on the market in my opinion but recently I have been needing to access the app and my notes on my computer too. The sync works great between the two devices. But the app shows that it is not as smooth on the computer than on the Ipad in the ammount of glitches that the app has. When using the text tool (which is the most important tool when using a desktop for me) - always glithes when I try to edit the text and move the text about. The text tool can also sometimes have this glitch where when I press the button and then try to deselect the tool - it wont let me and I cant press anything else. It is just really annoying and in the end I just dont use the app at all. I would be very thankful if you sorted those annoying small glitches out for the desktop version to make the app once again an all time favourite for coss compatibility use! Thank you for reading - Luke.Version: 5.6.34
✓ Purchased but won’t let me downloadI bought GoodNotes 5 yesterday for £7.99 and downloaded it on my iPhone as I was at work and not near my iPad Pro. When I got home I tried to install it on my iPad but it wouldn’t install. I’ve uninstalled from my iPhone now and tried to install from iCloud onto my iPad. Instead, it installed GoodNotes 4 and now whenI try to install version 5 which it said was free I just keep getting the error message ‘Unable To Download App. GoodNotes 5 could not be downloaded at this time.’ I’ve tried to install over 10 times now with no luck.....same error message every time. I’ve made sure iOS is up to date on my iPad Pro but I keep getting that error message which is so frustrating considering I purchased version 5, not 4. I’ve been on GoodNotes website and there’s no contact form to send a message to the developer, no email address, no way of contacting anyone. So now I’m stuck with GoodNotes 4 instead of the version 5 which I purchased. How do I cancel the purchase when there’s no contact details???.Version: 5.1.1
✓ Awful after the “update” to 6Goodnotes now has all of the feature updates you didn’t want, and none of the features users have been begging for. GN6 has changed the UI, relegating it back to the early 2000’s with tacky icons, the undo/redo is now in an illogical spot, handwriting recognition got worse not better, and those on GN5 have had features roll backs. … but hey, it has coloured folders now. Perhaps the most frustrating thing is those that purchased GN5 can’t have access to free level of GN6 whilst preserving the unlimited notebooks they purchased in GN5. To use the free features in GN6 they have to give up everything they paid for in GN5. It’s a real slap in the face to paying customers. For all of this, GN6 now costs nearly the same per year as what GN5 cost for a lifetime membership. Utter BS, to be honest..Version: 6.3.4
✓ Expected more from GoodNotesI have been a goodnotes fan since my paperless journey began. I had been using goodnotes 4 for roughly 5months during school and i loved it - i thought it was overall a good and functional app with some little annoyances (i would post about it on the goodnotes feedback website). Ive been using goodnotes 5 since the release and it just seems like a mess. Seems like the creators just tossed it up in the App Store - so much was promised and I haven’t seen anything extraordinarily new (I was really looking forward to the split screen option but nothing) and the app is so buggy. Please give us the categories section again!!! Like on goodnotes 4 - it’s annoying having to get out of a file and click back back back back to get to all my files. Nothing new, nothing special, going to check out notability. (Edit: also where’s the mac version i loved switched through all my devices on goodnotes 4. Just seems so sloppy to release an app that seems to be finished).Version: 5.0.14
✓ Good app but crashes constantlyI have started a study programme at work and this app is a godsend - when it works. It’s miles better than the app provided by the course provider for reading and annotation, especially with the great Apple Pencil support and he ability to slot in blank note templates into existing study manual PDFs. However, it crashes CONSTANTLY. If I spend an hour studying, the app will randomly crash 3 or 4 times in that period. I haven’t lost any work yet as a result, but it’s still annoying. It also has an issue with thumbnail view, whereby it will be crashing pretty much every time I use it and if it doesn’t crash, it will go back to beginning of the document when I open that view. Thumbnail view is therefore completely unusable which is a problem when your document is hundreds of pages long. Successive updates haven’t fixed the issue..Version: 5.9.102
✓ Okay but room for improvementI use this app on my macbook air - It is good and notes can look really neat and presentable, however, there are a few things that make using the app difficult. You have to highlight text multiple times to change the font, colour or size as it hardly ever works first time. Sometimes it doesn't work at all and you need to close down the app and re-open it. It also makes my macbook fan go absolutely crazy. I don't use any other apps on my macbook and i close down everything that is open when using goodnotes to see if this helps, but the fan is still so loud. As soon as I shut down the app, the fan turns off - my macbook is fairly new, I purchased it 2 years ago and have never had any issues with the fan. The fan issue is extremely frustrating, especially when using the app during lectures in a quiet lecture theatre..Version: 5.9.64
✓ GoodNotes 6 < goodnotes 5It’s just a expensive scam with uglier interface…..Version: 6.0.1
✓ So many glitchesUsing as a uni student. Quite unreliable and very slow but I do like that I can add images to the slides and then make it into a single layer PDF at the end of adding all my notes.. but that's really about it. If i had known of all the glitches and issues, I probably wouldn't have purchased this! The textbox option is temporamental - page needs to be reopened for it to start typing, scrolling goes crazy and ends up at the bottom on the page when I've barely touched the trackpad, sometimes the textbox will have things written in them and suddenly disappeared as soon as i click out of it! Really wanted to love it but too many faults..Version: 6.1.8
✓ CapitalisticI was a goodnotes user for 2 years, I paid 20$ for the app a couple years ago and was prompted to update. Upon updating the app I was completely locked out of my notes and told i had to pay another 30$ to keep using the app. I feel like i'm being blackmailed to access my own work. Never trust these apps. I'm in the middle of midterms and can't continue to write notes until i pay these frauds more money. you guys have small pp's..Version: 6.1.6
✓ UpgradingI bought Goodnotes 5 less than a year ago at 1/3 of the price and really enjoy it. Now they keep bothering me to upgrade to Goodnotes 6 which is 3 times more expensive than 5. I purchased Version 5 with a lifetime contract, so please stop bothering me..Version: 6.1.5
✓ Missing some key featuresI like this app, it is better than other note taking apps however it’s missing a couple things that would make it great. 1) a duplicate button. yes you can use the current page as a template for the next page but it isn’t the same. i made my own template to go on top of the flashcard feature and i had to keep replacing and fitting it every page. imagine doing that for over 100 flash cards. it would also be useful for using the same picture on one page and annotating in a different way, just like on google slides. 2) the flashcard feature is pretty bad. i wouldn’t want to use anki or quizlet as they are difficult to use with an apple pencil however the way to “study” the flash cards is impossible. it should have more options on how to study your flash cards, whether you want to do it back to front or quiz yourself in a specific order. the current and only setting is completely random and useless. the app developers should take notes from other flash card apps. overall i feel a couple other improvements to allow more flexibility on the app would be useful such as customising templates etc. sometimes i feel restricted on what i can really do and it’s a lot of work to do simple things..Version: 5.9.10
✓ Not worth the upgradeNB. Goodnotes 5 deserves a 5 star rating and is an outstanding product. GN 6 simply adds a couple of AI tweaks that don’t really work, and so make it hard to justify calling it a whole new version. The worst thing, and the reason for one star, is they decided to ‘interpret’ a scribble as ‘erase text’. And you cannot turn it off. GN is a handwriting tool. Handwriting often extends across multiple lines as you write sentences and paragraphs. When you write a word that extends below the line—like ‘gradually’, where the ‘g’ and the ‘y’ go below the line—and then touch these as you write on the line below, GN interprets this as a scribble and erases the lot. It is very frustrating and a show stopper. Imagine every time you write GN deciding to randomly erase your previous text. I have written to support and revive a very polite ‘we are busy’ response. No issue with that, but don’t get the upgrade until bugs like this are sorted.Version: 6.0.14
✓ Upgrade is a scamGoodnotes used to be great and this is what all of the original good reviews are for. We had to pay a small amount for the app. They just released a upgrade, Goodnotes6. It looked like a new app where you could try out for free, but you end losing the ability to edit all of the notebooks you have created over the years (except for 3) unless you pay either a yearly membership or ANOTHER lifetime subscription. We have already paid one, now we have basically lost access! What’s to stop them from doing this again down the line? Surely it isn’t allowed! Also, as I mentioned, all these reviews are not for Goodnotes6,but Goodnotes5. It is scammy in itself to use all the positive reviews you have garnered from another app for your new app which you are recharging members for WITHOUT WARNING..Version: 6.0.14
✓ Have to repurchaseI bought GoodNotes 5 a few weeks ago, recently it updated to GoodNotes 6, I am unable to edit my notes unless I repay the 30 dollars I payed a few weeks ago. Overall tho in my experience GoodNotes 5 was really good…while it lasted. Now I have decided to go back to using apple notes..Version: 6.0.1
✓ Going back to GoodNotes 4It’s getting worse and worse as the months goes by. Been patient for a while now (especially in the beginning to give time to fix the little issues) but the lagging started and it is now excessive. It is literally slowing me down a lot. Got tricks to make sure I don’t loose anything but the frustration (and the fear to loose something important) is growing. The struggle is real. Going back to 4. Will even consider another app. If you can’t get better than what is it you have to offer?.Version: 5.0.30
✓ Handwriting issuesI have some issues with the handwriting: my lines are cuted in smaller lines, as if my Apple Pencil wasn’t detected some times. I always have the latest version of Goodnotes 5, and my Apple Pencil is working perfectly with other apps..Version: 5.4.17
✓ Many issuesGoodNotes is in general a great note-taking app but there are way too many bugs. Most recently the notes have stopped saving text boxes and will just randomly delete texts, which makes it VERY frustrating when entire pages of notes would just disappear. Please fix this!.Version: 5.6.30
✓ Downgraded to 5 - don’t wish to have a separate accountHave tried version 6 which adds no meaningful benefit for my use case. This app is great for occasional note taking with combined written and typed information plus pasted images. The ability to lasso and move objects is what sets it apart from similar note taking apps. I reject the need to have a separate account and login at intervals just to use an app I have purchased and with data stored in my own files. Developers please take note from the many people who do not wish to have a subscription based app for occasional use. I would happily pay for major version upgrades but not with a mandated login and subscription fee. Looking elsewhere in case this older version (5) becomes deprecated..Version: 6.3.0
✓ Terrible appGot rid of my subscription after goodnotes 6 released. Scam and waste of money.Version: 6.2.21
✓ I love this app but …I love this app and have been using it for years. However, since Sunday I have experienced a lot of problems with it. My hobby is digital planning and I have got into that thanks to GoodNotes. However, on Sunday when I tried transferring some December and Christmas digital stickers my app started crashing when in split screen or overlapping. I have tried everything: updating my iPad, disabling auto backup, deleting pages from my digital planner (which was painful), making a new version of my digital sticker book (this version still crashed!) and finally gave up and organised my stickers in folders thinking that I would just use them instead of my sticker book. However when I tried the app continues to crash in Split View or overlap!!! I decided to give this app another chance and updated it immodestly as soon as I saw the latest update. However IT IS STILL CRASHING!!! I have tried EVERYTHING and am seriously at the point of giving up on digital planning due to the hours and tears wasted over the past several days trying to plan my week with constant crashes. PLEAASE FIX THIS so that I can continue to enjoy my hobby. I have spent a lot of money and time and really would not want it to go to waste!!! Once again PLEASE FIX THIS ISSUE OR GIVE ME SOME ADVICE ON WHAT I CAN DO! I have tried EVERYTING on the GoodNotes website and am REALLY FED UP!!!!!!!’.Version: 5.9.58
✓ Add to favorite iconPutt back the add to favorite icon on the left corner!!! Don’t want to have to click on … each time!.Version: 5.9.74
✓ Great for organisation but some problems with writingI absolutely love the ability to scan in documents is such a good addition and it’s really high quality software - the fact that is also recognises text makes it so much more useable as well. That said, on thing that frustrates me to no end is the limited movability of the page you are writing on. I’m left handed, I write at an angle and I need to write in the middle of the screen so that the edge of my iPad don’t get in the way. There is no way for the edge of the page to be moved to the middle, it’s stuck there and I hate it so much because I'm forced to write on the very edge of the screen. It’s messy and uncomfortable and I hate that there is no way to fix it. It’s such a stupid “feature” to force you keep the whole page on screen, it makes it look nicer sure, but it detracts from the actual usability..Version: 5.4.41
✓ GoodNotes isn’t so goodHalfway through using editing tools, they cease to function leaving the job half done..Version: 5.4.9
✓ The mac app is buggyIt looks and feels just like a clone of the ipad app, with pinch gestures that select items, and the ui not being optimized for a computer. That would be ok if the app wasn't buggy, but it is. It is slow, sometimes crashes and has syncing problems. The mac app is nowhere near the same quality as the ipad..Version: 5.4.35
✓ Lag in syncing iPad notes to computer and vice versaThere is a huge lag in syncing notes written in the iPad to the computer and vice versa, especially when I want to toggle between handwriting with the Apple Pencil and typing with the computer. Some documents take days to show up on the idea device despite being connected to the same network the whole time, and being updated to the same version. IT ALSO HANGS SO MUCH. So much. More than any app I’ve used, and glitches out a ton (I’ll suddenly be unable to use the text box tool at all unless I force quit the app entirely and try again). Although I can tell they’re trying to improve it, because before recent updates it used to be absolutely impossible to use GoodNotes as a split screen with lectures (it would hang, glitch and crash every 5 mins). And after the update it’s better..Version: 6.0.6
✓ HOW IS THERE NO WAY TO ADD BULLET POINTS? - Please add thisNO BULLET POINT CAPIBILITY – WHAT ARE YOU AS APP DESIGNERS DOING?!?! – A notetaking app is supposed to make it easier to create notes (including typing them) and not make it more difficult and time consuming. I’m literally contemplating calling Apple tomorrow and requesting a refund for this app. I can’t even type notes without the ability to add billet points or spend an absurd amount of time manually adding them in (which is also extremely annoying). Not only is this annoying for the users of the app when typing, but it is hindering the success of this app. I’m sure that it’s safe to assume that EVERY other notetaking app has this feature. It seems as though that many people choose between this app and Noteability. This is a great app and stands out in many aspects and appears to be a good notetaking app (specially the folder organization). This is why even though I already purchased Noteability, I bought GoodNotes planning on switching apps because of the many wonderful things that GoodNotes has to offer. I was very excited to be using this app, but apparently, I was wrong. Within 5 minutes of use I realized that its essentially useless to type notes on as a result of not being able to organize my notes wih bulletins when typing. The ability to make bullet points and sub-bullets is a fundamental feature of taking notes. So I guess I will continue to use Noteability as the point of having an iPad and MacBook is because of the ability to flawlessly be able to switch between the two and when using my MacBook, I obviously will be typing notes. Are you guys trying to have a lower revenue by having customers choose competitor apps instead of GoodNotes? I’m sure that by adding this one feature you would have a lot more business, as this is something that people REQUIRE in a notetaking app (especially for university students). I am extremely disappointed that this app does not have a feature to add bulletin points. This is not something even think to look into when researching the app as it is such a basic feature and is unheard-of and obscure for a notetaking app to not have. How does a notetaking app does not have this basic capability? especially when advertising to students? it is a headache and is extremely time consuming. This is extremely annoying and makes it difficult to organize notes for my university classes! There ABSOLUTLY SHOULD be a feature for you to add a bullet and to make sub bullets. Instead, I have to type "-" and when making sub bullets press the tab a bunch for the next line then add in the dash. This is so unnecessarily time consuming. I’m sitting there having to pause my recorded lectures just trying to add bullet points into my note. I understand that this app is more directed towards iPads, however, most iPad users (including myself) also have a MacBook because of the easy capability to switch between the two devices. And some classes are easier to type notes when they are word-heavy where you need to write a lot, especially since tying is factor. These same are also classes where you NEED the ability to have bulletins so that your notes are not a DISASTER (and the inability to do this on this app is a DISASTER on your part). I don’t design apps, but id assume that this is such a simple feature to add. When I was trying to figure out how to do this, I came across MANY posts and comments of others who are also complaining about this and for YEARS. Thus, this is not the first time this is brought to the attention of the app developers and is very evidently a MAJOR problem with the app that greatly affects the apps useability. So, you guys either do not read your reviews, don’t care about creating a more friendly user experience, incompetent at designing a notetaking app or are stupid... I am sorry for being rude here, but I’m astonished that such a well-rated and popular app lacks such a curtail and basic feature. And if despite the demand for it, you still think that this is something that you don’t need to add, at least indicate that on the main page of the app. I would say that its almost false advertising by saying that this is a notetaking app but doesn’t even have bullet points. Or do not offer it in the app store for MacBook’s and only offer it for iPads. Because I’m certain that pretty much anyone wishing to type their notes would want this capability. I would probably have given this app a five-star review, but only have two stars because it is absolutely ridiculous that this is not a function. PLEASE JUST ADD BULLET POINTS for your sake as you will have more satisfied customers and for the sanity of students trying to type their notes. PLEASE FIX THIS!!! I’m literally begging you..Version: 5.6.32
✓ I'm sure Goodnotes does not care about its consumers.I get it. A platform like this which is trying to expand across multiple Operating Systems needs a cash inflow. But the options they're giving to current consumers and their awful customer service are indicative of a larger apathy toward the people that have been using the platform for a long time. I bought Goodnotes 5 back in 2020 for full price, and have gotten terrific use out of it. Recently, however, the team forced the upgrade to Goodnotes 6 upon everyone and my apps uploaded automatically. Suddenly, I had to choose between paying more for a subscription with AI features (sounds cool, but not what I need) and using a "unpaid" version of Goodnotes 6, which capped me at 3 notebooks total. I was shell-shocked. I tried to reach out multiple times to their customer service (which has no phone number) via email, and never got a response. Thanks to Reddit, I finally found a way to downgrade back to Goodnotes 5, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time until Goodnotes 6 is fully forced upon us and I have to pay more or jump ship. If you're considering purchasing, just be aware. If you don't mind subscription fees and/or would get a lot of use out of the AI features, go ahead. Otherwise, I would save your money and try a different app, only because it's probably inevitable that everyone on Goodnotes will be forced to upgrade eventually..Version: 6.1.8
✓ Will become better with timeThis is a great app, and so far I’m loving most of the changes made from GoodNotes 4. The app is fast and easy-to-use, and the redesigned file management is amazing. However, I’d like to see more tools, like perhaps a ruler and protractor, as I mainly use the app for maths work. I’d also like to see the ability to have more than 3 different pen colours in the menu bar, as I often switch between 4 colours when taking notes. Most importantly however, is that I’d like to see the return of the option to have my pen colour presets available at the bottom of the screen when using the zoom feature, like you could in GoodNotes 4. This meant that I didn’t have to constantly move my hand up to the top of the screen to change my pen colour. Improved palm rejection would also be useful: I find myself sometimes moving the page when really I was just writing normally..Version: 5.0.8
✓ Terrible BookmarkPlease bring back the rename bookmark feature like GoodNotes 4..Version: 5.0.2
✓ Used to be the bestOver a couple years ago I paid ~£10 for this app on the store and now with the recent update it is now asking for me to hand over another £23 to keep using it. The initial payment was assumed to be one off payment to use it forevermore. I have now been put on “freemium” which really isn’t even that good as it only allow for 3 of my several notebooks to be editable - why? This is without me going into the optional monthly subscription and micro transactions that have now appeared onto the app. This app used to be the reason to ditch physical notebooks, now with it doing whatever it can to pry more money out of its user base, it is now the reason to go back to them. In the meantime I’m going to be archiving my years worth of notebooks from the app before it locks them all behind a paywall. Until GoodNotes can make the app free for long term users like myself, I will not be using or recommending it. Even if you are new to goodnotes now, it will probably ask for more money from you to use the app when it goes to its 7th version..Version: 6.0.10
✓ Forced to PayI used the free options of Goodnote 5 for months and then suddenly was prompted to upgrade to 6 because 5 no longer exists, so I follow the steps and cannot get past a paywall. Either cough up a subscription fee or don’t even get into the app at all. I cannot access any of my old notebooks or notes because closing out of the subscription screen isn’t an option. Pay up or get lost. Garbage update for a once good app..Version: 6.2.22
✓ Handy App - Better Integration Across Platforms RequiredGoodnotes is a great app - have been using it on my iPad for years with my studies. Once your preferences are all setup, it's super handy for getting things done. Have recently started using it in conjunction with my Macbook, and there are the beginnings of some great ideas in that performing work on your iPad is directly transferred across to the Macbook app. However, even with a good internet connection the time it takes for changes to transfer across platforms is ridiculous. Writing something on the iPad sometimes requires resetting your iCloud to ensure the changes are transferred to your Mac. This is the same for changes made on the Mac to transfer to your iPad. Surely, considering both apps work basically flawlessly by themselves, there could be a more seamless transfer of information between them?.Version: 5.7.10
✓ The best writing app for iPad Pro & PencilGood notes 5 was great. New version 6 roll out is a bad experience. Pop ups, forced upgrade, no opt out to stay at version 5. Very poor execution by the management team. :(.Version: 6.0.0
✓ Goodnotes 6 breaks the agreement with people who purchased Goodnotes 5 in good faithI’m back to Notability. Pity; Goodnotes was good until they pulled a bait and switch going to a subscription model in version 6. Interesting comments online about their usage of your data - Apple should really be looking in to this. Note the high reviews of this app are for previous versions….Version: 6.0.14
✓ Customisable toolbar and split screen please!GoodNotes has been a great app to use. However, again and again I am finding myself constantly wishing for a customisable tool bar and split screen function between two GoodNotes notebooks! It would be a lot more convenient for us to be able to choose what we want on our toolbar - for me specifically I would love to have more colours on the toolbar since I am switching between colours so often over the camera or text function which I never use. I am aware that these functions may be useful to some people so having that option to choose what to keep or remove from the toolbar would be AMAZING and would definitely improve the user experience :) Notability also has this really cool split screen between notes function which I think is super useful when you want to have the questions / notes / PDF on one side and your answers on the other. I have been considering switching to Notability JUST for this function so I really hope this is considered in the next update!.Version: 5.2
✓ No tool bar in the zoom window!!!!GoodNotes 4 has the pen colours, erase, undo, redo, and indent buttons on the zoom tool bar. GoodNotes 5 only has the indent buttons, which means you have to go all the way to the top of the screen to erase mistakes and switch pen colours. Sounds like it’s not a big deal but in reality it is rather inconvenient. This will take up precious time when you are taking notes during lecture. I will be using GoodNotes 4 until a better update is released..Version: 5.0.3
✓ Great until it wasn’tI have been using this app for the past three years to take notes for my university subjects. There was a one time payment to purchase the app and it worked great for what I needed. But recently they have introduced a subscription option which I was not interested in (broke uni student). However with 1 week left in uni I was attempting to email a document (pdf) to the app, which I have always done, but the emails kept getting rejected. I then noticed there was a new version of the app so I had to delete and reinstall the app to get the new version. Doing this I found out I could not longer email my pdf documents to the app and that these documents can’t be more than 5mb. This is extremely unfair to people who have purchased the app years ago, but now need to pay to use it. 5mb and three documents is not enough or fair to people who can’t afford continuous payments and want the basic free plan. Let alone people who have already paid for the app. The app is a great tool for studying and taking notes, as long as your willing to pay the price, of which I am not..Version: 6.2.7
✓ Now I have to pay for everything!They released the 6th version and now you have to pay to create and write on everything. Very disappointed..Version: 6.2.21
✓ DO NOT UPGRADEAbsolute biggest waste of money..Version: 6.1.8
✓ Worked great until it didn’t…I’ve been using Goodnotes 5 for just over a month. The newer version, Goodnotes 6, recently came out and I had the option to try it for free. When I did that it locked all of my old notebooks and wouldn’t allow me to edit them without subscribing. So, when I tried to subscribe, a message appeared showing I was already a subscriber and could restore my purchase. I tried doing that and it says the restore failed. I got onto the website to look for troubleshooting ideas. It states if you receive that message it means you aren’t logged into the account that you originally subscribed from. Only problem.. I was logged into that account. I never changed my login or logged out. This is infuriating. It won’t allow me to subscribe or to restore my purchase. I tried several more things including searching my purchase history and found the charge on my Apple account from July then went to Apple’s helpdesk. Their suggestion was to report it or label it as a scam. I didn’t want to do that because I want to use it and to have my notes. So, I went back to the Goodnotes website to search for more help, but there was not a solution for this problem. I finally gave up and “downgraded” to version 5 again so that I can access my notes but now I cannot edit them. You would think since I just purchased this app a little over a month ago that it wouldn’t be such a hassle to upgrade. I’m hoping it’s a glitch and gets fixed ASAP..Version: 6.0.10
✓ Lag when writingThere is a problem with a lag when handwriting with my Apple Pencil, idk what t is but its definitely the app. At first i thought it was my ipad so i got it changed for a brand new one, i thoguth it was updates so i updated, then my Apple Pencil so i got new nibs. However nothing resolved it as i now use notability and its so smooth like before, there's no lag or anything. GoodNotes used to be smooth too. Its been happening the last like 6-8 months. Its soo ANNOYING CAN WE FIX IT PLEASE, I WANA GO BACK TO USING THE APP..Version: 5.9.34
✓ Doesn’t remember pen colours & sizes between documentsNeeds ability to bookmark more pen and highlighter colors, including different line weights and sizes of brushes rather than having to try and guess each time you re enter the document. AND it really needs to actually remember these, for different documents again, so you’re not just guessing each time! Apart from that, really enjoy this app, but these things are quite annoying when you’re using the app.Version: 5.8.2
✓ DO NOT TRY V6I am extremely disappointed with the new version of Goodnotes (6). I was forced to upgrade to version 6 through many invasive notifications, and now I cannot go back to version 5, which I own. I also cannot access my previous drawings and notebooks for edit. To make matters worse, version 6 is asking me to pay for everything I want to do. This is unacceptable, as I already paid for version 5. I tried to contact customer support, but the chat on the website is AI managed and it always recommends me to read some articles, but never answers my questions. I am very frustrated and disappointed with Goodnotes. I would not recommend this software to anyone..Version: 6.2.1
✓ Not So GoodnotesIm sad to write this, because this app used to be great. Instead, the creators have put their focus in the wrong place. Previously they made a good product, now they’re beginning the phase where they screw you over. New features have been added with things like AI that reek of “just do something to create growth” instead of thoughtful consideration for what the user actually wants. The same useless smart features that spread like a cancer in the tech industry these days. The app expects users to buy it again at a higher price, and is more restrictive on files available free. I just want to take notes. New updates have corrupted all of my previous notes I had, years worth of thoughts and research that I wont get back. I spent days googling how to fix it (and I consider myself quite tech savvy as a CS major) but nothing worked. Even my backups are useless because the file format is unique to this app, not something accessible like pdf. (You can choose to use PDFs with this app, sure, but thats not the default.) This was all done to justify a subscription model with deceptive methods to hide bad reviews, since the new app just replaced the old one on the app store. I cant remember another service I’ve used that has fallen so far and left such a bad taste in my mouth. Don’t make the same mistake I did, use a different app and save all your documents in a third party cloud provider in pdf format for portability..Version: 6.2.22
✓ Nice multi-page doodling application, with afterthought export and PDF featuresIt’s a neat, well-designed tool for making notebooks and handwriting in them, or drawing in them. You can search in them inside GoodNotes *only*. These features put it on about the same level as the built-in Notes application that Apple ships on every iPad. While it makes big claims about PDF export and handwriting recognition, be warned these are afterthoughts (currently - the forum is full of requests for this to be overhauled). You can export either a PDF, or a plain-text document of a single page of text at a time. If you have a multi-page document, the text export will produce as many text files as you have pages. There’s no mechanism to batch recognise notebooks. The PDF export makes no use of the text recognition that the application performs *anyway*, which seems an oversight. You can’t open the PDF and select text in other applications, as it just exports a picture - it makes no effort to embed the text into the PDF so it may be recognised. The pieces are all there, but they’re not quite baked properly yet. Despite hearing great things about this application, these major shortcomings means you’d be better off using either Apple’s defaults or other tools for capturing things like lecture notes or longer forms of writing..Version: 5.7.5
✓ Pretty Good UpgradeI use this every day as my notebook at work. There is no longer support for connecting to one drive - but this doesn’t really matter as there is drag and drop which works easily. The new folder system is something I always thought GoodNotes 4 needed. I can be taking a note or drawing a diagram in my daily notebook and can easily drag a single page and drop it into other apps (mainly One Drive and PDF Expert) One thing that appears missing.....AUTOMATIC BACKUP!! Where has it gone, can you bring it back, the is only Backup Now. **EDIT** Coming from using GoodNotes 4, there is definitely some items lacking, where is the pen size slider in the customisable colour, its gone, the autobackup is gone, the eraser sometimes does not fully erase or an erased line rerappears. And i think the palm rejection is not as rock solid as the previous version. I have both versions running side by side to compare. Though it definitely is much more polished than the previous version. Just not sure why these features have gone missing. **EDIT** When is AUTO BACKUP being reinstated. I am kicking myself...had an iPAD crash had to reset and lost a month or so of notes. My bad!!! GoodNotes 4 had it. Still a good app. **EDIT** AUTO BACKUP to OneDrive please!!!! Keep getting an error with iCloud.Version: 5.3.6
✓ Why Can't I Sync?"Existing Goodnotes users can continue to use Goodnotes 5 indefinitely or upgrade to Goodnotes 6. Either way, your notes are safe!" Then why do I keep getting messages saying I can only sync between my iPad and my laptop if I upgrade to Goodnotes 6?.Version: 6.1.6
✓ An app with a big organizational holeI just started using GoodNotes 6 with my iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, and it’s a dream to use—I was a writing teacher for years, and GoodNotes makes the iPad into the paper editing and note-taking machine I always wanted it to be, but the iPad just couldn’t seem to reach. However, as I use it for creating personal notes, I find it very limiting that there is no way to create links between pages or documents you have. It makes taking lots of notes very difficult because there is no way to easily reference anything you’ve written previously. In a physical notebook, you could at least number the pages and write in that reference, but with the ability to add pages into a notebook wherever you want (which is good, and I like :) ), any sort of reference system becomes an exercise in simply trying to reference what you’ve written before. So I like GoodReads, but it looks like I might be in the market for another app that can handle a large amount of text and allows me to create my own reference links to help keep information organized. If you’re looking to do a lot of writing, either typed or handwritten, you might want to look at other apps as well, because your notes can become a bit of a mess in GoodNotes otherwise..Version: 6.0.6
✓ AwfulThank god I didn’t have any important documents there. These guys updates version 5 that was free to version 6 that doesn’t have free mode. So to access your docs there you’d have to pay for version 6. Plus what an awful idea to just stop access to the app - that happened to me in the middle of the class when I had to draw something for my students. Never again I’m gonna use this app, even for free..Version: 6.2.22
✓ Not polished enoughThe ipad and the iphone apps are great but the mac app is considerably worse when compared to its other counter parts. - The app is very laggy when clicking on the button to create a new file or new document. - the search function needs a reword. It does not work like an actual search function and overall provides a very bad experience..Version: 5.8.6
✓ Recent updates is really ruinning this tool!!I have been an user of Goodnotes for more than one years since I mainly repied on iPads to take notes. Recently I have been using Mac version heavily. However I notices that recent updates is making this software extremly unfirendly towards Mac users. Since I need to type a lot to take notes instead of handwritting, I reply quite a lot on text input. However, I don't know for what resason Gootnotes team decided to make the text input module extreamly hard to dynamically change text color. There were three options just like handwritting input settings. But now just one from toolbar, I have to click twice to choose a different color. This is really terrible user experince. Looks like it's time to make up my mind to find something else. Sorry to see a handy tool get ruined though..Version: 5.6.23
✓ Still missing important featuresHaving been a user of Goodnotes 5 for the past 3 years, I was really excited about the launch of Goodnotes 6. Features such as the auto-correct option, easy lasso/eraser tool and coloured folders are things that I have been expecting for a long time. However, I was disappointed to see that I can still not export my highlights and comments as many other PDF/notetaking tools allow me to do. So, unfortunately, until I am able to either see and edit comments/notes that I have made in other annotation apps or export my notes and highlights from a PDF, Goodnotes 6 will remain as a spare app I use from time to time rather than the main one. Zotero has amazing PDF annotation tools and exporting capabilities that Goodnotes could take a look at and implement. Another suggestion (not necessarily a must-have) would be some sort of integration with Notion. .Version: 6.1.1
✓ Writing bugs need fixingI’ve been using good notes for over 6 years, as a clinician I take notes 8 hours+/day… all hand written. The new “upgrades” are frustrating. The handwriting feature has gone down in quality, significantly. For example, writing a word the app doesn’t recognise (could be as simple as “symptom”) it simply won’t appear, just disappears after writing. I can rewrite the word 6 times and still won’t stay on the page. I then have to write it letter by letter, i.e. not cursive, and then my writing stays on the page. Never had this before… and the upgrade was expensive compared to previous upgrades and now wants a yearly subscription. Not worth upgrading from v5 and certainly not on subscription..Version: 6.0.10
✓ Recent Updates:With the recent updates that have been made to the app, I keep experiencing this “glitch.” It happens when I am writing something and for some reason, it just disappears. My writing/drawing does not stay on the document at all. It mainly happens when I am attempting to color/fill something in. This also leads me to ask why the new update didn’t include a paint bucket tool that will allow people to just drag and drop so that they can fill empty spaces with color easier. It also made me sad when they got rid of the community sharing option where everyone would upload/share their notes/templates. This gave people the option to even download the shared notes/templates and use it as a guide to hep them explore/develop their own sense of self/creativity. I think that this app should specifically have an academic section similar to the original community sharing option. This would allow students to upload their notes on the platform to help other students study for various subjects (STEM, social sciences, etc). If the app is worried about plagiarism, the use of AI, etc; they can absolutely set up a guideline and have it so that before the notes officially get uploaded to the database, they are processed via pre-screening. (Might add more/write another review soon)!.Version: 6.2.21
✓ Trying too hardHonestly I prefer Goodnotes5 over 6 because it just has everything it needs, nothing more or nothing less. Goodnotes 6 has features that I personally find unnecessary for example, the scribble to erase feature and the spell check. Firstly because the scribble to erase feature detects my cursive writing as “scribbles” and instantly removes what I have written. Also the spell check, when the red underlines show up it looks so messy and most of the time I have spelled it correctly except it’s my handwriting that detects otherwise so I have to one by one hold down and press ignore. I know that I can turn these features off, but then what’s the whole point on upgrading then?.Version: 6.0.10
✓ Why pay again?Why are you making people pay again?.Version: 6.2.22
✓ Latest update isn’t quite so disabled friendly.I used to really enjoy using this app! I used it for so much: work, bills, tracking, medical stuff, notes. You name it, I probably used it for that. I generally use an apple pen with it as I’m disabled and have bad hand tremors but the latest update has made this a little more difficult. As an example, if I had highlighted something, but wanted to move the text that’s underneath a little without moving the actual highlight, I used to be able to click the text function, then the text box and just drag it around with my pen. Now when I try that, it draws lines and words as it thinks I’m trying to write. So I either have to move it with a shaking finger and have the text accidentally end up on the other side of the page, or move everything with the lasso function then redo all my highlighting from scratch. Workable but not ideal, especially when it’s whole pages of things that then need fixing. Prior to the last update, this app would have been 5* for me, but unfortunately I don’t find it quite as accessible for me now..Version: 5.6.39
✓ Bookmark feature is no longer greatI loved the older version when the bookmark icon was right on the screen, above the tools bar. I could just go from one page to another then bookmark any page with just one touch. Now I have to go to the option on the top right where the bookmark feature is hidden in there (takes me two steps instead of one). Secondly, in the older version, because the bookmark icon was right on the main screen, I could see which pages were bookmarked right away (the icon would be red if the page as marked). Hence, I could choose to mark or unmark the pages easily. Lastly, in the older version, I could choose to read JUST bookmarked pages (among the other two options: Thumbnails, or Outlines). Now, when I’m in the “Favorites” option, if I select one of the those pages, then swipe left or right, it will not take me to the other bookmarked pages. Instead, it will just take me to the regular pages before/after the chosen bookmarked page. If I had a file that has 300 pages and only wanted to read 100 pages that I bookmarked, having to go to the Bookmark option to select each of them every single time (100 times in this case) would be a real big hassle (on top of checking which page currently on in order to choose the next one properly). This is such a bummer! I hope you will consider bringing the old bookmark features back! Other than that, I’ve been enjoying using the app. Thank you!.Version: 5.9.79
✓ Lost my notesI was using the free version which I’m totally ok with and have no need for the updated version, but today I tried accessing my notes and it was not allowing me, it kept saying “good notes 5 is no longer available please update to Good notes 6”. Which I DID, but I still have NO ACCESS to my prior notes and to be completely honest, I like the app but I’m not in any place to pay for it because I don’t NEED anything from the “advance” version. 3 notes books is absolutely enough for me and the pages are unlimited (as far I as I know ), so that was great. Some of the features like the copy and paste + adding images and stickers were great too, and honestly that was all I needed, but now I’ve lost all my notes and honestly that’s a pretty low thing to do, I really just wished I had access to some important things I wrote so I could transfer it to my files but I guess I’d have to pay to gain access to something that was free literally yesterday 💀. Overall I’m not paying and I’m a bit disappointed that I can’t get access to my former notes. But if you do NEED he advanced features than yeah I can see why you’d pay and I’d definitely say go for it, I mean if I needed it than I’d pay too, but I DON’T 😭 and that’s the thing like just let me access my old notes and I’d delete the app like what….Version: 6.1.8
✓ The upgrade to version 6 is the worst of allI have purchased versin 5 and thought that was a permanent purchase. However, recently after upgrading to 6, they tried to rip money by forcing you to pay for the upgrade otherwise you can only edit/import 3 notebooks. Even worse, the software fails to load the upgrade options so you can't upgrade even if you want to pay them again ... This is very disappointing since this app has been my go-to optin for taking notes on iPad..Version: 6.1.3
✓ Moved on to NotefulAnother great app destroyed by greedy developers. They poked fun at Notability for going to subscription, then shortly followed anyways..Version: 6.0.2
✓ Obvious functions don’t get addedSo many users have asked to have a button from document view to return to open documents and for at least two years it’s been supposedly looked at by developers but never gets added. It feels like Goodnotes don’t care what the end users need and it’s something that should have been there all along. I don’t want to click through to recently opened documents in another screen in order to get back to where I was, it’s nonsensical..Version: 5.9.34
✓ Good notes 6 trialI have been using good notes 5 for years and tired good notes 6 today. I was quite disapointed with the AI (the main new feature). I’t works okay for very simple things but is not very reliable, especially trying to convert even simple handwritten maths to a text format. Final verdict: I’m going to wait untill GN6 improves its AI features and is worth the money spend on the upgrade..Version: 6.2.4
✓ New updates require subscriptionI already paid $11 for gn5 and now they took away the sync among devices function unless I enroll into the new paid subscription version. You can’t make customers pay for a one time fee to buy the app, then take it away and force them to repay a monthly subscription. I would call that a scam. Not a smart business strategy for GoodNotes to keep clients..Version: 6.0.14
✓ Really disappointed 2023Too many glitches! GN5 user for almost 4 years! Have recommended it to so many people, but GN6 you have tried to reinvent the wheel and it’s now like riding on square tyres….! Main issues: -select a file, good. Select a notebook, good. Select a page……opens a different one! Try again, still the wrong page. Stay with that page and then scroll right through the whole file till you find the page you wanted! Start working on your project and want to change zoom, nothing, so you pinch or slide slightly more and wham you might be lucky if it stops within 5-6 pages! Go back to trying to locate your page and be very careful to not do the same thing again because now it’s starting to take longer than the old paper version to do any task! Not what I wanted from a supposed better program/app. Please see if you can rectify, or just add a couple of the new things(like the ruler! Brilliant!!) to the old GN5 and I would be happy..Version: 6.2.9
✓ Lost my notesThought this app was amazing. It was really easy to write on and make notes. Used it since it came out for my notes as an everyday lesson book. After a couple months some glitch occurred where whenever I added pages it added them to the second page instead of the last page and I couldn’t even move these new pages to the back of the notebook. This meant I could no longer add pages to my SAT notes notebook. I tried to see if the same thing occurred and tested it out on two other notebooks with the same result; I could no longer add pages anywhere but the second page. After troubleshooting to the best of my ability I decided to simply sync my notes to iCloud, delete the app and reinstall it. After reinstalling I downloaded all my notes back onto my iPad Pro except three of my notebooks (the same three I was using when the glitch occurred) have turned grey and are inaccessible. I’ve now lost my SAT, Arabic and biology notes. I therefore advise anyone reading this to not download this app if they wish to use it for anything important because their documents will not be safely stored and can be lost just as mine..Version: 5.0.9
✓ So. Many. Bugs.Honestly, I loved GoodNotes when i first downloaded it in 2019 (?). I loved the ease of it and how I can sync it to all of my Apple devices. GoodNotes is my MAIN note-taking app. I'm talking for every single class, every single semester, I have a GoodNotes notebook. But, lately things have been getting buggy. The app will just shut down out of nowhere and not save the notes I was taking for the last several minutes. It's like it gets overwhelmed. If i'm editing pages, it crashes. If I'm typing a lot, it crashes. Additonally, the text just does not want to work if you want to make it bigger. If you type something out and then increase the texts size, the text will get cut off and only show a sliver of it. It's like it will only show what the initial sized box would see despite you making it bigger. Also, it has become almost IMPOSSIBLE to zoom into my pages on my Macbook. Even after closing/force-quitting the app, it still is picky about letting me zoom in. Not to mention there's ALWAYS an update but it doesnt seem to fix any of these bugs. I just updated the app yesterday afternoon and here it is saying there's another update this evening. I think I've had enough. I still like that all of my stuff is synced to my devices, but I'm officially switching to Notability. I can't handle the frustration anymore..Version: 5.9.63
✓ Newest paid version of the app is worse than the previous free one.In this new paid version some features are improved, for example editing images, and adding/editing text is easier. However, the main reason I got this app was to use as a virtual notebook and every time I click off the app to check something on safari for example and then click back to write a note, it seems to load up the app again and this closes the current document I’m writing in. I then have to go through my files to open it again. I presume this is to update the note/upload to iCloud and there might be a way to stop it doing this. I have yet to find the answer and I am finding it increasingly annoying. I wish I hadn’t updated it or paid for it. When I did update it I had to pay to have access to my own documents, which I felt was absolutely absurd. They are my documents! Overall I must say goodnotes is fabulous and I couldn’t be without it. I just wish they never changed to a charged version, as I’m sure there are a number of restrictions in the free version now..Version: 6.2.16
✓ GoodNotes 5 Users getting Ripped Off.So after seeing the giant pop-up and everything for GoodNotes 5; changing to version 6. It states that GoodNotes 5 users who had a paid lifetime subscription before would STILL HAVE ACCESS TO ALL THEIR PREMIUM PAID FEATURES from the previously purchased version. However that is not true; after updating it locked ALL my notebooks that I have created and uploaded and I have needless to say WAY MORE THAN 3! I am a doctoral student and I used GoodNotes almost daily but now they have basically stolen all my content that I created and locked it from me unless I pay to unlock all my notes. Almost 100% sure this is illegal and false advertising as I paid for the LIFETIME use of a product and the specifications of the product at that time. Taking my money for a lifetime user; then taking away what I originally paid for is point blank FRAUD. Especially since they have that blurb in GoodNotes about GoodNotes 5 users being allowed to still have their full features and access just not the new features. So, not quite sure what your end game is developers. Since sure people will buy the subscription or upgrade. Or someone that has the time will come for your app as the aforementioned items above violate the terms of use from apple. Along with again Fraud. So FYI devs may want to actually follow through on what you say your going to do and give the people who paid for lifetime GoodNotes 5 have their PAID for features back…. 🤓.Version: 6.0.1
✓ Hit or Miss - worse and worsThe app is pretty buggy since the most recent update with symptoms varying symptoms. In my case, documents aren’t appropriately exporting to an email. There’s no error message, it looks like it should have sent but nope. I’ve had other issues with syncing across devices. A classmate is having issues with the app randomly shutting down on her while taking notes. Just a lot of little things that should have been caught before launch. Customer service is pretty meh when you report a bug. Oh, and they’ve added templates you can PURCHASE. After already buying the premium membership. If you haven’t it may be worth comparing closely to other options. This one has been a standout in the past but they seem to be trying to cash in on that good reputation for a short term money grab. Edit: goodnotes 6 is not an effective solution. The lifetime license they previously sold is being scrapped for a subscription based service. The actual app has significant issues including a bug that cause me to lose a pretty important recording. I emailed customer service two weeks ago and just received an auto-response saying that they’re dealing with a lot of requests right not. They have been the big name in this space for a couple of years because they had a fairly strong product with fair pricing. Unfortunately, it seems that they’re making some choices that could jeopardize that position..Version: 6.1.6
✓ Not worth the moneyVersion 5 was free and was great. Forced upgrade to version 6 and now it’s all lost unless I subscribe for $$. Not cool I am out. Deleted the app and not looking back..Version: 6.2.21
✓ Stay with GoodNotes 4Not worth the upgrade. Key features are missing. New versions should augment and improve. That is not the case here. GoodNotes 5 is not improved..Version: 5.0.1
✓ GREEDWhy are they making us pay more for a software we have ALREADY purchased..Version: 6.1.6
✓ Reconsider for Text Based NotesI primarily use text based notes with photos/illustrations as adjuncts. I was hoping to utilize editing abilites to create visual notes however there are constant and signficant challenges to using this application, especially for text. Do not use this application if you use text based notes. Often this application does not tolerate format changes and there are problems with typing: 1) indentations from Word will limit text margins and textbox size 2) colour change and font emphasis is problematic with screen lag/glitching (ie. font colour selector glitches and with typing it will alternate each letter to a different colour) 3) keyboard shortcuts do not consistently work/are recognized (ie. keyboard shortcut for change inconsistently changes to ∆ in this application only) 4) spelling error indications disappear after initial input and reappear only with highlighting text vs simply selecting the textbook 5) the textbox is finicky to resize (specific area needs to be clicked in order to resize) 6) textboxes do not lock in place (with multiple layers on one page do not anticipate moving objects without altering another object) - layering and locking objects should be an option The application lags with multiple windows of the application open. The amount of times I've had to force close and restart the program has made any potential efficiencies of this application nearly nonexistant. Changing pages on the sidebar/note book outline is not always accurate (ie. on page 3, click page 1 on outline and not automatically taken to page 1) - there is also no option to hide the margin and moving the window to hide the outline would hide tools/features you would require for note writing. There are adequate functions with handwriting and colouring. Photos do not have the ability to be moved or copy/pasted from different pages without reinserting the picture on the correct page therefore another problem where moving content/editing is difficult (also problematic switching between Macbook/iPad if photos are not easily accessible/organized). This is a paid application that has many active problems and has not greatly improved my note taking abilities and therefore I regret this purchase..Version: 5.6.21
✓ New Version is badHaving paid for the app, I had used this app throughout my 1st and 2nd year undergrad for note taking. It was brilliant. As the services this app provides I’m not going to give this a 1 star. But, what I used to have access to now within this app has now been put behind an expensive subscription wall. As a university student who I already struggling with finances, I can no longer use this app, it is baffling to see so many basic features made inaccessible. Personally, I could justify I have had my money’s worth from when I bought it long ago. Although I can imagine for those who acquired the app more recently, that this would be incredibly frustrating. This is definitely the wrong move for good notes, and I can only see the other note taking apps becoming more successful because of this paywall decision..Version: 6.0.4
✓ If I could give 0 stars…Was a good app until this update ruined everything. Remember last year when Notability switched to subscription pricing, you guys promised to the users that you would never turn into subscription? And you reduced the price of the app to attract the users remember? Then what it is now? We as lifetime purchasers have to pay again? For those new subscribers, good luck with the next version launched in future… hopefully the company won’t rip you off in couple years… bah very disappointed..Version: 6.0.1
✓ DisappointedI paid for goodnotes a long time ago since my university years, recently i updated to goodnotes 6 and i no longer have unlimited edits eventho i have paid before. What have you done? Why why why, this is awful, now I won’t use goodnotes anymore. Very disappointed, i feel like i just got robbed.Version: 6.2.22
🙂 Goodnotes 6 Positive Reviews
Goodnotes 6 works most of the time. If it is not working for you, we recommend you excersise some patience and retry later or contact Goodnotes 6.
⛔ Goodnotes 6 Problems
