r/notabilityapp

Hi everyone!

We wanted to introduce someone new to the subreddit. Please welcome our Product Director, u/kelseynotability She’ll be spending more time here on Reddit answering questions, reading feedback, and jumping into conversations.

We know how important it is for your feedback to reach the people actively shaping Notability, and we’re excited to make that connection more direct.

I’ll still be your main point of contact here on Reddit for support-related issues. If you need help with troubleshooting, account questions, subscription, etc., please continue to DM me directly at u/kaylanotability 💙

Kelsey and I also wanted to use this as an opportunity to hear directly from all of you:

What do you want to see us build next?

Vote in the poll and share your thoughts in the comments!

The Notability team reads your feedback constantly, and posts like this genuinely help shape internal product conversations. Thank you again for being part of the community!

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Can someone help me? I have contacted support with no reply back yet and I need to know what to do to either get out of the beta or else just get back into the app (without the notability sync turned on). I’ve tried safe mode and that doesn’t work. I am on the beta currently which I’ve been testing for several months now. About 2 weeks ago I received a notification inside the app which allowed me to sync to notability cloud and so I did. I was excited to finally get off of apple icloud. But when I went to research if anyone else was having crashing issues, I saw several others were. I also noticed on the company’s website that beta users should‘t be using their cloud service. Why did I get the option to do so then? Why would I get this option while on beta? And why wasn’t there a message that prevented me from doing it if I wasn’t supposed to? Anyway, this is when the problem with crashing began. I did see where the sync had gotten up to 54% before it crashed but I haven’t been able to get into the app since. It immediately crashes upon starting. I’ve tried safe mode, etc, rebooting, etc. I know the company is probably working on this and I trust that they care but I just would like to receive a message back from them or information on other things I can try in meantime because I work in this app several times a day and haven’t found anything to replace it.

I’ve used Notability for the past 7 years and it was the best. Never had any issues or complaints… until the most recent updates. The bugs have gotten so bad and I’m afraid I’m going to lose all of my notes like other people have.

And the fact that Notability won’t formally address the big issues is beyond infuriating. I was willing to hang on to hope because I thought they would announce that they are working to fix them. Instead, they just keep releasing more updates and fixing small stuff. Like what? How are you going to ignore the giant issues but fix square shape resizing? The app (and company) has become flat out unreliable. How many users have to complain before they actually do something?

I’m not willing to take the risk right before I start my new school program (losing my notes is simply NOT an option). Cancelling my Pro subscription. I’ll spend my money on a more trustworthy app.

Moving on… anyone who has switched to GoodNotes, do you like it? Is comparable to Notability (before the recent updates)?

To whom it may concern,

I have used this app for many years over many versions of the app. The basic functions of the app are great. Amazing even. One of the best apps if not THE best app for taking scientific handwritten notes.

BUT I will ist a few BUTs bellow, why you should never use this app.

BUT #1: updates constantly break the app to the point where it will hang on start up.

BUT #2: notes are being held hostage in this app by a proprietary file format. Yes, pdf export exists BUT then you will not be able to edit YOUR notes any longer.

BUT #3: basic features that used to be free (cloud sync) are now paywalled. From one day to the next files were no longer available on other machines.

BUT #4: every time you open the app you get a pop up that pesters you to sign up for a subscription. With features that I DO NOT WANT OR NEED.

BUT #5: if the app does not crash after you closed the pop up the whole left side of the screen will be filled with more “please buy a subscription” adds. I already told you I DO NOT WANT a subscription.

For some more context. I have already spend money on this app. For ONE TIME payments that unlocked useful features.

For the developers a few solutions that would make me consider using this app in the future.

Solution #1: If you desperately need more money to survive. Knowing that constant revenue growth is an illusion that is not possible since there is finite number of people on this planet. Offer features that are so good I NEED to spend money on them. In a ONE TIME payment.

Solution #2: allow export to a format that keeps the ability to edit strokes. SVG or similar.

Solution #3: offer a ONE TIME LIFETIME payment

Solution #4: stop updates from breaking the app. I just want to sit down, open the app and get to work. If the app can be installed on my hardware it should run on my hardware.

Solution #5: no more full screen pop ups. Just let me use the app. You already have all the money you will ever get from me. (Unless there are new useful features)

Hope you are having an amazing day!

Wow!!!

After the launch of the ipad pro m2 (Many years ago…) and its apple pencil, I have asked support many times and here on reddit for the implementation of pencil hover.

WOW, I have always considered that Notability was the notes app with the best typing engine (clean writing without traces of ink). with pencil hover it is now THE MOST ACCURATE APP OF ALL THE APPS I HAVE BOUGHT AND TRIED.

I CAN FINALLY HAVE A DEFINITIVe APP!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO THE WHOLE NOTABILITY TEAM, NOW I'M HAPPY 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻😋😂☺️☺️☺️🚀🥳🎊

The writing is very soft and very accurate!!!!!

I think notability’s AI Summary-maker does a great job of summarizing my meetings in a way that makes sense in my brain. I’ve read summaries by other apps, of the same meetings, and they are less useful (IMO).

Also, I am grateful for the ability to paste this summary back into the note so I can add highlighting, stickers, and handwritten notes. So cool!!

Just wanted to share, since I’ve seen some negative info posted about it and wanted to keep the info here somewhat balanced.

Many thanks to the team who worked/works on the AI Summary functionality. 🌟

If notability can fix the dreaded “disappearing notes” issue, it would be the absolute perfect note-taking app.

I don't care for it. If this is how we're treated as paid customers, I might as well migrate over to somewhere where I at least don't have to exit out of this obnoxious ad every time I open the app on my phone, iPad, AND Mac.

I need help with a sudden issue in Notability on my iPad.

I was studying normally on Notability and everything was working fine. Then I put my iPad on charge and left it for a while. When I came back, I noticed that Notability had automatically updated.

After that, the app started having problems:

• ⁠My notes became very slow and laggy • ⁠Large notebooks (around 120+ pages) take a long time to open or become unresponsive • ⁠Scrolling inside pages is very delayed • ⁠Overall performance dropped suddenly compared to before

I already tried restarting the device, but the issue is still there.

Has anyone experienced something like this after a Notability update? Any possible fixes would really help

Update: I discovered that the lag only happens in notes that contain typed text from the keyboard or copied/pasted text.

Notes that only contain handwriting seem to work normally without any lag or frame drops.

Update 2: I also noticed two more issues.

Whenever I copy and paste text, the font automatically changes to Times New Roman.

In addition, all previously pasted notes now have a different line spacing—the spacing between lines became much tighter,

.

Hi,

I’ve been using Notability for three years and have about 1,000 notes. Lately, I’ve been having a recurring issue where my notes disappear, and the app spends hours downloading them one by one from iCloud, making my notes inaccessible during that time.

I don’t use Notability Cloud because it requires too much local storage, and I have concerns about its stability (why would it be more stable than the rest of the app?)

I tried using other auto-backup options, but for some reason they constantly disconnect, and I’m having a hard time accessing my notes through them. So I’m sticking with iCloud.

Is there an option to choose which notes to download from iCloud, similar to how iCloud Photos works? I’m looking for a way to select specific notes and download them immediately by clicking on them, rather than waiting for the app to force a full chronological sync of the entire library.

If this isn’t currently possible, I think it’s a necessary feature to consider. The app isn’t cheap, and I spend half my time staring at it waiting for my notes to download.

Also, are there any ipad users who use iCloud and don’t have this issue? I originally assumed the problem was related to my iPad’s storage and thought about upgrading to a newer iPad with more storage space, but I don’t want to waste money if the problem is actually with the app.

I’m sure it would be really appreciated by the community if for one update (or many even more) the whole team focused on bug fixes and performance improvements, instead of adding new features. We don’t need new features now, we need a fast and reliable app

OMG how to disable it, it is driving me insane for some reason!
I checked the website and it says “disable on setting” and it is already disabled there.

Welp, i was in gn, but because of the AI (kinda forced here) and the ridiculous prices for everything (suscription, templates, etc.), not even talking on the performance issues. im looking for alternatives. Rught now im between base apple notes, noteful and notability. So whats your opinion?

Ive seen notabllity was sonewhat based on gn so it shared bugs or some sort?

I went to study for finals and 80 pages of notes have suddenly gone blank. Beyond that, they are all there. I’ve tried going to iCloud but the furthest backup it has is apparently after they all deleted themselves. Is there anything I can do? These notes cover one third of my entire lecture and they’re just gone.

Please help