Noteful: Note-Taking on PDF 4+

I started using this app after the recent disastrous Notability update. I've been using it for a week now and I'm quite satisfied with the UX so far. It has basically everything that I need, and it's quite intuitive and easy to use. The variety of options on each of the tools on the toolbar is quite useful. I love how I'm allowed to favorite as many colors as I want and how easily accessible they are on the toolbar. Also, the option to customize the toolbar is simply fantastic. However, I've noticed a design layout that I believe could be improved for a more intuitive user experience. Specifically, when I click on the highlighter button in the toolbar, a small window appears with two tabs: one for the highlighter tool and another for the tape tool. I find it quite odd to have two distinct tools hidden behind a single icon button. And it's quite inconvenient when trying to quickly access either the highlighter or tape tool. I'd like to suggest a more user-friendly approach by separating these tools under different icon buttons in the toolbar. This would make it easier for users to access each tool independently and swiftly without any unnecessary steps.

I have tried almost all of the iOS note taking apps, trying to find the perfect one. There are some apps that have more features, but for me this is the one that works. The learning curve and the feature set, makes for a hassle free experience. With some apps I feel I am battling to make them work, but this one is the most intuitive. As a university lecturer, I love the layers concept. I can annotate a .pdf but return to the original document with ease. One feature request would be Dropbox backup. A note app needs to be quick and easy to use. This one strikes the perfect balance. The cream on the cake is the price, it’s a bargain!

The app is superb, with good folder management, tags, layers (!!!), and a UI which leaves most of the screen free for writing and which makes navigation easy. The experience is positive enough that I now use it as my main note taking app for university instead of Notability or Goodnotes 5. I do wish the tutorial was a bit clearer though, especially regarding layers (what do the eye/pencil/padlock symbols mean!?).

That said, it’s missing some features. None are completely deal breaking, but they do make me miss Notability:
- Shapes do not snap to each other, nor do they snap to the lines on pages
- No “duplicate” feature, instead have to copy & paste (this takes up a fair bit of time when you’re trying to keep up with a lecturer)
- No handwriting recognition; handwritten notes thus can’t be searched
- No maths/LaTeX conversion; this one is less important, but I really miss it for when I want to make sure an equation is nice and clear
- Can’t move the tools around on the toolbar (I prefer it on the bottom, but the colours are out of the way if I do this)
- No ruler; would be a nice addition.

Overall though, I’m happy to see where this app goes in future, since I’d be surprised if a lot of these aren’t added going forward. I hope these improvements come quickly though, because if Notability fixes it’s awful file management and lack of various paper types/pdfs in one notebook, I’d probably switch back.