Element Note 4+

For context I’m a student and take all my notes on iPad. So far, none of the typical note taking apps have really satisfied me at all, until I found this app.

This app has the best handwriting I’ve ever seen from the various note taking apps for iPad. My handwriting is so clear that I don’t need OCR to clean it up. It feels telepathic how well the words turn out the first try, I can finally just focus on writing and not worry about aesthetics. That said, this app is missing features that I consider essential for my needs as a student. OCR, audio recording, auto shape lines, and those other nice to have features are absent. It’s unclear whether they will be added later although I hope they are. I’d personally love to see these features added or the ability to import my element notes to nebo and use their OCR and miscellaneous functions. I hope the developer considers the latter option as I could see it being a huge advantage over other apps.

I got this app mostly for the variety of pens and aesthetic design. I love all the variations and ability to note take very easily. Everything is easy to navigate and it’s my new favorite handwriting note taking app. However since this app is still new, I am excited for the future features they will add! I also especially love the one time payment! It’s one of the main reasons I got it! I really didnt want a subscription and this was perfect!

Additions that could be helpful:
- I would like if this app could please keep the page background color when exporting with Dark Mode rather than switch everything to light mode when exporting.
-More importantly: when i download a large pdf to take notes on it, it take a second for what I write to show up on the screen, which is reasonable. However, on other programs it does not lag. If this could be fixed I would really appreciate it.

I downloaded Element from recommendations ironically from the GoodNotes Reddit page. People raved about the pen choices and how your handwriting looks and they were right! And the stickers!! and the ability make your own sticker sheets is awesome. However, I’m hoping Element does do some upgrades such as: the ability to bookmark or favorite a page in a notebook. I know you can search which is great but for instance, I use it primarily for a digital planner which is over 700 pages and sometimes it’s difficult or otherwise takes time to find a particular page. I also kind of miss the ability to rearrange pages by selecting and dragging but that’s not a big deal. I also noticed some glitches in Element like it took some time to load when I opened a notebook. But I absolutely love writing more with Element. Which motivates me to write more so that part gets 5 stars. But I am hoping they add bookmarking or a timeline option, then this app will be a ten star app!