Photo by Lÿv Jaan on Unsplash

Cloud note taking apps

None of the notes apps tick all of the boxes, I hope this outline will help you to decide which is best for you.

Check this Medium post for word processors and long-form Writing apps

Evernote

If you have a lot of notes and images and you could have just one note-taking application, Evernote would be the winner. It’s hands down the best on search and tagging and it’s available on all platforms.

• Evernote Basic is free, but you get no offline access.
• Evernote Premium at last check US$89.99 p.a.
• There’s also a Business Plan for multiple users.

The good points

• Full offline access in Windows and MacOS, offline access to selected files in iOS.
• Outstanding search capability; including finding text in images.
• Excellent tagging system. If you have a lot of notes, tagging is a must.
• Spell checker.
• Nested folders if you need them.
  (I prefer to use tags rather than a formal tree structure. A file can have more than one tag, but it can only live in one folder.)

Not so good

• Only 2 devices on the free plan.
• It’s a visually unattractive and cluttered application compared to some alternatives.

The bad

• Very limited heading and formatting options.
  The latest update makes heading formatting easier.
• No markdown.
• Relatively expensive paid plan.
• Privacy issues lost them a lot of customers recently.

OneNote

The good

• Free, and comes with 5GB of Microsoft’s OneDrive storage.
• It’s an attractive looking application.
• Good formatting capability if you don’t care about Markdown.
• With an Office 365 Home US$99.99 subscription you get 1TB of cloud storage for each of up to 5 family users.
  Considering what you get with the included Microsoft Office applications that’s a bargain compared to other cloud storage options if you need the powerful Office programs.
• It’s available everywhere except Linux.

Not so good

• If you like it, it’s a great deal, but some — I’m one — find OneNote’s physical notebook metaphor too cluttered and unwieldy on a screen..
• No markdown.
  Get with the times Microsoft!

The bad

• Useless tagging system.

Dropbox Paper writing app

• Dropbox Paper’s raison d’être is business users; If you need sharing and collaboration with other users it’s excellent.
• Considering that it’s free, if you can live with the poor execution of tags, it’s a great choice for those who need collaboration.
• Some reviewers complain of a lack of word processing features. This is a silly criticism; Dropbox Paper is not a word processor, it’s a note-taking app. It’s not intended as a competitor with word processors.
• For Dropbox Paper apps there’s a reasonable limit of 3 devices with a free account. However, you can access your files online in your browser from any device.

Good

• Dropbox Paper is in Beta and, so far, is free to all Dropbox users.
• Good design.
• Good tables.
• Markdown editing available.
  (If you don’t use Markdown you should give it a try; 5 minutes to learn and it makes your formatting much easier.)
• Excellent clickable outline for navigation within a document online or in the MacOS app (not in iOS).
• Access from any browser, or an app on iOS, iPadOS, or Android.
  (A beta app for computers is now available.)
• Excellent image display facility. Multiple images can be arranged neatly.
• Handy keyboard shortcut for moving text selections, paragraphs or lines. Cmd+Ctrl+↑ or ↓
• To start a note link type +
• Get it here

Not so good

• No spellchecker.
• I often find wifi response slow when opening a doc in iOS.
• No offline access in iOS if you’re out of phone or WiFi range.
  When offline just edit or create notes on one device until reconnected to the web.
• No Windows or MacOS app. Online only for these. Stop Press! In June 2020 Dropbox released a Windows, Linux, and MacOS app. It’s in beta, but so is the whole project. It’s excellent. Get it right here.

How to install the Paper desktop app

1. Open any Paper doc.
2. Click the “?” icon in the lower-right corner.
3. Click Get desktop app.

Other points

• The iOS app loses some features.
• Its raison d’etre is business users; If you don’t need sharing and collaboration it’s overkill in some respects.
• No spellchecker.

Bad

• No acceptable tagging system so far. You can use hashtags but they don’t show up in iOS app search, and there’s no formal list of those you’ve created, so you really need to maintain a separate list — a significant hassle.

A note on Dropbox storage

At this point, Dropbox Paper doesn’t need a paid Dropbox account. Dropbox Paper data usage doesn’t count in your Dropbox storage allocation.

• New users get 2GB of storage free, and up to 18GB free if you can recruit referrals.
• 2TB $120 pa.
• Includes Dropbox Paper data.
• It would be nice if Dropbox would provide a lower tier, say 250GB for $50, and/or a cheaper rate for over 65s. We retirees find those $120 accounts mount up!
• Offline access in Windows and MacOS, offline selected files in iOS.

Bear

All note-taking apps have disadvantages. For my requirements, Bear has the least. Horses for courses; it depends upon your priorities.
If you don’t need collaboration on documents and are an Apple nut, Bear is outstanding.

Good

• Beautiful design from the amazing 3-man Italian-based Bear team.
• You can use markdown; a must for regular note takers.
• Very good tagging system, automatically saves a list of your created tags.
• Notes can be accessed offline on MacOS or iOS. Obviously, there will be no syncing, so stick to one device whilst offline.
• You can use it without paying a cent, but unless you pay for Bear Pro you can’t synchronise between devices.
  US$15 p.a. for Bear Pro if you wish to synchronise between devices or change the theme.
  Excellent value in my opinion.
• Easily created links between notes; type double square brackets; like this [[Fridge Door]] within a document, or right click on a heading.
• A good selection of themes, including dark modes if that’s your preference.
• Handy keyboard shortcut for moving paragraphs up or down in your document. Cmd+Opt+↑ or ↓

Not so good

• No tables, but coming soon in Bear 2.
• Bear uses your iCloud storage, but iCloud’s free for 5GB, 99c per month up to 50GB, and a similar price to alternatives if you need more.
• The killer for Bear for many users: Apple’s ecosystem only.
  Unfortunately, the range of note-taking apps for Windows users is limited.
• I find the large relative spacing after headings, with none before, annoying. You can minmise that by tweaking paragraph spacing settings.
• Can’t share notes — this is a biggie for some.
  Use the free Dropbox Paper for notes you need to share.

Bad

• The current version doesn’t hide markdown *formatting* symbols (like those asterixes) for text and for headings in the editor which adds clutter.
  Update! June 2021: the next version, Bear 2, will fix this!.

A note on Markdown

Markdown is a method of applying headings and text formatting using keyboard shortcuts. If you need a note-taking program often, Markdown makes the writing process more efficient than other formatting methods and allows you to export your notes to various standard formats.

Spend 5 minutes learning to use markdown and there’s no going back.

Markdown Guide:

Click here Markdown Guide

Also rans:

Joplin

Good

• Powerful
• Markdown
• Available everywhere.
• Open source
• Saves locally

Not so good

• Clunky and cluttered. I prefer an app in which I only need one window for writing and viewing.

Bad

• Syncing is a nightmare to set up.

Zoho

Good

• Free
• Windows, iOS, and online

Bad

• No desktop app
• No tagging system

Google Keep

Good

• Tags (labels)
• Completely free
• Unlimited number of notes
• Voice notes
• Reminders

Not so good

• No text formatting
• No notebooks; use labels instead, but be aware that there’s a 50 label limit.
• 20,000 character limit Get over it, it’s a notes app not a word processor

Bad

• No desktop app. You must use it ion your browser.

Apple Notes

Good

• Free.

Bad

• No tags
• Horrible orange link colour can’t be changed.
• No Windows app.

Notejoy

• Interesting
• Good for teams
• Expensive for individual use.