u/Bellatreeex

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I (20F) am an ESL teacher who also teaches middle and high school Science as a freelancer. I’ll be starting med school around September. I bought an iPad 11th gen last year and have been using the built-in Notes app for my classes. It worked okay for basic things, but PDF markups have been a real headache. Since this is my first Apple product, I’m not sure if it’s just a learning curve or if the app truly isn’t great for heavy use.

Either way, I’m not a big fan of it for serious note-taking and intense work. Recently I went down a huge rabbit hole comparing note apps. I even paid about $3 for one year of FreeNotes (and immediately canceled auto-renew) to try it out, planning to buy the lifetime Plus version for $7 if I liked it. But now I keep hearing that GoodNotes is better, while also seeing plenty of negative reviews. Then I discovered Notability, Noteful, CollaNote, Killo notes, and many others and now I have total choice paralysis.

Here’s exactly what I’ll be using the app for:

(As a teacher)

- Making lesson plans

- Annotating PDFs with quick revision notes

- Creating homework assignments

- Designing learning materials (very visually heavy lots of flowcharts, mind maps, and diagrams)

(As a med student)

- Taking notes in class

- Making short personal notes and quick summaries

- Annotating e-books for revision

- Creating mind maps, flowcharts, and flashcards

- Practicing diagrams

(My requirements)

- Must have a dark mode because i mostly study at night and my students mostly live in different timezones

- No subscriptions at all

- One-time payment under $50 is fine (as long as it has the necessary features)

Please help me settle on something that fits my needs! Which app would you recommend for this kind of heavy visual + PDF work, and why? Personal experiences would be super helpful.

I (20F) am an ESL teacher who also teaches middle and high school Science as a freelancer. I’ll be starting med school around September. I bought an iPad 11th gen last year and have been using the built-in Notes app for my classes. It worked okay for basic things, but PDF markups have been a real headache. Since this is my first Apple product, I’m not sure if it’s just a learning curve or if the app truly isn’t great for heavy use.

Either way, I’m not a big fan of it for serious note-taking and intense work. Recently I went down a huge rabbit hole comparing note apps. I even paid about $3 for one year of FreeNotes (and immediately canceled auto-renew) to try it out, planning to buy the lifetime Plus version for $7 if I liked it. But now I keep hearing that GoodNotes is better, while also seeing plenty of negative reviews. Then I discovered Notability, Noteful, CollaNote, Killo notes, and many others and now I have total choice paralysis.

Here’s exactly what I’ll be using the app for:

(As a teacher)

- Making lesson plans

- Annotating PDFs with quick revision notes

- Creating homework assignments

- Designing learning materials (very visually heavy lots of flowcharts, mind maps, and diagrams)

(As a med student)

- Taking notes in class

- Making short personal notes and quick summaries

- Annotating e-books for revision

- Creating mind maps, flowcharts, and flashcards

- Practicing diagrams

(My requirements)

- Must have a dark mode because i mostly study at night and my students mostly live in different timezones

- No subscriptions at all

- One-time payment under $50 is fine (as long as it has the necessary features)

Please help me settle on something that fits my needs! Which app would you recommend for this kind of heavy visual + PDF work, and why? Personal experiences would be super helpful.