u/StarNoteDev

Hey guys!

Android v1.4.2.1 is now available on Google Play!

There are definitely a few little surprises in here, especially Layer Opacity, which we're pretty excited about.

Here's everything new in Android v1.4.2.1🤔

🌟 What's New

1. Layer Restore

Accidentally deleted a layer? No worries anymore! You can now restore deleted layers and get your work back without having to reorganize everything from scratch.

2. Layer Opacity

You can now freely adjust the opacity of individual layers! This feature opens up a lot of possibilities. For example, you can:

• Lower the opacity of an imported image and trace over it
• Fade reference pictures or stickers into the background
• Reduce the visibility of handwritten content for tracing or practice
• Create cleaner, more layered study notes and annotations

Honestly, we feel like there are so many creative ways to use this feature, so we'd love to see what you do with it. Please share your ideas with us!

3. Freehand Tape Drawing

Tape is no longer limited to straight horizontal or vertical lines! You can now draw tape freely at any angle you want, making it much easier to cover answers, create review materials, or design your notes exactly the way you like.

🛠️ Improvements & Fixes

• Improved overall stability and performance
• Fixed several known issues and minor bugs

💙 Come Chat With Us Every Thursday!

We've also started trying something new on our IG:

#ThursdayTalk is officially here!

Every Thursday, we'll post a new topic and simply… chat with you.

Questions, feature ideas, feedback, random thoughts, or even just a quick hello, everything is welcome. Every comment helps us understand our community better and inspires us to keep improving StarNote.

And of course... Every week, we'll pick 5 participants and surprise them with little gifts!

So come chat with us! Most importantly, these conversations genuinely influence how we improve the app. We really do listen, and many changes in StarNote start from comments just like yours.

Go update to Android v1.4.2.1 on Google Play and let us know what you think!

Happy note taking, everyone!

See you next time! 💙

The StarNote Team

🙋‍♀️🙋

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Hi everyone! 💙

Lately, we've been seeing the same question come up again and again:

"What's a good GoodNotes alternative on Android?"

To be honest, GoodNotes is one of the most recognized digital note-taking apps available today. In many ways, it's a fantastic app that has quietly influenced a lot of note-taking tools on the market, including StarNote. It's especially loved by people who take handwritten notes, annotate PDFs, organize documents, and study on tablets.

And yes, some of you may already know that GoodNotes is now available on Android, Windows, and the web, which means users who love GoodNotes have more choices than ever before.

But honestly, when we first started researching user needs, one thing quickly became clear: everyone has different writing and note-taking habits.

Some people want a smoother handwriting experience with a stylus or S Pen. Some need a more powerful PDF annotation workflow for reading and reviewing documents. Others want a digital notebook that can handle studying, planning, and everyday work in one place. And of course, there are users who simply dislike subscriptions and prefer paying once for long-term value.

That's also why we've always encouraged people to explore different note-taking apps, including apps other than StarNote.

As the team behind StarNote, and as developers who spend a lot of time studying this market—we wanted to put together a guide that's as objective as possible. (Okay… maybe we're a little biased toward StarNote, but hopefully you'll forgive us for that.)

We hope this guide helps you find the note-taking app that best fits your handwriting, PDF, study, and productivity workflow. BTW, after reading all the way to the end, we think you guys will still like us the most. 💗

• What Makes a Great GoodNotes Alternative for Android?

A great GoodNotes alternative for Android tablets shouldn't simply try to imitate GoodNotes. It should solve the problems that Android tablet users genuinely care about.

Here are a few things worth considering before choosing a note-taking app:

1. A Smooth Handwriting Experience

For tablet users, handwriting quality matters. A good Android note-taking app should feel natural with a stylus or S Pen. It should support pens, highlighters, erasers, shapes, and lasso tools, while remaining smooth during long study sessions or busy workdays.

2. Powerful PDF Annotation

Many students and professionals rely on tablets to read and mark up PDFs. A strong GoodNotes alternative should make it easy to import PDFs, write directly on pages, highlight important sections, annotate lecture slides, review textbooks, and export notes whenever needed.

3. Stylus and S Pen Support

Android tablets are often used with stylus devices such as the S Pen. A good handwriting app should be designed with pen input in mind instead of treating handwriting as an afterthought.

4. Digital Notebook Organization

A note-taking app should help users create notebooks, organize pages, manage study materials, and keep handwritten notes and documents together in one workspace.

5. OCR and Handwriting Search

As handwritten notes grow over time, finding information becomes increasingly important. OCR and handwriting recognition make it much easier to search old notes, revisit study materials, and reuse information efficiently.

6. Audio Recording

For lectures, meetings, interviews, and training sessions, audio recording can be incredibly useful.

It allows users to revisit what was said while keeping handwritten notes connected to their original context.

7. Infinite Canvas and Flexible Pages

Some users need more than fixed pages. Infinite canvas, flexible layouts, and visual note-taking tools can be especially useful for mind maps, diagrams, brainstorming, project planning, and free-form thinking.

8. Fair Pricing

Pricing is also part of the overall experience. Some users are comfortable with subscriptions, while others prefer a note-taking app with a one-time purchase model and no recurring monthly or yearly fees.

• The Best GoodNotes Alternatives for Android Tablets

Below are some of the most popular GoodNotes alternatives for Android tablets. We've focused primarily on handwriting, PDF annotation, stylus support, study workflows, planning, and long-term value.

1. StarNote — Best for Handwriting, PDF Annotation & No Subscription

StarNote is a handwriting-first note-taking app and PDF annotation app designed for Android tablets, iPad users, stylus users, students, and professionals.

It brings together handwritten notes, PDF annotation, digital notebooks, infinite canvas, layers, OCR, audio recording, templates, and study planning tools in one workspace.

StarNote is especially useful for people who want to:

• Take handwritten notes with a stylus or S Pen
• Annotate PDFs, textbooks, lecture slides, reports, and documents
• Organize study notes, class notes, and meeting notes
• Use digital notebooks for studying, working, and planning
• Create mind maps, diagrams, revision notes, and visual notes
• Search notes using OCR and handwriting recognition
• Record lectures or meetings while taking notes
• Brainstorm on an infinite canvas
• Use templates for planning and organization
• Avoid monthly or yearly subscription pressure

As the team behind StarNote, we've always wanted to become one of the options people can genuinely rely on.

The fact that StarNote doesn't require a subscription is one of our biggest strengths, and we believe it makes StarNote a compelling GoodNotes alternative for Android, combining handwriting, PDF annotation, digital planning, and long-term value in one app.

Best for: Students, Android tablet users, S Pen users, PDF annotation, handwritten notes, digital planning, and users who prefer a no-subscription purchase model.

2. Samsung Notes — Best for Samsung Galaxy Tab Users

Samsung Notes is a natural choice for many Galaxy Tab users because of its deep integration with Samsung devices and S Pen workflows.

It's great for quick notes, handwriting, sketches, and PDF markup, and it feels familiar for users who spend most of their time inside the Samsung ecosystem.

However, users who need a more specialized digital notebook system, richer template workflows, stronger cross-platform positioning, or a more dedicated study experience may still want to explore other options.

Best for: Samsung Galaxy Tab users who want a built-in note-taking app with S Pen support.

3. Flexcil — Best for PDF-Centered Study Workflows

Flexcil is a well-known note-taking and PDF reader app that focuses heavily on reading, annotating, and studying with PDF documents.

It's particularly useful for students and researchers who spend most of their time reading textbooks, reviewing papers, highlighting materials, and connecting notes back to source documents.

Compared with more general note-taking apps, Flexcil's biggest strength is its PDF-centered workflow.

Best for: Students, researchers, and users who primarily work with PDFs, textbooks, papers, and study materials.

4. Microsoft OneNote — Best Free Cross-Platform Option

Microsoft OneNote is a widely used digital note-taking app available across multiple platforms, including Android.

It supports handwritten notes, pens, highlighters, erasers, lasso selection, and canvas navigation while integrating naturally with Microsoft 365.

OneNote is an excellent choice for users who want a free, cross-platform notebook for general productivity.

However, people looking for a more tablet-native handwriting experience, richer PDF annotation workflows, or a simpler student-focused notebook may prefer a dedicated handwriting-first app.

Best for: Users who want a free cross-platform note-taking app connected to the Microsoft ecosystem.

• Why StarNote Is a Strong GoodNotes Alternative for Android

Technically speaking, StarNote isn't trying to become just another note-taking app.

It's built around the way people actually study, work, and organize information on tablets.

1. A Handwriting-First Experience

StarNote is designed for users who prefer writing by hand. It supports stylus note-taking, S Pen workflows, pens, highlighters, shapes, lasso tools, and a paper-like writing experience.

2. PDF Annotation in the Same Workspace

Users can import PDFs, write directly on pages, highlight important sections, review documents, and keep handwritten notes and PDF materials together.

3. Built for Students

StarNote works well for lecture notes, class notes, exam revision, PDF textbooks, study planners, formulas, diagrams, and research organization.

4. Useful for Professionals

Professionals can use StarNote for meeting notes, project planning, document review, report annotation, brainstorming, and work notes.

5. Infinite Canvas and Layers

For visual thinkers, StarNote offers an infinite canvas and layers for diagrams, mind maps, planning, sketch notes, and free-form thinking.

6. OCR and Audio Recording

OCR and handwriting recognition make handwritten notes easier to search and organize.

Audio recording helps users revisit lectures, meetings, interviews, and discussions whenever needed.

7. No Subscription

StarNote's no-subscription approach is particularly appealing to students and long-term tablet users who prefer a one-time purchase instead of recurring payments.

https://preview.redd.it/mvtufcgcpzah1.jpg?width=1672&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=74c330891b720f8e601a78c812f70ec4fb1bab11

• Final Thoughts

GoodNotes is a powerful and widely loved note-taking app, but for Android tablet users—and even for many iOS users—it's certainly not the only option.

If you're looking for a GoodNotes alternative for Android that combines handwriting, PDF annotation, stylus and S Pen support, OCR, audio recording, infinite canvas, templates, and a no-subscription purchase model, StarNote is one of the strongest alternatives worth considering.

Our goal has always been simple:

To build a note-taking app where handwriting, PDFs, planning, and ideas can naturally live together in one workspace.

Whether you're taking handwritten notes in class, annotating PDFs for work, planning your week, or simply organizing your thoughts, we hope StarNote can make your Android tablet feel a little more like a notebook that's truly yours.

And that's all for today's deep dive!

We know this article was a little longer—and perhaps a little nerdier—than our usual posts, but thank you so much for reading all the way to the end.

Have a wonderful weekend, and happy note-taking! 💙

The StarNote Team

Heyyy guys!

This update may not be the biggest one we've ever released, but it includes something we've seen requested again and again...

Yeah, handwriting Search is finally here on iOS! Here's what's new in v1.3.9:

✨ What's New

• Handwriting Search

You can now search your handwritten notes with Smart Search! No more endlessly scrolling through pages just to find that one word.

• Straight Highlighter & Tape Tool

You can now draw perfectly straight highlights and tape lines horizontally or vertically.

• Independent Layer Control in Dual Window Mode

When opening the same notebook in dual window mode, layer visibility can now be controlled independently in each window.

• Video Upload in Help & Feedback

You can now upload videos directly through Help & Feedback, making it much easier to show us bugs or unexpected behavior.

• Laser Pointer Improvements

We've added step less adjustment for laser pointer duration, giving you more flexibility when presenting or teaching.

• Bug Fixes & Performance Improvements

As always, we've fixed several known issues and made a number of small improvements to keep everything running smoother.

☁️ A Small Update on Cloud Sync

We know there are still many things you're waiting for (yes… we're looking at you, Cloud Sync 👀).

We've seen quite a few of you asking about it again today, and honestly… we're really sorry that it's still not here yet. We know we've mentioned timelines before, and we're sorry we haven't been able to deliver it just yet.

To keep Cloud Sync sustainable in the long run, we're currently building it around third party cloud services like Google Drive or One Drive, rather than using our own cloud servers.

This also means we have to adapt to various third party rules and limitations. During testing, we've run into quite a few issues, such as slower transfer speeds and occasional data transfer abnormalities.

Because your notes are incredibly important to us, we don't want to release something that isn't stable enough.

But seriously… it won't be much longer. Really, really, really. 🥺

The moment we have meaningful progress or a release date, you'll be the first to know.

📝 A Quick Thank You

A surprising number of things in this update came directly from your comments and feature requests.

Every bug report, every "Could you add this?" message genuinely helps shape us, lovely thanks!

Update to v1.3.9 and let us know what you think!

See u next time 💙

The StarNote Team

iOS v1.3.9

Hello everyone!

We hope you're doing well! ✨

The StarNote Medical Support Program is entering its final stage. If you haven't participated yet, now is your last chance to join!

For those who have already created a post and participated, you can now send us your post link and StarNote ID via DM so we can prepare for Pro activation and reward distribution.

1. How to Submit Your Information

*Where can I find my StarNote ID?

Open StarNote → Tap your profile picture → Your StarNote ID will be displayed below your avatar.

*How do I submit it?

Please send the following via Reddit DM or any of our official social media accounts (see the image at the end of this post):

• Your StarNote ID
• Your post link

*When will I receive my reward?

• Program deadline: June 26, 11:59 PM (ET)
• ID submission deadline: June 28, 11:59 PM (ET)
• Pro rewards distribution deadline: June 30, 11:59 PM (ET)

The exact delivery time may vary depending on submission timing and review progress.

If you happen to miss this post, don't worry! we'll do our best to process all eligible participants. However, since rewards are being reviewed and distributed manually, we strongly recommend submitting your information as soon as possible.

2. Program Progress Update

The support we've received has far exceeded our expectations, and we're incredibly grateful for it!

If you've already submitted your information but haven't received a DM reply, please don't worry. To improve processing efficiency, we won't be responding to everyone individually. Once your Pro has been successfully activated, you'll receive a notification directly within our app.

Please refer to the notification in your in app Message Center as the final confirmation. Thank you for your patience and understanding!

3. Premium Note Template Rewards

As mentioned previously, we'll be selecting three outstanding note creators to receive exclusive premium note templates. The winners will be announced soon, so stay tuned!

4. A Few Honest Words From Our Team

This program has received far more support than we ever expected, and that has made us genuinely happy.

At the same time, we've also received some questions regarding our social media accounts and the reward distribution timeline. We'd like to take this opportunity to provide some clarification.

https://preview.redd.it/s5d02nq9s79h1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=350f06070aae56a9ac97a79f542e77e484d80063

📌 About Our Instagram Account

Some of you may have noticed that our previous official Instagram account suddenly became inaccessible. The reality is that our original account was restricted by the platform for reasons that have not yet been fully confirmed.

For our team, this was genuinely disappointing. We invested a significant amount of time and effort into building that account, and through it we met many wonderful users and supporters.

But more than losing the account itself, what concerned us most was the possibility of losing contact with our community. That's why we immediately created a new account and started over from scratch, while continuing to look for every possible way to stay connected with everyone.

📌 About the Reward Distribution Timeline

We'd also like to clarify one important fact:

According to the original program rules, Pro rewards were always scheduled to begin distribution after June 26.

This timeline has never changed, and there has never been any intentional delay.

The reason rewards were not distributed earlier is because we need time to collect participation data, manually review submissions, and ensure that every participant has sufficient time to meet the program requirements.

The distribution process is therefore proceeding exactly according to the original schedule.

📌 About Some of the Concerns We've Seen

We completely understand why some people became concerned when our account disappeared or when response times slowed down.

Those concerns are entirely reasonable.

That said, we'd be lying if we said it wasn't a little discouraging to see some people assume that the program was a scam or that we were simply trying to generate traffic.

From our perspective, our goal has always been simple and honest:

To support students, provide value to the community, and help those who may not otherwise be able to access these resources.

Perhaps some of the confusion came from misunderstandings, or perhaps there were things we could have communicated more clearly from the beginning. But speaking personally, we'd still like to say one thing on behalf of the team:

This is a program we've poured our time, energy, and effort into, so seeing it completely dismissed can be difficult.

At the same time, we fully recognize that as a team running a support program of this scale for the first time, there are many areas where we can improve, especially when it comes to communication, operations, and managing a large volume of messages.

This experience has been an important lesson for us, and we'll continue working hard to do better moving forward.

Finally, Some Good News ✨

Throughout this program, we've received countless messages, suggestions, encouragement, and support.

Being able to genuinely help people is exactly what we hoped to achieve from the very beginning.

We've also heard from students in many other fields who would love to see similar initiatives in the future.

So please don't worry, as long as these programs can truly help people, we plan to continue running them and supporting even more students moving forward.

Thank you for all of your support and encouragement along the way.

Have a wonderful day! 💛

The StarNote Team

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btw...

This post ended up being a lot longer than I expected. If you've made it all the way here, thank you so much for your patience.

At the end of the day, I'm really just a developer who talks a little too much.

Quite a few unexpected things happened throughout this program, and we still have a lot to learn and improve.

But no matter what, I hope nobody blames anyone.

Whether you're a participant, a community supporter, or a team member working through countless messages behind the scenes, we're all here because we want this program to succeed.

So I'll leave you with one final words:

Love you guys. And pls don't forget to send us your StarNote ID！

Hi guys! 👋

Yesssss! Android v1.4.1 is now officially live on the Google Play Store! I bet today's update is going to make a lot of you super happy.

The 「Dashed Pen」 is FINALLY here! We’ve been asked about this feature many times, and we are just as thrilled as you are to roll it out! Along with it, we’ve brought a few other core features to make your handwriting and note taking experience even smoother:

🌟 What's New

1.Ballpoint Pen 「Solid / Dashed / Dotted」Lines: Yes, they are all live! Switch between three line styles freely, giving you more options for sketching, diagramming, or drawing tables.

2.Note Pinning: Pin your most important notes right to the top. No more getting buried in the list open them instantly whenever you need.

3.Tape Export: You can now seamlessly export your tape layers! Reviewing wrong quiz answers or decorating your digital journals just got so much easier.

4.Stepless Laser Pointer Duration: Some users mentioned before that the laser pointer disappeared too fast. Now, you can freely adjust the duration to perfectly match your presentation pace.

🛠️ Improvements & Fixes

1.Optimized overall app performance for an even smoother daily experience.

2.Fixed some minor bugs to improve system stability.

🍏 To our iOS friends, don't worry! What Android has, iOS will get too. We are currently rushing to work on it, so please hang tight and bear with us just a little bit longer!

🎁 Q&A Regarding the #starnotemedlife Event

Our community event is still going strong, so feel free to invite your friends or classmates to join in! Here is a quick, centralized update for the questions we've been getting the most lately:

Q1: Why haven't I received my Pro activation yet even though my post already got 20 likes?

A: Don't worry, please be a little more patient with us! We will start sending out the Pro rewards via DMs within 1-3 business days after the event ends on the 26th.

Q2: If I'm already a Pro user, can I still participate?

A: Of course! We are not just giving away Pro status. We will also be selecting some users with beautiful med notes to gift them our exclusive, cuteee templates!

Alright, you can all head over to Google Play right now to upgrade to the latest version and try it out! We absolutely can't wait to hear your real feedback in the comments!

Happy note taking, everyone!

See u next time! 💛

The StarNote Team

Android 1.4.1

Hey guys! 💕

I’m back with another update!

StarNote iOS v1.3.8 is officially out! We’ve spent the last few weeks squashing some of those annoying bugs you told us about, and also bringing in a highly requested feature that we hope will make your study and note taking sessions even better!

Here is the lowdown on what’s new in this version:

📝 What's New & Fixed:

• Audio-Ink Sync: You can now watch your strokes write themselves out in real time while replaying your voice recordings!
• Note Counts: The folder and tag lists on your main page will now show the exact number of notes inside them. Keeping organized just got a bit easier!
• Scribble Eraser Tweak: We heard your feedback about the scribble eraser being a bit too sensitive. We’ve fixed it so that accidentally drawing a quick circle won’t randomly wipe out your handwriting.
• PDF Export Fix: We fixed the issue where text boxes would shift out of position or look misplaced when you exported notes to PDF.
• UI Polish: We polished up a few minor UI glitches to keep everything looking clean, crisp, and smooth.

☁️ An Update on Cloud Sync

We know so many of you open StarNote every single day hoping to see Cloud Sync, and we know it might be a little disappointing that it’s not ready in this build. We are so, so incredibly sorry to keep you waiting, and we want to be completely transparent about where we’re at.

The good news? The core development for Cloud Sync is basically done! Right now, we are in the middle of heavy testing and bug fixing.

Taking cost into account, and especially considering the awesome feedback and suggestions you guys gave us before on Reddit, we are currently opting to build the system through third party cloud drives (like Google Drive and OneDrive). As for whether we’ll set up our own dedicated cloud servers in the future? Nothing is set in stone yet, but we will absolutely be the first to let you know if things change!

That being said, adapting to all their strict, varying platform rules has given us quite a few technical headaches during our tests, like slow transfer speeds and data hiccups.

Because your notes are precious and we want to make absolutely sure your data is 100% safe, we still have a lot of polishing to do. We promise we are working ASAP, and we will open a Beta Testing group the literal second it's stable enough. Please hang in there with us just a little bit longer, it won't be much longer, we promise 🥺

🩺 Medical Support Program Reminder!

On a much brighter note, we are completely blown away by how many of you are joining our #StarNoteMedLife Support Program! Your gorgeous medical notes and sweet words have genuinely warmed our entire team's hearts.

We’ve received quite a lot of messages lately, so we might not have been able to reply to everyone just yet. But don't worry, we are doing our best to get back to every single one of you!

• Deadline: The event is open until June 26, 2026. There’s still plenty of time to jump in, so feel free to invite your classmates and friends to join the fun!
• A tiny favor: When you share your medical notes, it would make our day if you could also give our account a quick follow! We’d be so so so happy if you did!!! Yaaaaaay!
• Rewards: We’ll start verifying all the entries and rolling out the Lifetime Pro access right after June 26. When the time comes, please don't forget to keep an eye on your DMs!
• Also, for those who already have Pro, you can absolutely join too! We will be selecting 3 creators with the most aesthetically pleasing notes to win our exclusive templates for FREE!

BTW, having a community as patient, kind, and supportive as you guys makes us feel like the luckiest dev team ever.

Go download v1.3.8 and let us know how it feels!

See you in the next update!

The StarNote Team

StarNote iOS v1.3.8

Hey everyone,

I’m the dev from StarNote.

For a long time, we’ve been receiving messages from medical students and educators worldwide through our inbox. While many share beautiful anatomy drawings and clinical note setups, others tell us they simply cannot afford Pro due to regional pricing restrictions or financial struggles.

Seeing those messages is tough. The road to medicine is long and demanding, and you deserve better support. We’ve tried small fixes before, like opening alternative payment options or giving out promo codes, but it was never enough.

We want to do something bigger, more formal, and genuinely helpful. That’s why we’re launching our Medical Education Support Program to give back to future doctors and their teachers globally.

📅 Event Period：

June 5, 2026 – June 26, 2026

👏 How to Join：

You can participate on any of the platforms listed in the image at the end of this post.

1. What to post:

• Share a showcase of your medical notes, literature annotations, or PDF markings made with StarNote.
• OR: A “Study with Me” video of your medical revision featuring StarNote.

2. Must include:

• Hashtag #StarNoteMedLife (Not required for Reddit).
• Reddit users: please select the StarNoteMedLife FLAIR in our subreddit.
• Tag our official account on that platform (Not required for Reddit).

3. Rewards:

• Free Lifetime Pro: Once your post hits 20 likes or upvotes, DM us a link to your post. After the event ends, we will verify all submissions and grant Lifetime Pro access to everyone who qualifies.
• Creativity Bonus: Our team will personally select the Top 5 Most Beautiful Notes to receive our premium templates as a special bonus. Winners will be announced at the end of the event!

💬 Why Only Medical Majors for Now?

Honestly, the vast majority of requests we received came from medical users, and your study loads are immense. As a small, independent team with limited resources, we want to focus this first round on those who need efficient digital note tools the most.

But this is just the beginning. As StarNote grows, we fully plan to expand this program to more majors and fields. We want to support everyone who loves to learn.

Let’s make this happen.

Drop your posts, tag us, and get your Lifetime Pro!

The StarNote Team

MEDICAL EDUCATION SUPPORT PROGRAM

Helloooo!

Today I want to share a quick efficiency tip for iPad users, maybe someone already know it!

When you want to put content from Safari into your notes, all you need to do is open the windowed apps, and drag the Safari window straight into StarNote!

Found something good in Safari? A recipe. A quote. Any idea you want to keep, Just press, drag, and drop it right into your StarNote!

No Ctrl C, No Ctrl V, No breaking your flow! In one move, in one moment. 🩵

It completely eliminates all the copy and paste steps, making the entire recording process super smooth. You guys can check out the video!

And also, you can do the exact same thing with the Files app on iPad for split screen viewing!

What other hidden high efficiency tips do you usually have for the iPad or Android? Welcome to share and discuss together in the comments!

The StarNote Team

From Safari to StarNote in one move

Hi guys!

First off, a huge thank you for all the amazing comments! Reading through them made our day, and we really hope you guys are enjoying the latest update and the Feature Request Sheet.

We’ve read through every single comment, even if we didn't manage to reply to all of them, we promise we saw them all!

Now, we’d love to gift a Lifetime Pro membership to these 4 amazing users:

• u/bradleythedeveloper
• u/Keyla-Space
• u/multim366
• u/Josaft

Please send me a DM with your StarNote ID! You can find it by tapping your avatar on the homepage and entering the Member Center.

For those who didn't get picked this time, no worries at all! We have plenty of events lined up for the future, so definitely stay tuned. There will be more chances to win Pro, along with some super cute templates!

Btw, we'd love to hear your thoughts, what kind of gifts or rewards would you like to see in future giveaways?

Besides Pro, templates, and stickers, our team is running a bit low on inspiration, so give us some ideas! (But pls, keep it within our power, lol! asking us to instantly launch a windows version as a gift doesn't count, hahaha!)

Let us know in the comments!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! 💓

The StarNote Team

Hey everyone!

Welcome to our second StarNote Story. Many of you likely recognize our guest today!

He’s professional, passionate, and incredibly kind, always on the front lines of our community, helping everyone with a smile. He’s so active that we’ve even joked he might be a secret "alt-account" of our own team! Lol!

He is the one and only Josua( u/NakoTurtle ) 👏👏👏

We recently had an incredibly heartfelt chat with him about his journey.

【A Chat with Josua: From App Explorer to Superfan】

StarNote: Hey Josua! Tell us a bit about yourself. 

Josua: Hi! I’m a Mechatronics Engineering student. I use StarNote as my "digital backpack" for math notes and complex diagrams. In my free time, I’m usually coding, playing Minecraft, or tinkering with my car. I love the learning process and helping others, which is why you’ll often find me on Reddit!

StarNote: How did you and StarNote meet? What was your first impression? 

Josua: I’ve tried almost every Android note-taking app out there. But they all had the same issues: subscription traps (some even with tiers!), expensive one-time payments, or missing features. Then one day, I saw a notification for StarNote. I was hooked in under 30 minutes! Between its potential and the fair price, it felt like a lucky gift. Every time I thought "I wish it had this," I’d find the feature already there!

StarNote: As a "Power User," which features are your "must-haves"? 

Josua: For deep study mode, Scribble-to-Erase, Gestures, and the Lasso Tool are my "Efficiency Trio." What attracts me most is the sheer depth—I use it every day and still keep discovering new tricks.

StarNote: Where could StarNote improve even more? 

Josua: Since I draw a lot of engineering diagrams, I’m dreaming of an upgraded Shape System:

• Pro-Level Snapping: Point-to-point and midpoint snapping for grid systems.
• Fluid Control: Rotating shapes on their own axes and better 3D/curve scaling.
• New Presets: Smooth curves (Bezier handles), perfect arcs, and adjustable pie charts.
• Snappier Interaction: Changing styles directly from the toolbar to save time.

StarNote: If you could pick just ONE "dream feature," what would it be? 

Josua: A professional color wheel. Being able to edit the hue/brightness of an entire palette at once—like turning pastels into dark mode in one click—would be mind-blowing!

StarNote: Any advice for the new members of our family? 

Josua: There’s no "right" or "wrong" way to take digital notes. StarNote is an app that adapts to you like a "digital backpack." Don’t be afraid to experiment! Find the flow that feels best, and let the app grow with you. Welcome to the family!

【Final Thoughts: Growing Together】

And that’s a wrap for today’s chat!

Thinking back, it feels quite magical. Just like Josua, many of you might have tried countless apps before finally discovering StarNote. Back when we were still finding our footing and were far from perfect, we met Josua—and users like all of you—who chose to support and wait for us. Josua said we were a gift to him, but the truth is, you are the most precious gift to StarNote.

Thank you, Josua, and thank you to every one of you. Reach out and share your stories with us anytime!

See you at the next User Story!

The StarNote Team

Nakoturtle & StarNote

Hi everyone!

I’m here! I know you’ve all been waiting for quite a while!

It’s been a little while since our last Dev Log. We’ve been working hard to turn your expectations into reality. While our pace might not be the fastest, we’re making sure every step is a solid one.

Here’s a look at what we’re currently pushing forward:

🤖 Android (In Progress):

1. Dual-Window Support & Independent Layer Control: Previously, layers were forced to sync when opening the same note in two windows. We’ve now added a "Layer Sync" toggle.

* How it works: By turning the toggle off, you can display different layers in each window.

* Quick Note: This only controls the independence of the layer display; the actual note content remains synced in real-time!

2. Video Support in "Help & Feedback": To help us squash bugs and understand your suggestions more clearly, we’ve upgraded our feedback system—you can now upload screen recordings directly!

🍎 iOS (In Progress):

1. Audio-Ink Sync: iOS users, the wait is almost over! The feature to sync your recordings with your handwriting is coming soon to boost your study efficiency.

2. Note Count for Folders & Tags: Now you can see exactly how many notes are in each category at a glance, making management much more efficient.

3. Video Support for Feedback: Staying in sync with the Android version to make our communication even more effective.

☁️ Major Update: Cloud Sync Beta Plan

The feature everyone has been waiting for is finally in its beta planning stage! To ensure maximum data security and stability, we will be launching our first round of deep testing:

• Scale: We’re looking for 10–15 core users to join the first batch.
• Timeline: Recruitment posts are expected to drop in late May or early June. Keep an eye out!

🎨 Some Good News (In Progress)

From our previous feedback sessions, the high-demand Freehand Tape feature is officially in development! It still needs a bit of polishing, but we’re speeding up to get it to you as soon as possible.

A Quick Note from the Team ❤️

If you don't see the specific feature you’re looking for in this update, we truly understand the frustration of waiting. We know StarNote still has plenty of room to grow.

But please, rest assured!

Every post and message you send us is recorded in our internal "Requirement Pool." We know you’ve heard the phrase "it's on our list" many times—maybe you're even tired of hearing it—but we truly mean it!!!

The features we announce today are the ones we can deliver in the near future. Many other requested features are already being prepped or even developed behind the scenes; we just prefer to announce them once they are closer to the finish line so you don't have to deal with the anxiety of a long wait.

Thank you for your patience and for being part of this journey—StarNote wouldn't be complete without you. Just give us a little more time!

See you in the next diary 💚

The StarNote Team

Hi everyone,

Today is the second Sunday of May—International Mother’s Day.

For today’s update, we don’t have any fancy new features or bug fixes to list. Instead, we wanted to share something a bit more personal, a drawing we made just for you. In the StarNote community, we’ve been so inspired by the warmth, creativity, and kindness of all the amazing women we’ve met.

Before becoming a "mother," every woman was—and still is—that little girl who wasn't afraid to cry, a brave explorer, or a dreamer chasing the stars. We often talk about mothers like they’re superheroes who can do it all, but sometimes we forget that they are also just human. We want to dedicate this drawing to every woman in our community:

Happy Mother’s Day to you, and to your mothers as well.

Whatever role you’re playing in life right now, we hope you always have the freedom to be “Simply Herself.” Stay gentle, stay bold, and stay undefined.

Btw... just one more thing! After seeing some of you share your incredible hand-drawn art lately, we got a bit jealous and had to give it a try ourselves! Even though our art skills are still a "work in progress" (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄), we’d love to see more of your creations.

Please keep sharing your cute stickers and hand-drawn sketches—we honestly can't get enough of them!

StarNote isn’t just for notes; it’s actually a pretty powerful canvas too!!!

Happy Mother’s Day 🌸

The StarNote Team

https://preview.redd.it/el6va5auw80h1.png?width=1365&format=png&auto=webp&s=16408bb8b128f1a218d57ac50147bc32edc1b762

Hi everyone!

iOS v1.3.5 has officially arrived on the App Store!

We know many of you have been waiting for "Scribble to Erase"—it's finally here, along with some major upgrades to our audio features.

Here’s what’s new:

✨ New Features

Scribble Erase: 

Clean up your notes faster than ever! Simply enable "Scribble Erase" in the Eraser settings, and you can instantly wipe away any handwriting just by scribbling over it. (Don't forget to toggle it on in the Eraser menu!)

Scribble Erase

Audio Power-Up:

• Import Audio: You can now import external audio files directly into your notes.
• 120-Min Limit: We’ve extended the single recording limit to 2 hours—perfect for those long lectures.
• Standalone Export: You can now export your recordings independently from your notes.

Audio Power-Up

Stylus Page Flip:

Use your stylus to swipe in the blank area outside the page to flip through your notebook effortlessly.

Stylus Page Flip

🔧 Enhancements

Adaptive Color Fill: 

Shape fills now automatically match your stroke color for a more consistent and professional look.

Smarter Shapes: 

Improved one-stroke recognition—perfect for drawing smooth flowcharts and diagrams.

🐞 The “Pesky” Bug Fixes:

• Infinite Canvas:

Fixed the template scaling issue when exporting notes as images.

• Text Tools:

 

Resolved the bug where underlines in text boxes were not being saved.

• UI Polish:

 

Fixed minor interface glitches to provide a cleaner and more fluid experience.

That’s all for this update! You can now head over to the App Store to update. We hope you love these new changes!

Have a great weekend! 💗

The StarNote Team

Hi Everyone,

For this year’s Earth Day, we shared a small call-to-action to hear your "paperless" stories. Reading through your shares has been incredibly moving for us. It turns out that StarNote is not just a tool; it carries everyone’s thoughts on the future, kindness toward the environment, and every moment of hard work.

✨ Shining Moments

In this event, we witnessed many touching stories:

• From Mechanical Memorization to Natural Creation: One user mentioned how they used to store vocabulary in a "flat" way, until switching to digital notes—combining typing with handwriting—which finally matched how their brain actually thinks. Stop memorizing, and start creating is perhaps the true soul of going paperless.
• Subtraction on the Road to Exams: A student preparing for the CMA shared how they used to burn through 2-3 notebooks every week. Now, a tablet and an E-pen can hold all their practice problems and class snapshots.
• A Gift for Themselves and Mom: Another student shared that digital notes made their commute much lighter and saved their mom from the "sea" of scattered paper scraps at home.

And so much more...

🏆 Announcing the Winners

Thank you to everyone who participated. While prizes are limited, your care for the environment and passion for life are priceless.

We originally planned to gift 5 users, but because everyone's stories were so sincere and inspiring, we decided to add 2 more winners! We hope you will continue to actively participate and share your stories and notes with us in the future.

Here are the 7 lucky storytellers of this event, please DM us your StarNote ID:

• ID: u/tomacco
• ID: u/Hakeem_LY
• ID: u/Desperate-Carrot-304
• ID: u/Ok-Reveal-It
• ID: u/Aggressive-Band4311
• ID: u/Petypretty
• ID: u/MadForUrMom

How to find your ID: On the homepage, tap your avatar to enter the User Center. You will find it right beneath your avatar. Once we receive your info, we will grant your Pro benefits ASAP.

🌱 Final Thoughts

As our community said: "Our contribution might be small individually, but together we can save a lot of forests".

StarNote will keep evolving to be your best partner on the paperless journey. Let’s give the forests back to nature and keep the creativity for ourselves.

We hope to keep walking side-by-side with you until next Earth Day. 🌍✨

The StarNote team

Some of the notes displays