r/notabilityapp

iCloud Sync Users Being Forced Onto Cloud?

I received a notification today that my notes, which I only sync to iCloud for privacy reasons, are now going to be uploaded to Notability's cloud service. I don't want that. Is there any way to stop this or are we stuck with either using Notability cloud or leaving the service? I've been using this for so many years, I really don't want to go. Notability has been my favorite note taking app for years. But I cannot have my notes uploaded to anyone's servers but one where I control the encryption and storage, which is iCloud exclusively right now. Notability's privacy policy for notes uploaded to their own servers allows the company far more access to my notes than I'd ever want them to have.

So, is there a way to stop this, or am I moving all my notes over to some other service?

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u/nissania — 4 hours ago

I was forced to login today, now I've lost iCloud syncing

Hi, I've been a notability user on my Apple devices for over a decade. Today, when I jumped on my iPad to use it I was forced to login/create an account. I used my Apple ID to sign in and now all my documents have been uploaded to Notability cloud (which I really don't want as some are sensitive information) and I have absolutely no way that I can see of going back to my old setup. This has spread to all my devices and I can't use any of the apps without signing in. Can someone offer any advice on how I can go back to iCloud syncing and delete my notes from Notability Cloud?

Appreciate it.

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u/Mackey18 — 5 hours ago

Palm Rejection/Detection not working

Anyone else’s palm rejection acting super weird?

see attached video

First 2 squiggly lines were drawn without my palm resting on my iPad screen, the last squiggly line was drawn with my palm on the screen

u/spicyymayyo517 — 14 hours ago

Coupon code for student? Or Trial version?

I need any discount code or trial version, I am a Student from B.A need help with this if anyone can.
Thanks

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u/yash_codes1599 — 21 hours ago

PLEASE ADD TAGS FOR NOTES AND EASY TABLE CREATION!!!

Begging Notability to create a custom tagging system +/- the ability to view notes as a database based on tag filters... this is severely lacking in iOS note-taking apps across the board and it would honestly be a game changer for students in the medical field who have to write notes on topics spanning multiple organ systems, specialties, or things like pharmacology and pathophysiology. Be the change Notability!!

Handwritten notes are so much better to help with retention versus typed ones, and I don't want to have to sacrifice that to use something like Notion or Obsidian that allows greater freedom in note organization versus the nested folders that Notability has currently. Don't get rid of folders, but please consider adding this!

Also - I'm shocked it doesn't exist yet but can we get a quick table tool where we enter the desired number of rows and columns then tap the area of the note where we want the table to populate?

Thanks!!

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u/lilluckycheese — 4 days ago

Apple Pencil Pro Squeeze to Erase Issues

Hi,

Since Notability changed the Apple Pencil settings from within the app to within the iPad settings, there’s been a noticeable bugginess when squeezing the pencil to erase. This is pretty inconvenient for when I’m writing and I want to quickly erase a letter/word and the app doesn’t erase it, even after the eraser gets selected and I can see the transparency of the stroke I’m trying to erase decrease. It still happens if I try to erase slowly. I have a M2 iPad Air 13” and am on 16.5.2, if that helps. Thanks!

UPDATE: I believe it’s an issue with the “Apple Pencil hover” option- after disabling the problem goes away (I think). Something about the app trying to decide what strokes I’m about to erase before I make contact with the pencil is bugging out the app.

u/AdamElbohy — 4 days ago

Notability cloud and access to files

I have been a user of Notability for > 14 years and have used this extensively in higher education. A workflow that I have found immensely useful is the cloud backup as a PDF, which saved the PDF to the cloud as I closed the file. I could then access these files in my drive and add/link PDFs for our learning management system very easily.

Now with notability cloud, I am not sure if I can do this? I searched notabilty cloud info and FAQ and couldn't find answers to the following, and would appreciate some insight.

  1. Is there a physical way to access these files on Notability cloud on my computer? For example, can I treat this like a loaded drive on my computer and browse the files and folders?

  2. Are the files save on notability cloud in the native format, or can this format be changed to others (PDF)?

  3. If I wish to continue end with a PDF of my work, is my only option to export individual files as a PDF?

  4. Cloud syncing with other services (I use Google Drive) used to update when a file was closed after making an edit. This no longer happens. Is there a way to "trigger" this external sync manually? Additionally, when I perform this type of sync it does my WHOLE library, which is unnecessary and takes about 5-10 minutes. It's not a routine task that I'd like to do.

TIA for the help.

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u/rum_ham_79 — 3 days ago

how do i sync web app to ipad?

Hi, just purchased an Ipad, for live note taking.

I have files in my notability windows web version, that are both tied to the same google email address.
But every time I load into the ipad version I cannot see the files I created and saved on my web browser model. I'm vastly confused how to sync the apps.

I see no mention of importing to google drive on my ipad and no way of saving files to my google drive from my web version

Do I need premium version to sync?

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u/Reddoughnut — 5 days ago

My notes are all gone

My notes are gone. I opened the app and my notes were gone and it said the icloud was troubleshooting so I signed into my icloud. But now I only have the list of subjects but not the notes?? And now whenever I go into notability it has a spinning cloud. How do I get my notes back my exams are coming 😭😭 Do I wait for them to come back?? Do they even come back

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u/sloth_lothy — 7 days ago

Unwanted ‘tails’ in writing now?

Has anyone else noticed their writing to have hooks/tails now? When I lift the pencil, the screen somehow still detects the pencil and so it continues the line for a split second (with the tip off the screen). Really annoying!

I haven’t gotten this issue until now so I’m assuming they increased the auto stabilization. Is there a way to lower it?

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u/Some_Pie_5375 — 6 days ago

notability 16.5 update hung on ipad mini

notability team if you are reading this, the latest update just killed the app on my ipad mini during my exam week.

'ive been enduring with notability as i recognise that they are trying to make their note taking app smarter but bejeebus, upgrades are so unstable, i swear this is another sonos app saga in the making.

updated the app to the latest version and now it hangs on the first view display, i can't click anything, everything is not responsive. i've forced closed the app, open it, uninstall , reinstall and it is still the same issue - completely unresponsive and guess what, it is exam week.

the irony is, the settings button to lodge a feedback to ginger labs is also unresponsive.

the saving grace to this all is that at least i can use notability on my laptop but seriously the upgrades is concerning given how multitude of issues that come with it.

do not get me started on the how i had to endure the cloud rollout. i lost a few notes and everything was completely missync. they fixed that eventually but that was a few week of "where the heck did my notes go" .

please fix.

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u/Unhappy_Let7110 — 6 days ago

Notebook covers

We need notebook covers like other apps to make it more customizable, this is a feature that I believe many users would appreciate. In addition, we need notability to auto solve math equations once it’s inputted as well as us having options for graphs, tables, etc.

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u/gabbearr — 6 days ago

Why can’t I download just a single note?

Why must Notability download all Notes from iCloud before I can open any of them?? This is such dumb design. Just download the single note I tapped on, it’s not that hard to implement.

There is not a single use case where the user would want their whole library to be downloaded.

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u/younhoudini — 6 days ago

Notability Apple Pencil eraser bug

I think the video really illustrates the problem well , what can I do to fix this and are others facing similar issues . It’s really annoying

u/BeginningAlgae2834 — 7 days ago

WTF is happening to Notability?

I’ve been using Notability for almost a decade. In fact, I removed every other note-taking app from my iPad because I trusted it completely. I even subscribed to their highest-tier plan because I believed in the product.

Unfortunately, that has changed.

What was once a fast, reliable, and polished app has become plagued with bugs. Synchronization issues are now common, responsiveness is inconsistent, and even simple tasks have become frustrating. The intrusive advertisements only make the experience worse by disrupting the workflow.
The most disappointing part is that I no longer have confidence in the app. Every time I open Notability, I genuinely wonder whether it will work properly or let me down when I need it most.

After years of loyalty, I’ve reached my limit. Enough is enough.

I can no longer recommend Notability. If you’re looking for a dependable note-taking app, I suggest switching to another platform before you invest more time into it.

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u/Background_Ad_5708 — 10 days ago

Apple notes or notability?

So I don't know. Used notability for a long time but have to say that apple notes (with no latency) just writes quicker and more smoothly. What do y'all do about the latency? I want to mimic the pen and paper feel as much as possible.

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u/SatisfactionJolly587 — 8 days ago

Moving Images/Text moves the Entire Page - how do you disable this?

Hey everyone, I've been using Notability for a little while now, and for some reason, this only started happening today. If I am copying or boxing text to move it, when I try to move it, the ENTIRE PAGE moves either up or down quickly and is disorienting when I'm trying to just move my text. I don't know if this makes sense, but it's basically just like the screen is following the text.

Is there a way to disable this? It's super annoying 😭 thank you for y'all's help

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u/ExtremeManagement674 — 8 days ago

Devs, please listen to us

PleaseI really hope the Notability team takes this seriously: please improve the Apple Pencil writing experience.

The app keeps adding new features, AI tools, and other updates, but the core experience of actually taking handwritten notes still feels limited. Notability is, first of all, a note-taking app. If the pencil experience does not feel good, then the main purpose of the app is being affected.

One of the biggest issues is the handwriting feel. The pen strokes often look too sharp or pointy at the edges, instead of smooth, rounded, and natural. It would be great to have better stroke smoothing or pressure/sensitivity options so handwriting feels more fluid and less rigid.

Also, please bring back or add more pen size options. The difference between size 2 and size 3 is way too big. There should be intermediate sizes, because many users need more precision when writing notes, especially students who write a lot on PDFs, slides, and notebooks.

This is not a small detail. Many people have been asking for this for a long time, and it often feels like the response is “we’re working on it,” but nothing really changes. Please prioritize the actual writing experience again.

Notability has so much potential, but it is frustrating when a note-taking app has limitations that make taking notes uncomfortable. AI and extra features are nice, but the basic handwriting experience should come first.

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u/Background_Ant1580 — 11 days ago

Help us decide future giveaways!

Hi everyone!

We'd love to start doing regular giveaways for the Notability community, but we want to make sure we're giving away things that people are excited about and would actually use.

What kinds of giveaways would you like to see?

If you have other ideas, we'd love to hear them - leave them in the comments! 💙

View Poll

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u/OfficialNotability — 10 days ago