The best note taking app

The best note taking app is the one that reduces friction on inserting notes. At least, that’s the conclusion I’ve come to after trying many different approaches. Now I’ve largely gone in on Apple ecosystem it means for me, right now, the best app is Apple notes. Here’s why:

1. It’s integrated with Apple search tools and there’s Alfred workflows for it.
2. It syncs seamlessly between Apple devices.
3. The effort to input is minimal - there’s aren’t too many options to get started.
4. There are powerful features, like document scanning, for when you need them.
5. It’s free.

That last point isn’t a deal breaker. I’m happy to pay for a good app but the trend seems to be for note taking apps to be subscription based. This is one space where subscription makes no sense at all – I don’t need constantly updating new features, I need stability.

The only concern I have with Notes is the lack of good export and how I prefer to keep notes in Markdown format. That being said, I’ve tried note editors that keep things in Markdown format and there isn’t great compatibility between them so not much is lost.