A word is not just a word. It is a seed to life, the gap between a businessman and a patronizing customer. A word can soothe a wounded soul. It can destroy a beautiful mind. Taking notes involves writing down words for future reference. Notes can consist of thoughts, an inspiration, a proposal for work, a plan, anything. It is a personal process that varies from one individual to another. Traditional note-taking is having any of the above mentioned written in ink on paper. While this method cannot be overthrown entirely, the organizational efficiency of digital note-taking cannot be overlooked. Let’s read about Onenote alternative.
Importance of OneNote
One would always move with a gadget (phone, Ipad, laptop) and so having a digital note-taking app makes you able to take notes as you go. A book and a pen may not always be handy or within reach. OneNote is a program for note-taking, gathering, and multi-user collaboration. It was first announced by Bill Gates in 2002 before it was released on November 19, 2003, as a Microsoft product. It is an app that helps one organize and be flexible with note-taking on the go, it is available on Android, iOS, and Windows phones.
Paper allows one to take notes and sometimes draw but one cannot search for information on paper, erasing a particular phrase/paragraph or even rearranging the text or numbering cannot be done without cancellation and disorganizing the whole text, which can result in the stress of restarting the note-taking process from scratch. OneNote allows users to take notes by typing, clicking and making changes without stress. The app helps save whatever is typed into it without going through the rigors of flipping through pages of information on paper.
Features of OneNote
Users of OneNote can share notes with colleagues, friends, and even family members over the internet. Notes created by OneNote can include texts, pictures, drawings, and tables. Any information put on OneNote is saved in pages that are organized into sections. Once you are back in the app, a quick search with a keyword will take you exactly where you left off. You can highlight, use ink annotations and tag your notes so do not miss important phrases. Audios and online videos can be inserted into your notes as well as external files.
This app is so versatile that it can be used for educational purposes so much so that teachers or lecturers can organize lesson plans. Staff can create library content that can be shared via network sources. It should be noted that this app is run for free across devices. Content from this app can be pulled up even while offline. To begin note-taking with this app, the options are typing or handwriting with a digital stylus or using voice to embed a sound file, or snapping a photo of text and to convert to editable text.
The OneNote app has plenty of amazing features that are helpful to everyone. However, some individuals may prefer other alternatives due to different reasons like the space the OneNote takes on devices and how that weighs their devices down.
Some other alternatives include:
- Evernote: easy to navigate through, allows for web clipping- saving links and articles related to notes. With this app, voice recordings and pictures can be inserted into notes. It works across devices like Windows, Android, and iOS but one can only sync just about two notes for free. It has the collaborating feature that allows users to share notes with others. It works well for team members at a workplace to share ideas, proposals, manage projects and even share research materials.
- SimpleNote: this alternative can be used with so much ease just as its name implies. You can create notes, reminders, and to-do lists. Its interface is very simple compared to OneNote and it is also user-friendly. It is smaller in size compared to OneNote and so might not be too heavy for your devices. Its usage is free as well and it helps to keep notes with tags allowing notes to be available in multiple folders with ease.
- Laverna: this app focuses more on user privacy and so is open-source with end-to-end encryption. It does not have as many features as OneNote as one cannot insert images or voice notes. However, its interface is simple and text-based notes can be synced across the different devices. It has peculiar features like being able to edit text without lifting the finger off the keyboard. It even gives a preview of texts in the case there might have been an error while typing.
- Zoho Notebook: it is one of the overall best-looking note-taking apps even with its big features bank. You can create notes with covers giving you the feel of an actual notebook with hardcover. It has the feature of being able to add voice notes and pictures. One can color notes and also gives a variety of viewing formats. It is an app that makes its user experience fun.
- Bear: an app for just Apple users. Being able to tag notes is one of the best features of this app is making notes in folders for easy use. It has the markdown editing feature. It works seamlessly with no system lagging, notes can easily be exported into formats like PDF, JPG, and others.
- Notion: this app is like a two-in-one tool. It helps with note-taking and also acts as a project management tool. Projects can be created and shared. It has a good organizational structure that uses tags as well. The Notion app also has features like note history, checklists and collaboration among team members of a particular workplace who use Notion as their project management tool, and the addition of links to notes. This app is quite versatile and works well as an alternative to OneNote.
- Google Keep: bringing a different dimension to note-taking, Google Keep displays notes in a colored-card interface that allows for viewing ease. This feature gives beauty to notes and an overview of the contents of these notes without having to open them.
With these alternatives, there will be no need to scribble on napkins or cancel on hardcover notebooks or pads. You can capture your thoughts, ideas, and inspirations as you go with the easy tools and features that these digital note-taking apps offer. You think, you type, and it’s saved!
