The BEST iPad NoteTaking App - A Letter to GoodNotes 

Hey Samuel, i had the same problem but changed a couple of settings and now it is great! Feel free to try them out: tip sharpness 50% and pressure sensitivity 25%

You did an entire motivational video on the thickness bug of a pen What a legend

I couldn't AGREE MORE. I thought it was something in myself as well.... Huge THANKS Samuel, there is a lot of people experiencing the same out there.

Both Apple and Goodnotes should be so thankful to you Samuel, because of you and your videos I bought an iPad Pro (refurbished), an Apple Pencil and the Goodnotes (5) app 🤣 And I’m not even studying (or a student)!

Your video on digital note taking was the main reason I bought my iPad. My life has changed since then.

Bro, I had been feeling this for SO long that i started thinking i was just finding ways to procrastinate or something. Seeing this was a HUGE point of Validation. THANK you

The community loving GoodNotes for not having a subscription model: GoodNotes 6:

Goodnotes user here because of your previous videos, Samuel! I use it for literally everything: consultation, filling out forms, making clients sign forms, tracking payments, mind mapping, brainstorming, trying to understand legal concepts (I'm a migration agent), managing other businesses. Of course it is not the only system i use but it's a staple.

out of all the channels I subscribe to on RU-vid....this channels comments section is so nice. People are helpful, encouraging...thanks everyone and thank you Samuel!

Samuel, I have been watching your videos for a long time and have gained a ton from them. This video was a little different. This video was undisputably created to make life better for others. Thank you for your open letter to goodnotes and your challenge to them to make their product better. I hope they listen and I hope we all benefit from it. In this day and age when technology can accomplish about anything, especially when a company has already proven superior functionality, why shouldn’t we have the best in the most current product release? Fingers crossed.

Your presentation skills are so captivatingly passionate I forgot we were talking about a note taking app lol. You lay your ideas out in such coherent way, it’s impressive. You’re amazing, honestly.

I got an iPad from school (Game Development Major) and started using GoodNotes because I saw some of the things people were doing with it and absolutely fell in love. I wasn’t around when GoodNotes 4 was a thing but I remember thinking, “well that’s not how everyone else’s notes looked…” and I messed with a bunch of settings but just couldn’t replicate what I was seeing and thought it was just the way I write. After watching this video I realized that it was definitely something I was missing from a previous version. I hope they bring it back because I would love to use it. That being said, I have used GoodNotes 5 for a year and can’t put it down. I do everything in GoodNotes. I felt the passion in this video because honestly I have the same passion for this app, especially as a student. It feels so good to use for my homework and note taking that it makes me want to pick up my iPad and keep studying and keep working. Anything that makes work feel less like work is worth the money to me. I don’t remember how much I paid for the app but whatever it was, I got it for a steal.

Love the message and your choice of music here. I have used Goodnotes for years also. One of my first frustrations was that I could not save a pen preset. So many tweaks look different when zoomed in. I can not remember them all and there is no way to check what setting was used before. There is a community webpage where you can vote for the features that matter to you. The Goodnotes team often respond. Thanks for your inspiring videos.

Its unbelievable! You said exactly what make me stop using any note taking app. I felt my words and my feelings in your words. So many changes made me to go back to pen and paper. As a visual learner , VISUAL is everything! Thank you Sam. I hope GoodNotes team sees ur message with is my message too. Thank you

When I first started using GoodNotes, they had just released version 5. Though I never used GoodNotes 4 much, I had a quite a few moments in the last years where I got annoyed with the pens available in GoodNotes 5. It goes so far that I prefer the ball point pen, as it doesn’t change its thickness

I bought an iPad Air because of this man. I manage 11 BMW dealerships and fix some of their most complex cars thanks in part to incredibly detailed notes and documentation. Every person I show my Noteability and Goodnotes notes to are blown away. Thank you Samuel!

Bought an iPad and GoodNotes due to how incredible your notes look. Thanks for providing your feedback on note taking and your personal opinions.

Samuel's videos are just utterly amazing! I keep rewatching all his content, it is so good. Please tell us about your ✨film making skills✨.

love how you make videos about knowing about how to love stuff you already love, love even more

This video has emotions blend with it, turned me a bit emotional as I continue watching. I got Goodnotes way back 2019 and I, myself, also took the risk and paid for it. I appreciate them not switching to subscription-based model and now, whats even better is, they give it for free. Thank you, Goodnotes. And thank you, Samuel for this great video.

Dude...you seriously deserve WAY more subscribers than 300k. The production quality of this video is damn good.

I see what you're talking about. From the example provided, in GoodNotes 4, the Fountain Pen tool behaves like a "fixed" width nib fountain pen (a F, M, B, etc), which is commonly made of steel, whereas in GoodNotes 5, the Fountain Pen tool behaves like a flex nib, which varies the line width according to pressure. To get this behavior in a real fountain pen with such low pressure, the nib would need to be really high quality, like a gold nib or rhodium nib. So, without ever using the app, I assume they aspired to provide a more "real" fountain pen experience by emulating a high quality flex nib. Thinking of an improvement, maybe they could offer the option to select the "nib" type, fixed or flex, and I think this would solve the issue.

I totally agree that the writing ability and how your hand writing looks like makes all the difference in choosing a note taking app

So glad you’re posting consistently again :)

Hey Samuel, once again a really cool video Love how you bring your experience and message across in your GoodNotes videos. I personally like to follow your videos and have been watching them since the beginning of your RU-vid channel. It gives me as a student a very good overview of what you can do with GoodNotes (bought the base model iPad 9th Gen. with Logitech Crayon a year ago) Through your videos, I have been able to spread out my creativity better and together with my best buddy I have also created some good concepts for notes for different subjects, which would not have been possible without you. Keep up the good work with your videos and I'm looking forward to the latest next week. Greetings from Germany

Samuel is back for real this time . He is being consistent indeed ❤

I do most (90%+) of my learning on YT. You are a F A N T A S T I C teacher; I just wanted to voice that. Thank you for the effort you put out and for the things I have learned here.

Samuel, that was absolutely excellent. Purchased GoodNotes because of you. Going to try using it for my storyboard illustrations. Great lighting

Happy Anniversary Samuel & Goodnotes! May your love be wonderful!

I don't like the fine tip when writing either. You should try the Fountain Pen in 25% sharpness, 0% pressure sensitivity and 0.8mm. It looks similar to your handwriting in GN4

This is SO true! I've recently found myself taking notes mostly in apple notes just because of its pen, even though I don't like anything about apple notes.

As a neophyte to iPad mini your insightful and thoughtful advice is invaluable. Thank you, Samuel

I bought Goodnotes 5 because of its file management system and was not disappointed. The writing experiences was not smooth for me at first but then I found a combination that worked. But still this video shows how much it differs from the Goodnotes 4. Hope they listen and we get to experience that again.

I started with Notability when I got my first iPad back in 2019, and during then I didn't actually like the fountain pen just as much as GoodNotes. Last year, when Notability switched to a subscription model, I went to GoodNotes 5 knowing I didn't want to use something I couldn't recommend people to use at all. The fountain pen in GoodNotes 5 has been fine for me for the most part, but with this I'm kinda intrigued by how GoodNotes 4 is. Lucky for me, I bought it during the transition period so I think it's in my purchases somewhere iirc. Yeah, I definitely think this fountain pen looks better, and I sure hope they bring that to GoodNotes 5 soon. 😁

I used GN4 before GN5 was released, I don't think I could go back to GN4 because the features are so rich in GN5 that they speed up my workflow. But I use the ball pen and LOVE the writing experience. I wonder if a workaround would be adding more toggles to the ball pen to be able to adjust the thickness to match the og GN4 fountain vibe? Love your content, it's always so good when I see your name pop up on RU-vid!

@Samuel Suresh, I bought my iPad Air and Apple Pencil in 2021 after seeing your videos. I bought two apps as well -- GoodNotes and Procreate. I'm using GoodNotes almost everyday -- never noticed any change in the fountain pen! Anyway, Thankyou for making this world a better place.

I was always so in love with your handwriting. I was confused which settings you used because my fountain pen never looked like yours. This Video satisfied me😂😂

Yes i always felt something odd about the foundation pen in GN5 thanks for talking about it!

Hello Samuel. You articulated what I thought about GoodNotes 4 vs GoodNotes 5. Thanks for making this video.

Great video! Totally agree with the writing feel. I turned down the pressure sensitivity to the lowest on Goodnotes5 and that seems to be almost perfect.

As a user of Goodnote for more than 2 years and downloaded Notability few days ago, I can say for sure: Notability it’s away better! The interface allows to identify the documents faster through the colors guide, besides of all new things you can find to makes your notes better

This explains it. I bought an ipad and installed Goodnotes after seeing your video. But i couldn’t get a good writing experience like the one i see in your videos. And i immediately switched to Notability. Hopefully, the put the old fountain pen and i can experience the greatness.

It is for that reason I don’t use the fountain pen. I use the ball pen. But it is closer to the writing experience I want. There are a number of things that I would like GOODNOTES 5 to work on too. Glad you made a video about your love of the OG pen. While using the ZOOM IN feature (the one that scrolls while writing), I would like to be able to use the LASSO and ELEMENTS tool.

okay, but this is so true!! i really love good notes and i hope it won't change to monthly subscription, but remain to be successful and improving.

Sam u might as well make your own note taking app with all your knowledge it would be amazing .. jus kno you have my support my boy 💪🏾

wow, glad i found this channel besides Ali Abdaal, while you are both doctors! lol. You really put a lot of efforts in making your videos, so rich and not boring.

Man, your videos are INCREDIBLE! THANK YOU!

I’ve only used GoodNotes 5 and honestly struggled to see why people raved about it. Looking back, most reviews I’d watched were about GoodNotes 4 so now it makes sense.

What a great music choice and low key fun lyrical Easter egg. Amazing! Thank you for this.

I haven't noticed a difference between versions in writing experience, except on the thickness size, which I had to re adjust my former settings. But ultimately, I got used to it. Perhaps it's because I don't use the fountain pen and use the ball pen for everything.

This is the most Kdrama-like video I've ever seen about an app (and it's great).

Even i noticed the handwriting difference in good notes 4 and good notes 5 but, truly speaking, it didn't bothered me that much, but now of changes can be brought in good notes 5. I totally support Samuel.

I agree with you 100% I too loved the app for the writing feature because it felt smoother than Notabillty. Its actually where I started journaling all the way up until its upgrade. I personally thought it was because I had the 2018 12inch ipad pro so I bought the 2021 m1 just to find out if was in the software. Unfortunately I couldn't get past it so now I'm using Noteshelf which is ok but preferred Goodnotes 4 better.

Damn every vid is so well produced. Great job man!

I got in touch with the GoodNotes team and it seems the team has seen the video. They reacted to my e-mail: ***** Hi Peter, Thanks for the feedback! Definitely this is an area we can improve for sure! I'm escalating the feedbacks to our Product team for consideration! Please stay tuned for our updates! Let me know if there's anything else I can help with, and have a good day! Best regards, -Denny **** Now it is “wait and see”. Keep up the great work, Samuel!!!

Great Video! I love GoodNotes and use it as my go-to note taking app. There’s a new update which let’s you customise the fountain pen pressure sensitivity and tip sharpness. Maybe you should give that a try. I only found GoodNotes after GoodNotes 5, but I think it should help with the exaggerated sharp fountain pen.

Couldn’t agree more. I haven’t used GoodNotes for a year or so. I feel Noteshelf writing experience is better now.

The fact that he has a notebook beside him. Love the video. thanks

I strongly agree with you and also - GoodNotes please add a language support for Hebrew & Arabic!! it’s really hard to use it when it doesn’t support writing from right to left 🙏🏻🙏🏻

amazing another video from you thanks for sharing these wonderful experience with us I haven't experienced it yet because i don't have an Ipad but I should try it.

I just spent 10 minutes watching content that doesn’t concern me in the least as I never used goodnotes. But hey, great video, captivating style!

I just bought an iPad about a month ago, and I did kinda notice this odd exaggerated sensitivity from the fountin pen. And I thought it was just me, but I’m glad to know that the problem was from it’s newer version.

Keep killin it, Samuel!

Great video as always Samuel!

Dear Samuel, I’m proud to have given the 8,000th “like” for this video. I cannot get over the way you express yourself so well to the point that many people are in total agreement with you in so many areas especially when it comes to learning. But here you are with your opinions on Goodnotes and the way you showed your concern in some cases with the 5th version was quite creative. Even down to the music in the background adds so much quality to this presentation. I cannot help but pay attention. I am now motivated to download Goodnotes on my 2021 iPad Pro, special thanks to you. Continue to inspire us, your supporters. Blessings to you always. Yours Truly, LD

idk both looks good and your handwriting is immaculate

what a love letter this is.... pretty amazing stuff xD

Finally your back in business 🍎✨

thanks for have this channel, u save my college life, I finish bought a iPad 7º for restarting how I study

Dude. This Video is mind blowing!

Notability has been my fav notes app of all. Glad that I have lifetime access for being a loyal customer! (I hate subscriptions)

Surely you got the best notes ever! ❤️👍🏽

TOTALLY, I was with gn4 all the time with the same feeling! THANKS!

I didn’t try GoodNote 4 before but comparing it to Notability I kinda got your point. I always feel my writing experience better there but I also prefer GoodNote!. So maybe that’s your feelings also when you compare both versions 4 & 5.

It’s a business, it can’t be free. ☀️thanks for your reflections on this topic

This is not the latest Apple iPad, but it is faster than I thought. It has a great screen and it holds a charge pretty well ru-vid.comUgkxhcEDB3r-OJ3_X5hQzr7k1ZofTQy1ao_U . I was concerned that it would not be powerful enough because I have several older iPads that are slow and cannot update to the latest software. But this 10th Gen has the speed and power. I do not use it for video editing, so having an M2 processor is not necessary for me. This iPad model has an A14 processor. So far so good. Glad I bought it. It helps having a larger screen compared to my Apple phone.

Hi, I feel the same thing. In 2015 i had ipad Mini and was using Goodnotes. I love the experience but I kind of moved away from apple from 2017 and just came back to the community this year. I download the app because I remember how I loved it before…but it really “feels” different now (I am using Ipad Pro now) YOU made me realize what felt wrong..and I couldn’t agree more with what you said. I wish they could give the experience back…I am still using goodnotes 5 though, Just because I really don’t know how to have goodnotes 4 in my ipad.

I felt exactly the same way!!!! 😂😂😂 just purchased good notes today lol 🥰🥰🥰

It’s not just you! Bought the iPad because of your videos and this year in university I actually used more pen and paper than my iPad. The writing experience just isn’t the same

Wow !!! giving the best feedback in agood way.

I love goodnotes 5 so much more because of the pen settings

Love your channel that inspires and helps me, thank you. would you please share how you manage your good notes and/or any particular way that can stay organized and easily find/sort by the method?

Fast forward to GoodNotes 6. Subscription. What a shame. Great video as always.

Awww, it’s like a speech in a wedding, I am crying already (fr)😭

Excellent video dude 👏🏽

This is absolutely true…! I am studying Bsc Biomedical science , just finished my 2 nd year , this app has assisted me , but I can’t get the drawing and images as good as you can , mine are quick scruffy notes , I haven’t got the time , great videos btw

can we please get a video about how would you recommend taking notes during lectures, i currently struggle to keep up with handwriting notes during a lecture before the lecture skipping to the next topic and typing up the notes is just not good enough for me to find it useful. Also absolutely love your videos keep up the good work !

I'll remain in love with Notability

Could you share which app do you use for Video Editing as well as your Camera Setup? keep up the good work man!

This video made me teared up 🥲

I use good notes 5 and notability on my iPad, and noteshelf in my galaxy tab S7+, and I don’t know if it’s because the device or something else, but I prefer the hand writing experience in noteshelf, I really love it… and it’s available for iPad too, so I can sync my acc in both devices… give it a try ♥️

I think I am one of those who likes ur videos even before watching it 😅❤

I use the iPad to teach around 8 hours a day. For some reason on Goodnotes 5, it feels a bit harder to write. Almost as if I need to add more pressure to write as I did in Goodnotes 4. I can confirm that this is the case because I have worn out several nibs on Goodnotes 5. I have been using Noteful for writing at the moment but the app is not as robust as goodnotes 5. Sadly, I cannot use GoodNotes 4 for projecting notes because I need some of the Goodnotes 5 features.

Hopefully they’ll answer your letter. I was also sad from the changes in GoodNotes 5 and stopped using it…🙁

Well after watching ur videos I fought with my parents for an ipad ! I convinced then showing ur videos how much they had an impact in ur life and my parent said yes ! And i purchased the goodnote and all other accessories The only thing I didn't do to actually study !! That guild makes me feel bad but still ended up procrastinating 🙃

Yo Samuel ,can you do reviews on glass vs matte screen protectors ,reviewing the like of paperlike,under armour etc..

Why did I feel so emotional watching this. Haha

I just write with the ball point pen and its perfect :)

Samuel, I have GoodNotes and Notability on my iPad Pro. I have been wondering which app was better for my daily note-taking until I saw this video of yours. I will use GoodNotes more regularly.

I love how they went into the corporate subscription model after the video.