Flip Note for iPad Review

Virtual notepad apps have become something of a rage on the iPad recently, and with good reason. Why carry around all of your notes in binders, notebooks and legal pads when you can consolidate all of them in one place? Flip Note for the iPad is the latest entry in this burgeoning category, and while it does several things many competitors do not, it still could use some serious tweaking before it becomes my go-to note-taking app.

Even if you've never tried out a notepad app, you can surmise easily what to expect; after all, a notepad is just a series of blank pages, right? Wrong. Apps like Flip Note allow for drawing (either freehand or pre-selected shapes), writing (either by finger or via a stylus), and typing. Once notes are entered, they are saved, and it's a simple matter to change the page to start new notes at any point. Want to find a note quickly? Just pull up the search box and type in a word or phrase you're looking for. The built-in search function will locate all pages containing that word or phrase.

It's a good thing Flip Note contains such a good search feature, since you only get one notebook to work with. This, unfortunately, is a bad design choice. Where I might want separate notebooks for each of several different topics or subject areas, Flip Note forces me to include everything in one. The ability to search everything quickly alleviates this somewhat, but I'd much rather have a system like the one available in PenUltimate, the app which Flip Note will invariably be compared to.

In terms of additional features, it's worth pointing out that Flip Note allows you to export your pages to email, to a photo or to a text file, and that there is a useful undo feature built into the editor. However, you cannot control font size or pen (ink?) color as you can in PenUltimate, nor can you change from traditional lined paper to graph paper.

Flip Note has pros and cons, and it depends on what you need as to which note-taking app is best for you. I like Flip Note for the ability to add both handwritten and typed notes, but the placement of all notes in one notebook is a deal breaker. If your needs are such that you like keeping everything in one place, you may find Flip Notes to be the best choice.