Best free apps for Android and for iPad

I find that I simply do not have the time to keep an updated list of best apps in various categories. There are plenty of existing reliable venues with such lists. When I look for apps, my first stop is http://www.techsupportalert.com:


- best free Android apps

- best free iPad apps 

Guide to apps for sketching, notes and annotating PDFs

This is a long post. If you are short on time, skip to "Instant decision" section. 


I've evaluated over 50 notetaking/PDF viewer/PDF annotations apps. There is no one app "to rule them all", no app that's perfect and can do everything. I have created some general subcategories and list the top apps in each. For many of them, I also list their features and limitations. On the bottom, I list all the apps that I've evaluated. 



What I have found is that each app is strongest in one particular usage scenario, likely reflecting its original audience. The best have expanded or can be adapted to cover additional uses, but even these clearly belong in one the following categories:

1. a sketchbook for drawing
2. a notebook for handwritten and typed notes
3. a PDF viewer with annotation capabilities  
4. a journal or scrapbook of pages with multimedia mixed with text

The boundaries between sketchbook, notebook and scrapbook can be subtle. When it comes to drawings and text, sketchbook and scrapbook are closer to Microsoft Powerpoint and notebook is closer to Microsoft Word. For example, some sketchbooks and all scrapbooks support textboxes with notes just as Microsoft Powerpoint supports textboxes, but you wouldn't want to write a paper in Powerpoint. Similarly, a notebook may support sketches just as Microsoft Word supports shapes and images, but you wouldn't want to draw a complex graphic in Word. The Microsoft analogy is inadequate since the iPad has pen input, which makes it possible to enter handwritten text and sketch freehand drawings. The emphasis with scrapbook is the ability to easily arrange a mix of text, images and other multimedia; with sketchbook, it is the richness of pen features. 


There are many features that exist across these categories, including

• support for a large set of documents, including search and document organization via folders or tags or categories
• import, export, backup, synchronization or some other integration with apps such as Dropbox, Google Docs, Evernote, iTunes, iCloud, email; support for different formats for import and export, such as image, PDF, video, text, html
• rich editing capabilities, including colors, pen/font sizes and varieties, undo and redo, selecting, erasing, zooming, layers, backgrounds (e.g. lined, graph paper, music paper)
• special features for handwriting such as zoomed area, automatic advance down the line and to the next line, conversion of handwriting into typed text (handwriting recognition)
• miscellaneous: autosaving, spell checking, support for co-editing (simultaneously editing by multiple users), split-screen views, voice notes, alarms

Since the relative importance of any features above is completely user-dependent, the recommendations below are just a guide. If a particular feature is a deal-breaker for you, check the app's descriptions at the Apple store. In the table below I focus on the features of importance to a user who wants a replacement for their paper notebooks, binders, clipboards, highlighted/annotate photocopied materials, etc. Such a user could be a student, a teacher, a coach or anyone else who want to be in a "post-paper" world. Thus, the features emphasized below are document organization (folders), PDF annotations, notepaper for different subjects (lined, graph, music, sports), integration (both for backup and for organizing) with popular services such as Dropbox, Google Docs or Evernote.


The cost of the apps is anywhere from free to $10, with most paid apps falling in the $3-$5 range. Many free apps reserve a strip at the edge of the screen for advertisements; others limit the number of documents you can have. 

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The apps I evaluated, in no particular order are: 
epiNote HD, Side by Side, Sketch Pad 3,Handwritten notes lite,My notebook! lite, Clefit,7notes HD, 7notes premium,Evernote,Catch Notes,MyScript Memo,Penultimate,MagicalPad,Notes Plus,PhatPad,NoteMaster Lite,Awesome Note HD,inkiness,Noteshelf,Touch notes for ipad,Notesy for Dropbox,Nebulous Notes (for Dropbox),Notebook+ Free,Easy Note,Meteor Lite,Outline,Trunk Notes,Sling Note,SmartNote Free,SmartNote,Note Taker HD,uPad,uPad Lite,PaperPort Notes (formerly Noterize),Notability,Ghostwriter Notes,goodNotes,DocAS Lite,DocAS,PaperDesk LITE,GoodReader,Stanza,neu.Annotate PDF,Papers,PerfectReader,iAnnotate,Readdle PDF Expert,pdf-notes free for iPad,Meteor Notes Lite,Sundry Notes, Sundry Notes Pro, SketchBook Pro

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The best ones for sketching, notetaking and PDF annotating

App	Good at ...	Lacks ...
Notes Plus [$5]	+ notebook with sketches + great folders + autosync with Dropbox + export to Gdocs, iTunes + some shape recognition + notepaper for music	- no pdf annotation [update 1/20/2012 ... my bad: you can annotate PDFs, although it's clunky to get the file in to Notes Plus] - handwriting support just ok [update 1/20/2012 ... with the new $2 handwriting recognition add-on, they are now my top choice in handwriting]
Notability [$1]	+ notebook with PDF annotations and  sketches + folders + autosync with Dropbox	- little handwriting support - PDF features could work better - GUI could be better
Evernote [free]	+ notebook + folders + autosync + available on all platforms	- no handwriting - no sketching [update 12/28/11 ... a new app Skitch [free] allows sketching and is well integrated with Evernote]
Penultimate [$1]	+ sketchbook + clean and simple interface	- no typing - no handwriting support - no pdf annotation - no folders - no landscape mode support - import/export only to iTunes - notepaper for music is $3 add-on
Sketch Pad 3 [free, with ads]	+ sketchbook with typed notes + folders + sync with Dropbox + export to GDocs, Evernote	- no PDF annotation - no handwriting support - jagged "pen-ink"
SketchBook Pro[$2]	+ sketchbook with typed notes + very fluid "pen-ink" + Photoshop-like + import/export to Dropbox, iTunes	- no folders - no PDF annotation - no handwriting support
Noteshelf [$5]	+ sketchbook + very fluid "pen-ink" + good handwriting support + folders + export to Dropbox, Evernote, iTunes + notepaper for music, sports	- no typing - no PDF annotation - no import
DocAS [$4]	+ sketchbook with PDF annotations and typed notes + folders + import/export to Dropbox, GDocs, iTunes, and others + notepaper for music	- no sync with Dropbox - no handwriting support DocAS Lite [free] has no Dropbox/GDocs export and watermarks annotated PDFs
7notes Premium [$5]	+ notebook with sketches + great handwriting support (including reasonable handwriting recognition)	- no folders, only tags - no Dropbox - clunky interface - Evernote import/export is $7 add-on 7notes HD [free] has no handwriting recognition [update 1/20/2012 ... Notes Plus now beats 7notes for handwriting]
Side by Side [free]	+ split-screen with Web browser on one side and notebook on the other side	- very rudimentary notebook features
iAnnotate [$10]	+ extensive PDF annotation features + folders + Dropbox sync	- notebooks functionality only by inserting blank PDF pages
Google Search [free]	+ Google documents and spreadsheet viewer and editor (app name is a misnomer)	- very rudimentary editing
Outline [free]	+ Microsoft OneNote viewer and editor

Instant decisions

Best cross-platform; typing, folders	Evernote [free]
Evernote-integrated sketching	Skitch [free]
Best folders; typing, Dropbox, handwriting (with recognition), PDF	Notes Plus [$5]
Typing, Dropbox, PDF	Notability [$1]
Rough sketching, folders, Dropbox	Sketch Pad 3 [free]
Best sketching	SketchBook Pro [$2]
Great sketching; folders	Noteshelf [$5]
Handwriting; typing	7notes HD [free]
Great handwriting; typing; handwriting recognition	7notes Premium [$5]
Typing, sketching, PDF	DocAS [$4]
Best PDF; Dropbox, folders	iAnnotate [$10]
Split-screen Web and notes	Side by Side [free]
Simplest sketchbook	Penultimate [$1]
Feature-rich multimedia sketchbook	Clefit [$8]

What I would use and why


I'm a big fan of free apps, the fact that heavily influences my choices below. 


Currently, I do not do much editing/entering of information on my iPad, and Google Docs meets my needs when not on the iPad, so I mostly use the Google Search app.  


If more of my data editing and entry was done on the iPad, I would carry an iPad keyboard with me and use Evernote for typing and Skitch for quick sketches. 


For heavy-duty PDF annotations, I would use iAnnotate or Notes Plus. If I had to pick a free PDF-annotating app and did not need Dropbox integration, I would go with DocAS Lite; if I needed Dropbox, then Notability. 


For handwriting, I would go with 7Notes: 7Notes HD if I did not need to convert my scribbles to typed notes later, and 7Notes Premium otherwise.
[update 1/20/2012 ... For a free handwriting app, I would go with 7Notes HD, but for a lot of handwriting, I would splurge and get Notes Plus with the new handwriting recognition support.]


My sketching needs are so rudimentary, I could use anything. For those with more artistic needs, SketchBook Pro, Noteshelf and Clefit are great.

Office Suite for Android Tablet

LifeHacker does periodic evaluations of various software, including apps for Android tablets and iPads. 


Some of their recent conclusions: 

Best Office Suite for Android:		QuickOffice Pro ($15)
Best note taking for Android that syncs with Microsoft OneNote:		MobileNoter (app is free, sync requires a paid subsription)

Fantastic listing of best-of-breed tools for learning

Published by C4LPT Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies

http://c4lpt.co.uk/top-100-tools-for-learning-2011/best-of-breed-tools-2011/

Tips on using iAnnotate

Dropbox setup: when you add your Dropbox account within iAnnotate on the panel labeled Fetch, clicking the Dropbox logo displays the content of your Dropbox account and clicking the down arrow downloads the entire content of your Dropbox.

iAnnotate bug: executing "Save to PDF" when visiting certain webpages within iAnnotate browser causes iAnnotate to crash. They are trying to resolve this issue. I'll update as I hear from them.