Topic: The best note taking apps for Windows? (Read 75 times)

With so many apps to consider, we had some pretty strict criteria for what made a great notes app.
First, the apps had to be good at what they claimed to do. This sounds like an easy bar to clear, but you'd be surprised at how many apps fell short. Not every note-taking app needs to have features like image-to-text conversion or stylus support, but if it boasted about them, they had to be well-executed and nice to use.
Second, all the note-taking apps had to be quick and easy to use. The real competition here wasn't other note-taking apps, but a pen and scrap of paper. If it wasn't almost as convenient to open a notes app and create a quick note as it was to reach across my desk for a Moleskine and a pen, it didn't make the cut. This rule also extended to other features: editing and sorting notes had to feel seamless and natural, rather than require a battle with a horrible user interface.
Similarly, the biggest reason to have a notes app instead of a notebook is that you can access it from anywhere on any device at any time, whether you're at your desk at work, chilling on your couch at home, or flying coast-to-coast. At a minimum, we required apps to be available on one desktop and one mobile platform, and to have some kind of offline functionality. You can't be locked out of your notebook because you don't have Wi-Fi.
Finally, we had the value for money test. At Zapier, we love a good free app, but with things as permanent as notes, that has to be balanced against the likelihood of the service surviving the next few years and being able to offer server-based features like syncing. Many of the best apps charge a reasonable subscription price, and as long as it was warranted by the features offered, that was no barrier to inclusion.

I'd query the topic for the type of notes you'd want to take too.

If you're drawing diagrams do you need drawing features like straight lines and features like a paint brush so you can draw a basic outline of some shapes and make it neater than predrawn shapes without needing to edit them much?

There lots of note taking software online that can normally be searched for by Google drive and will offer you free storage and do most of those - I can remember draw.io off the top of my head. Most presentation software is also able to do this (libreoffice - open skuffe - and PowerPoint - propriety).

A powerful notepad is essential if you want to keep your information private. There are a lot of great note taking apps out there, but you can never be too sure about what's going on with your data in the background. What are some of the best note taking apps? What should we look for in a note taking app, and how do we know if it's safe?

Some of my preferences that I think a good note-taking app should meet:

• A note taking app needs to be simple.
• A note taking app should be secure.
• The best note taking apps will sync with your other devices and desktops.
• The best note taking app should integrate well with other apps on your phone or pc.
• It should be open source? (I'm not sure about this, is it safer that the app is open source or not?)
• Preferably, it should be free.

What note-taking app do you use? What are your recommendations?