Note-taking apps and digital diaries are essential for staying organised in our busy lives and staying focused on the important things. They help you set normal routines, organise your daily life, and keep all of your important information in one place.
Because these apps work with the cloud, you can always get to your notes, no matter if you’re on a tablet, laptop, or desktop PC. Some useful tools we no longer want to live without are the ability to save and edit PDF files, make handwritten notes with a stylus, and save important emails as notes. All of these note-taking apps are different in what they do and how they do it, but they all aim to make your daily life less stressful. Here are the note-taking apps for Android screens that we like the most.
When you write or draw, accuracy is very important. That’s why we have the best pen apps to help you out most of the time. This piece is perfect for you if you use an Android device and find that a pen helps you get things done. As more people get into digital art, the pen has become an important tool for many. Even though we have the Samsung S Pen, which works best with some apps. It won’t hurt to get a pen app, even though they’re not being made any more.
Best Stylus Apps for Android Devices
There is an app list below that will help you find the right one to use your pen to its fullest. It also helps people be more creative without putting in a lot of time or effort.
1. Evernote
One of the best note-taking apps out there without a question. With Evernote, it’s easy to make files, to-do lists, and take notes. One great benefit is cloud sync, which makes sure that all of your notes are always available.
A pen works with Evernote too, so you can write better than ever. This app also has an interface that is easy to use right away, and it can be used in business, school, and everyday life.
Anybody who needs a complete note-taking app that works with styluses should get Evernote. You can download the app for free, but you won’t be able to use all of its paid features.
2. INKredible
When you use INKredible on your computer, you can write automatically. You can write naturally on Android with it. You’ll love it because it’s free of distractions and has lots of cool features.
Its stylus support makes it easy for people to learn how to write by hand. With an adaptable interface, it’s a lot like working with a pen and paper. Besides handwriting, it lets you make sketches, add notes, and back up your work in the cloud. In addition, the app has an advanced handwriting recognition tool that helps make it more accurate and useful.
3. Sketchbook
Autodesk Sketchbook is one of the best drawing programs. There is a free app for Android that lets you try out different pens and paintbrushes to make drawing easy.
Users can get a more accurate drawing because it works with a pen. Besides, the app was already great, but adding support for styluses made it even better. You can play around with different brushes and patterns in Sketchbook. You can use Sketchbook if you’re really into digital art and want an easy-to-use app that works with styluses.
4. GoodNotes
GoodNotes is the main app I use to take notes on my iPad. Like a lot of #nerds, I use rough paper templates to make my fake digital notebook feel more like the real thing. I think GoodNotes has the right mix of style and substance because you can change the ink colours by HEX code, pick a pen style, highlight text, and make any transparent PNG picture into a sticker.
GoodNotes has a lot of useful and productive features, like the ability to record audio, so you can record a meeting or lecture while taking notes and play it back later or cut it up into smaller clips. It also has a stylish pen and formatting choices. As the recording plays, what you wrote or typed at the time it was recorded is highlighted along with it. It’s like an instant replay that appears out of nowhere and is great for learning or going over ideas again.
5. OneNote
People who use Windows or Android devices along with their iPad will really enjoy OneNote as a note-taking app for iPad. A lot of the other apps on this list can be used on more than one platform, but Windows fans will remember OneNote the most. As of 2024, it also works with the Apple Pencil for drawing.
Even for Apple users, OneNote is almost perfect because of how well it works. OneNote’s way of organising things is my favourite: sections on the left, pages inside the section in the middle, and a big place for notes on the right. There is a clear view of your notes at all times, which makes it very easy to stay organised. It is really helpful to be able to move around in a digital notebook without having to open tabs and options.
6. Milanote
Milanote looks a lot like Apple Freeform at first glance. At least in some ways it is. You can use both typed and handwritten notes, as well as pictures, links, and other types of media. Milanote is more of a “Pinterest-board style” app than a notebook. It has project plan templates, stock photos, task organisation, and other tools to help creative teams get things done.
Milanote says that their app for taking notes on an iPad lets people make “nothing into something.” It’s flexible enough that you can type, write, or add elements from anywhere, but it’s also organised enough that elements are automatically lined up, and artistic types will like the colour cards that come with HEX codes.
7. Agenda
I’m sorry, but my mind is a mess. You know what I mean: a million things to do, calls, projects, etc. I use a mix of Google Calendar, Todoist, and a notes app to keep track of everything. When you combine your calendar items with your notes in the agenda, the game totally changes. It works just as well for taking notes on your iPad as it does for making daily to-do lists and keeping track of your appointments.
Different apps do this in different ways, but Agenda is the only one that makes combining notes and a calendar feel natural. Agenda is great for taking text-based notes because it gives you a lot of formatting and organisation choices. Notes can also be given times so that they show up next to calendar events, and notes can be linked to and cross-referenced with each other. Making daily to-do lists or getting your meeting notes ready is a breeze with it.
8. Signeasy
Signeasy has established itself as one of the best stylus apps for Android, revolutionizing the way users handle document signing and paperwork on their mobile devices. This app seamlessly merges the convenience of digital signatures with the precision of stylus input, offering a comprehensive and user-friendly solution for individuals, businesses, and professionals alike. The stylus compatibility enhances the accuracy of signatures, providing a level of authenticity comparable to traditional pen-and-paper signatures.
9. Google Keep
While primarily recognized as a note-taking app, Google Keep has firmly established itself as one of the best stylus apps for Android, offering a seamless blend of intuitive design and versatile functionality. Google Keep’s integration of stylus support elevates the note-taking experience, enabling users to unleash their creativity and capture ideas with precision. The app’s fluidity in recognizing stylus input, whether for jotting down quick notes or sketching doodles, provides a natural and responsive interface. Its simplicity, coupled with the ability to organize notes through color coding and labels, ensures that users can easily manage their thoughts and visuals.
10. Fruit Ninja
Fruit Ninja was originally made to be played on touchscreens, but using an Android pen has made it an unexpectedly fun and satisfying experience. Swiping gestures are used to cut through cascades of fruit in the game, and these gestures work perfectly with a stylus, giving you more accuracy and control.
The stylus makes the game better by making it easier to cut through fruits accurately and quickly. This adds a level of skill and technique to the fruit-slashing frenzy. The stylus input not only gives the slicing action a tactile feel, but it also lets players move quickly and precisely, trying to get higher points and harder levels. Fruit Ninja becomes a more engaging and dynamic arcade experience with the stylus, which acts as a digital blade.
11. Nebo
Your friends will be green with envy if they see how stylish and easy to read your handwriting is. Then Nebo might be the right app for you to take notes. This smart app can read your handwriting and turn it into words that a computer can read. You can draw pictures and math problems, and the program will turn them into easy-to-read text. This is especially useful for artists and people who like numbers.
You can put handwriting, text, drawings, sketches, and pictures together in the app in a workspace that can be expanded. In addition, you can delete and change material using the stylus. People who like styluses and writing by hand will quickly take to Nebo.
12. WeNote
WeNote lets you record your thoughts in a number of different forms, such as text notes, checklists, drawings, and voice recordings.
The user design of WeNote is clear and well-organized, making it easy to find your way around and quickly access different features. You can make your notes look the way you want them to with styles, colours, and backgrounds that you can change.
You can categorise and tag notes in WeNote to make them easier to find. This makes it simple to switch between projects or topics and quickly find notes again. You can also set alarms and reminders for important notes in the app to make sure you don’t forget to do important things.
13. BasicNote
There are a lot of note-taking apps for Android, but sometimes the most beautiful things are the simplest. One of these apps is BasicNote, which looks good and works well with its simple design.
As its name suggests, BasicNote is a note-taking app that only has the most important features. The app is focused on the basics: making it easy to record thoughts, ideas, and to-do lists in a simple and straightforward way. The app gives you simple organisational tools, like tags that let you put your notes into groups. So, it’s easy to find specific notes without having to go through a bunch of features that are too busy.
14. Bamboo Paper
Bamboo Paper is a great app for taking notes that is free. It’s not as feature-rich as the others, but it’s great for taking notes by hand. Your notes won’t look like they were made by hand. You also can’t add PDFs. However, pictures can be added. As I already said, it’s free, works well, and looks good too. There are other options, but this one is nice and easy.
15. Penup
Now, Penup is a different kind of writing app. It was made by Samsung and only works on Samsung phones. It can do a lot of different things and has many modes. It can be used as a colouring book in one mode. That does mean you colour in shapes like you did when you were younger. It can also help you draw. In this game, you watch someone draw and try to copy what they do. That really does work.
16. Microsoft Math
Microsoft Maths is a great app for students, especially if they can use it during tests without being caught. You just write the maths problem you’re working on by hand here. A picture of a piece of paper with the equation on it is also fine. As soon as you touch the arrow, you will see the answer to the problem and how to solve it. You get a picture and can test your maths skills. This app is free and can help you learn real maths.
17. DocuSign
The whole process of signing digital papers on smartphones is made easier by DocuSign. This app makes it easy to use e-signatures and send documents to anyone.
Now that styluses can be used with DocuSign, everything is even easier. This method gives you a natural and unique signature experience. You can use your stylus to add signs that look real as a user. The design of DocuSign is also very user-friendly, which makes it simple to use. This is a good pen app that you can trust to sign PDFs, Word, Excel, and text files.
