GoodNotes wish list [updated 2023]

Improved shapes tool

Most of us can’t help but compare the shapes tool in GoodNotes with the one in Notability. Most of us want the shapes tool to be like the one in Notability. It’s reasonable, Notability does have a terrific shapes tool. In addition to all the goodies in Notability, we want to: set a default pen for the shapes tool, lock shapes, and move them to the back of other items on the page.

Mindmapping tool

 Creating freehand mind maps is the best way to create mind maps. You can start on them as soon as you purchase GoodNotes. Not sure what a mind mapping tool would do, which you can’t already do in the app. If you requested this feature or voted for it, please shed some light on it.

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NB: You can create mind maps in any note-taking app. That is primarily my note-taking style. It doesn’t require any special tools to start.

Improve the text tool

GoodNotes’ text tool is its worst feature. It needs a substantial makeover. We should have the ability to add a text box and lists (numbered, unnumbered, and interactive lists). We would also love to save some template settings for headings.

More pens and addition of the Apple Notes kit

I am just a messenger. I don’t get that at all!

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True dark mode

Yes! Not just for notes we create but for PDFs too. GoodNotes is an excellent PDF reader; true dark mode will significantly improve our user experience in the app.

Highlighting for dark mode paper

Highlighting in dark mode doesn’t work the way it does in light mode. Apple Notes almost got the idea. The highlighter in Apple Notes looks better in dark mode.

Smaller file sizes

GoodNotes creates large files that take up a lot of space on our devices. Smaller files would be much appreciated. They did release an update addressing that, though, but they haven’t quite got it yet. It’s slightly improved.

A minimalist interface 

Yes, we are all about minimalism in 2020. We want more features but fewer icons and fewer steps for doing those iconless things. Up until now, complex apps have had many icons. But we want that to change soon.

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Zooming for realistic paper sizes

It’s challenging to appreciate your paper sizes in GoodNotes. The app supports many page sizes, and therefore a percentage zoom on the screen is necessary. Or perhaps shortcuts to zoom in and out of the 100% size of pages.

Set width sizes and add margins to pages

Narrow and wide don’t quite do the trick. We want to determine the width of our grids in millimetres. We also want to add margins on all four sides of the paper. It is unnecessary; you can add custom page templates to GoodNotes’ template library.

Improved OCR ✅

OCR for Math equations and more straightforward conversion to text. Copying and pasting converted text and then deleting the handwritten section is too much work. We should be able to replace handwriting with text in one step. We still need support for more languages, especially right-to-left languages. Many people have been requesting Arabic.

Improved zoom tool

We need pen tools on the zoom window like there were in GoodNotes version 4. We also need auto-advance to support right-to-left writing.

Fix the lasso tool

The lasso tool should move objects across pages in the same notebook. At the moment, we have to cut and paste. The lasso tool in GoodNotes is terrific, yet it doesn’t support such a basic feature. It is unacceptable.

Android and Windows Versions For GoodNotes ✅

So we are not limited to using iPads and Macs only.

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Nested bookmarks

We can create outlines in GoodNotes. Now we are asking for better organisation of those outlines. Creating sub-outlines or bookmarks will help us do that.

Other requests:

  • Hyperlink different notes
  • PDF editing: erase, select, trim, and resize non-handwritten objects in documents brought into the app.
  • Extract highlights from PDFs
  • Show file or document count in folders 
  • Make thumbnails smaller
  • Presentation mode like the one in Notability (not sure which feature exactly) because GoodNotes’ presentation mode is quite decent.
  • Auto backup to more cloud services from smaller companies, e.g., Nextcloud.
  • Move tools around and customise our toolbars.
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