Fantastic human, hello!
Wellnote is a relatively new free handwriting app that’s got a lot of attention on App Store. But the real question is whether it deserves that attention or if we’re all just noticing it because it’s free. It’s available on iPadOS and iOS, though beyond that it’s hard to tell—its developers don’t seem to have a working website anywhere (for us to find out). So, today we’re breaking down the features that actually matter so you can decide whether this app earns a spot in your workflow. It might end up being an app for almost everyone simply because there’s no price barrier, and if you’re coming from Apple Notes you’ll feel right at home—just with a few unexpected upgrades. And if you’re using Goodnotes or Notability, you might be surprised to find a free app that competes on handwriting quality alone.
Notebook customization: templates, spacing, and backgrounds
Creating new notebooks can either make or break a handwriting app. For a free app, Wellnote is very impressive with all the basic templates you’ll ever want; dotted, lined, and squared. The fun part is that you get full customisation, the kind you get in Notability, with an option for line spacing, and any background colour you want. Even playing around with colour’s opacity. That’s a new one, it doesn’t result in a transparent page, though (whatever that might look like). In practise it only makes the colour lighter, nothing too dramatic.
You also get other templates as well. For writing, study, planning, and music. I’ve never used any of these in any handwriting note-taking app. The templates always feel unusable for some reason. Anyone else feel like that?
Handwriting your notes
Wellnote expands the Apple PencilKit with tools and features you don’t get in Apple Notes: a fountain pen, and a fully customisable colour palette. I love the fountain pen! Not only is impressively customisable, it is the best fountain pen I have tried in a handwriting note-taking app. It feels amazing, zero resistance; just so smooth and a pleasure to use.
You can also choose what colours go on your toolbar for each writing tool. The toolbar still limits that to five colours, but if they are your colours and not default ones, I am a happy human being.
This is the first time we’re getting the crayon tool in a third party app. So, if you ever wanted one of those, Wellnote might just be your app because the crayon has a very unique texture. Let’s hope the developers can bring in the reed calligraphy pen too, and give it smaller strokes. That would be awesome!
The toolbar icons are a bit too small, though, or at least they feel like someone squashed them. But when you move them to the side, they are decent size. The icons change. For the better, but still… consistency is key, and we don’t have that in Wellnote.
Working with your pages in Wellnote
The two‑page view lets you see two consecutive pages of the same notebook side by side. It gives you a continuous spread, where you can keep context on one page and work on the other. It makes studying, comparing steps, and presenting your notes feel as natural as using a real paper notebook. That is why we love it! Pair it with read-only mode, and you’ve got yourself a lovely setup.
Wellnote removes the limit of fixed pages by letting you expand pages whenever you need extra space. That’s ideal for brainstorming or long lecture notes. Those side thoughts and comments can easily go next to the relevant notes.
Layers add another dimension: keep sketches, annotations, and handwriting separate so you can hide and show information in parts. You can use layers to trace diagrams, test layouts, or preserve a clean base layer for later edits. My favourite use case is active recall. I love that more and more handwriting apps are bringing layers to our note-taking experience. Isn’t that fantastic?!
Quirks and limitations: tape tool, stylus incentives, and UX oddities
No app is perfect, obviously, so we need to talk about the things you won’t like about Wellnote. The tape tool could use some improvements. It’s not very natural, and I think freehand drawing could fix that problem. But, it’s the first tape tool we’ve seen that lets you mark yourself when you reveal the answer. Not sure if you get a mark at the end or some way to track your progress. It’s probably in the pipeline, right? Coz, right now, it feels a little incomplete.
Another eyebrow-raising choice is the developer’s incentive to connect a stylus. It is unusual and feels like a nudge rather than a neutral prompt. Just something we noticed.
Also, audio recording does not sync to your notes in any way, which reduces its usefulness. So, if you need synced audio, this ain’t your app.
Final verdict, practical workflow suggestions, and call to action
Should you try Wellnote? Absolutely, it’s not going to cost you anything. For now, so it’s probably best to try it while you can. It is an impressive free handwriting app that brings meaningful enhancements to the Apple Notes toolbar. That is something to love, for sure! The app can handle simple notes, perfect for you if you don’t take complicated notes. So in a sense, you could look at it as an Apple Notes improvement.
Let me know if you have tried Wellnote before, and how you’ve found it. What do you hate? What do you love? And until the next mini series, fantastic human, stay fantastic.