GoodNotes is my go-to app for taking handwritten notes on my iPad. I use it all the time to take notes in meetings and in court, and I also use it at my desk just to organize my own thoughts. I typically use a template with lines and a light yellow background so that the app mimics writing on a legal pad, but I also frequently import a PDF file and write on it. For example, if there is an agenda for a meeting, I will often import the agenda into a notebook and then, if there is space, take notes directly on the agenda, and when more space is required I write on a page behind the agenda.
GoodNotes was recently updated to version 5 and I reviewed it earlier this year. It's a great update, with full support for the second generation Apple Pencil. Double-tap on the side of the Pencil to switch between your current writing tool and an eraser and then back again.
An eraser is useful when you want to change something you wrote, but sometimes all that you want to do is undo your last stroke or your last few strokes. You have always been able to tap undo and redo buttons at the top of the screen but they are small and you need to hunt for them. A few days ago, the app was updated to version 5.1 to add a very useful new feature. Now, you can use two fingers to double-tap anywhere on the screen to undo your last edit. Double-tap again to undo even more. There is also a new gesture for redo; double-tap with three fingers to redo your last edit.
I find this to be a very useful update. It only takes a fraction of a second to move the Pencil in my hand so that my hand is in a position to tap on the screen with two fingers, and I find that it is much faster to undo using this gesture than finding and tapping the undo button at the top of the screen. I use the undo function far more than I use the redo function, but using three fingers to redo also seems to work very well.
Thanks to this update, one of the most-used apps in my law practice now works even better. I recommend that you check out GoodNotes if you want to take handwritten notes on an iPad.
Click here to get GoodNotes 5 ($7.99): 
