If you have an iPad and an Apple Pencil, GoodNotes is a fantastic app for taking digital notes. I use it extensively in my law practice. I also use it frequently when my kids ask for help with homework or studying for a test; one of us can work out a problem on the iPad while sharing the screen to an Apple TV, and the other person can follow along on the big screen. One feature that has long existed in other note taking apps (such as Notability) but not in GoodNotes was the ability to record as you take notes. That feature was added recently, and it works well.
To begin a recording, just tap the microphone icon at the top left of the screen and start taking notes. Press stop when you are done recording.
When a notebook has audio notes, a waveform icon appears next to the microphone icon.
If you want to listen to the recorded audio as you review your notes, you can tap that waveform icon to play the recording. On the screen, you will see a dimmed version of the notes you took, and each part will change from a dimmed version into the normal version as the audio progresses to show you the notes you were taking while that audio was recorded.
Alternatively, if you are having trouble reading or understanding your notes, you can long-press on a word to play back the audio that was recorded at the time that you wrote the note.
Click here for more information on this new feature from the app developer.
As an attorney, I rarely find myself in a situation in which I would want an audio recording associated with my notes. My thought has been that the existence of a recording it likely causes more trouble than it solves. For example, I wouldn't want a portion of a recording of a witness to be used out of context by my opponent. And I certainly wouldn't want audio recordings of attorney-client privileged meetings or work product.
On the other hand, I can easily imagine situations in which this would be useful—such as if I was in a classroom environment where it was acceptable to create an audio recording. I may not use this feature often, but I like that it exists. And for others, such as students, who consider this to be an essential feature, now GoodNotes supports it too.
Click here to get GoodNotes 5 (free, $8.99 to unlock all features)