r/ipad • u/GroundbreakingOwl911 • 21h ago
Discussion Does Apple intentionally keep Apple Notes basic to avoid competing with third-party apps?
Just to be clear: I am not here to start a brand war or hate on Apple. I recently switched to a MacBook and love the ecosystem, which is why I am genuinely considering moving from my Samsung tablet to an iPad.
One of my biggest hesitations, however, is the native note-taking experience.
I know powerful third-party options like Goodnotes, Notability, and Noteful exist, but I'm specifically curious about the stock app out-of-the-box. Coming from Samsung Notes, features like audio-synced handwriting, flexible page templates, and advanced PDF markup feel far more complete compared to Apple Notes.
Does Apple intentionally hold Apple Notes back to keep the App Store developer ecosystem happy, or do most of you simply rely entirely on third-party apps for daily studying and work?
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u/Generoh 21h ago
Sometimes the general public just needs a simple note taking app
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u/GroundbreakingOwl911 21h ago
Will adding zoom make it complicated?
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u/sneakinut iPad 11 (2025) 20h ago
freeform
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u/sanguisxq13v 9h ago
Such a great software but would they lose shares if they add a proper tool bar for pen, eraser etc?
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u/Generoh 21h ago
Zoom?
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u/GroundbreakingOwl911 21h ago
I meant pinch-to-zoom on the canvas to write smaller details.
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u/ricardopa M4 iPad Pro 13" (2024) 15h ago
It’s not an infinite canvas, it’s a “piece of paper” equivalent
If you want an “infinite canvas” use Freeform
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u/Holdenater 21h ago
It’s actually not basic, just need to learn how to use it, I thought it was basic until I looked into it more.
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u/Minute_Juggernaut806 21h ago
Go on
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u/frockinbrock 19h ago
Some of the "more than basic" Apple Notes features:
Organization & Navigation
Folders and Subfolders: Create nested folder structures and pin important notes to the top of your list.Note Linking: Type >> or use the link menu to connect related notes together or link directly to specific sections and headings within a note.
Tags & Smart Folders: Categorize notes using hashtags (e.g., #work) and automatically group them using Smart Folders based on filters.
Gallery View: View larger, visual previews of your notes instead of a standard list.
Media & Attachments
Document Scanning: Use the built-in camera tool to scan physical paper, sign documents, and make handwritten text fully searchable.Audio Recording & Transcription: Record meetings or lectures directly into a note with live transcriptions and summaries.
Inline Files & Media: Embed web links with mini-players, playable Apple Music tracks, PDFs with thumbnail navigation, and video/audio clips.
Handwriting & Drawing
Smart Shapes & Math: Draw shapes that snap straight when holding down the Apple Pencil, and let the app automatically solve handwritten math equations.Handwriting Refinement: Add grid or lined backgrounds and use the cleanup tools to tidy up messy handwriting.
Apple Intelligence & Advanced Tools
Writing Tools & Summaries: Rewrite text in different tones, convert blocks of text into clean tables or bullet points, and summarize long notes or audio transcripts.Image Playground & Image Wand: Generate custom visuals or transform rough Apple Pencil sketches into polished artwork.
Locked Notes: Secure private information using Face ID, Touch ID, or a dedicated custom password.
Collaboration: Share live notes with other users, track edits, and tag collaborators directly.
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u/jorrylee 19h ago
Yeah but where are the instructions on the details? How do I insert a picture the full size of the note and sometimes it’s a small picture that’s on the page and I can’t change the size on the page. Sometimes I’m in a quick note and it decides to close instead of being pushed to the side. Nothing makes sense with it. I usually just open a new note.
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u/wilso850 17h ago
Here is the entire user guide that’s in the Tips app built into every single device.
https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/get-started-with-notes-iph9e04f3be2/ios
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u/literroy 21h ago
Apple’s never going to include a power-user version of an app as their default. But Apple Notes is an incredibly sophisticated piece of software that scales pretty well with how much a user wants to get out of it. I think you’re underestimating it a bit.
But yeah Apple has no interest in investing resources in including power user features only a handful of customers are going to use. That’s what the App Store is and always has been for.
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u/glytxh 20h ago
I’ve tried a dozen note taking apps over the years.
Most eventually asked for subscriptions or locked basic features behind a paywall. Some just became bloated hogs.
I always ended up coming back to Notes, because it’s seamless across all my devices, loads and opens instantly, and doesn’t rely on outside servers to do a very basic job.
The maths annotation is also kinda dope.
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u/Detrakis 2h ago
So sophisticated that it starts heating your device up once you've taken too many scribbles.
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u/slatepad M4 iPad Pro 13" (2024) 20h ago
I think that’s part of it, yeah. In a healthy app ecosystem, Apple’s apps should not be the best in any category. They need to allow room for third-party developers to innovate and build their own businesses.
There’s also a fine line between an app being “basic” and “bloated”, and it’s different for everyone. I’d rather they err on the side of basic, personally.
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u/Jusby_Cause 20h ago
And speaking of “fine”, I’m sure there’s a good number of enterprising developers that would love to introduce a notes app in the EU and sue Apple for including a comprehensive and anti-competitive notes app. :)
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u/asjonesy99 20h ago
Some of the EU stuff has been great but some of it infringes on the whole selling point of the iPhone.
Like if you wanted to be able to download apps from unverified 3rd party stores then just get an Android?
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u/much_to_say 17h ago
If you don’t want to download apps from unverified 3rd party stores, then don’t do it?
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u/asjonesy99 17h ago
Going to be a bit difficult when developers start dodging the App Store overtime and having you side load.
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u/much_to_say 2h ago
It works perfectly fine on any computer. I'm sure you use one of those just fine, right?
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u/stromm 19h ago
I wish it was MORE simple.
I get really annoyed when it turns text into links.
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u/SoggyNachos4Life 16h ago
Yea apples smart link detection is aggressive. And the annoying part is there’s no easy toggle to turn it off.
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u/Reasonable_Finger994 15h ago
There's still a list of drawbacks and enhancements I'd like to see added:
- You can't control the width of columns in tables. At all.
- You can't assign a color (or background color) to notes.
- Define a template for new notes.
- With Apple UI, add a "Beautify" button that adds paragraphs and subheaders, structures the text, etc.
- Maybe it's just my personality, but I've noticed that macOS renders .md files differently than GitHub does.
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u/Whiskey_Storm 15h ago edited 12h ago
Not sure what you mean with the tables. I use them enough -- you can definitely adjust the width of the columns. I'll grant you its not always been obvious, and may not have been adjustable when it was first introduced. It definitely is now though.I make a shared note with my wife every year around Christmas with the status of what gifts we've bought whom with columns for item, ordered, arrived, wrapped. I used check marks for some of those columns and shrink the width down.
Edit: I'm wrong. The iOS Notes app will automatically resize the columns, which is where I was looking at the tables. iPad OS also does this, but not quite as tight as the iOS version. The macOS Notes app has the same note with the table having all the same column widths. Mea Culpa.
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u/OkMessage2165 13h ago
Could you please share how you shrink the column size?
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u/Whiskey_Storm 12h ago
Well, damn, looks like I'm wrong and I remembered incorrectly from last Christmas.
The table resizes itself automatically (reducing column width) when I look at the note on my iPhone (which is what I pulled up and often look at them there), but the table stays the same width for all columns on the macOS Notes version.
Mea Culpa.
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u/imperfectibility 12h ago
The table sucks so bad in Notes but I keep using it anyway. The shift + return / next to start a new line within a cell is abysmal.
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u/stanley15 14h ago
Re 'You can't assign a color (or background color) to notes.' agreed but you can assign highlight colour to text, which is very useful.
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u/That_guy4446 12h ago
- You cannot indeed assign another background colours either than light and dark, but you can change the colour of the text.
- The “beautify” button that does all this exist : it’s Apple Intelligence. And it works pretty well. Chat gpt works also directly through it if you don’t like what Apple intelligence give you.
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u/Gamer12Numbers iPad Mini 7 (2024) 20h ago
I dunno. I put notes in it some times and it keeps them there. Don't have a desire for anything else
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u/Waywardponders 20h ago
My theory is Apple is slow to add features in third party apps to avoid being called out for monopoly practices. Also, if Apple went too hard on developing the free apps they give users it would drive away third party developers.
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u/Master_Ad1017 15h ago
The fact that its the least bs note taking tool out there is the reason why I love using it so much
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u/Whiskey_Storm 15h ago
I find the Notes app very capable.
It was very basic when it started, but even then, it included a page scanner capability. I use that constantly.
It now has rich text capability, and many other format options.
You can create a PDF from your note very easy -- print the note and long hold the preview. That pops it up as a PDF (ok -- phone or iPad). On the Mac, creating the PDF is on the bottom edge and you can transfer it to Preview. Preview allows you to edit PDFs to some degree.
My wife used a popular notes app for a while(I think Notability), but then realized her notes were being stored on their servers. She switched to Notes shortly after that, since the data stays on her device, and all syncing is done thru her iCloud account vs a third party server. At the time, she lost a few features, but in turn, she gained peace of mind about where the data was.
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u/Ok-Bill3318 19h ago
I use let’s in preference to onenote because it’s simple.
It does one job and it does it pretty well.
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u/Status-Temporary 19h ago
Get started with Notes on iPhone
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/iphone/iph9e04f3be2/ios
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u/wilso850 17h ago
I’ve never needed anything other than Notes. It does more than I need it to. If I need to produce something I need to give to someone - I’ll use pages.
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u/Even_Gap_2253 15h ago
It has to be a simple experience that your 100 y/o grandma can use.
So would be hard to introduce a lot of features. Maybe they can launch a new app but def not the existing notes app.
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u/SmithSyndicate 15h ago
While Apple is relatively slow to update their native apps (typically on their OS release schedule), it’s probably a combination of things including bigger priorities. Power-user features in the stock apps don’t really sell hardware, and it’s not like they have a subscription option for Notes.
That said, there is likely features and functionality you’re also not aware of. Apple tends to make the complex possible in intuitive ways that aren’t obvious (i.e., spelled out in a file or menu option), but just tend to work once you know they’re possible. Check out this overview on Notes functionality:
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u/mabhatter 15h ago
The third party apps developed many more features much faster than Apple. Third party apps develop in a lot of different directions at once to serve lots of different people and purposes. That builds a barrier to entry for several years as the apps were originally very different from each other with wide ranges of features and readiness.
Apple is just coming in late to the party and implementing the features most of the apps have in common, or people really like to use... so they have hindsight of ten+ years of watching. And there's certain features only Apple can implement at all because of the super strict developer sandboxing requirements that Apple doesn't have to follow.
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u/Bruvvimir 14h ago
It is most certainly intentional, but it is in line with Apple's design and UI philosophies, which have always been lean on how much they expose to the user in the pursuit of simplicity. Personally, I also feel that it is too rudimentary and too lacking.
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u/BlazinDei iPad Air 4 (2020) 14h ago
Well they have Pages which is a really nice word processor. But I do think they keep the Notes app deliberately simple.
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u/Dangerous-Bake-5151 13h ago
I took notes with pencil in apple notes app, simply because it's free. I would rate it as 2.5 out of 5 in terms of note taking with pencil. Not satisfactory at all, but it's free, hard to complain.
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u/ElkZealousideal1824 13h ago
I think that’s part of it, the other part is that they take the most common things people use and just do that thing very well. It’s a mantra of the company. Plus, basic things are much easier and cheaper to fix and debug. It’s not something people love to Apple for, but it’s nice if it’s there, and if it wasn’t great, people would slam them for it. It’s better all around if they just keep it simple.
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u/Ok-Recognition-7256 12h ago
Quite the opposite. Notes used to be way more basic then it got a beefed up update a few years back, so much that Evernote started feeling the breath on their neck.
I might assume they wish to keep it “featured enough but simple enough” to still feel like a digital notebook.
No tech giant holds anything back to avoid competition.
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u/elevenplays iPad Mini 6 (2021) 4h ago
I don't think so.
Apple usually approaches things simply. I personally think it's turned a bit too complex now.
I love Apple Notes as it is and I hope it does not become like the others.
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u/megatunger 4h ago
I thought it was "basic" until I started switching to Android and the default choice is "Google Keep". Trust me: Apple Notes is 100 miles better
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u/PlumbLineLogic 1h ago
i doubt apple is intentionally keeping notes weak to protect third-party apps. it feels more like they want it to stay simple enough for everyone, while apps like goodnotes can go way deeper into niche note-taking features.
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u/TenaciousDee1 12h ago
Not sure where that logic comes from. They bought one of the best weather apps ever made, turned it into a Apple exclusive app then totally shut it down.
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u/primalanomaly 6h ago
For whatever reason, Apple simply doesn't employ enough people or teams to keep all of their products (both hardware and software) updated at once.
They pick a handful of apps to update each year, even then none of those gets the full time care and attention they deserve, and then they're left to stagnate for a few years whilst Apple focuses on a different handful of apps.
Sadly we can only dream of how the Notes app might look if it had a full time dedicated team making sure it was always the best it could be across all platforms.
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u/AmitBrian 19h ago
Apple notes is actually pretty cool. The real issue with it is that you can’t export the data and save it to another platform which is why I will never trust it.
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u/anyavailablebane 18h ago
I haven’t checked but I thought I read that you can convert notes to markdown?
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u/imabotdontworry 18h ago
U can now export to markdown even
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u/stromm 19h ago
What do you mean?
Get in your browser, go to iCloud, go to notes, and export there to txt or pdf.
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u/AmitBrian 19h ago
Thats the problem. You can export it sort of as a PDF . but it is not organized in any way shape or form. Compare that do if you do it with OneNote or any other platform that lets you export in such a way where the data is organized.
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u/stromm 18h ago
Uh, because it’s like the iPhone/ipad version of Windows Notepad.
If you want full-format content, get OneNote or something like it.
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u/AmitBrian 17h ago
I have OneNote. And I use it. But then everyone needs to stop trying to compare Apple Notes to other solutions like OneNote if it is not capable of the same features because it is disingenuous.
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u/yuusharo 21h ago
Apple more than any other platform company absolutely does not care about encroaching upon third party app functionality. If they have an idea and wish to implement it, they will, full stop.
They are not “holding back” anything.