FOSS handwritten note taking apps and stylus reccomendations

thompson

With the Fall semester on the horizon and the recent release of GrapheneOS on the Pixel Tablet I'm interested in migrating my current note taking setup over. I've done some searching for a FOSS app that would allow me to take handwritten notes with a stylus but I've come up with nothing. What options are available on android?

I'm also looking for stylus recommendations. I've heard Google is looking to release their own but its not out yet. The Apple Pencil 1 left much to be desired.

If options are looking pretty grim I might consider holding off until Google releases a Pixel Tablet 2, who knows.

thompson

bumping this with what I've found in the meantime.

Saber seems to be the most sophisticated android app that I have found so far but its missing some crucial functionality that preventing me from switching.

Linwood Butterfly (nightly ver) is another handwritten notes app but its missing a lot of functionality aswell and has less comprehensive layout compared to Saber.

I was also recommended Xournal++ which is a desktop application. It seems alright on PC but its beta app is terrible, missing undo functionality aswell.

I did also try out Rnote on desktop and it was actually really good but since its not an android app it doesn't serve my use case at all, figured it was worth mentioning in case it did receive android support.

So I'm still left without a solid choice. Does anyone know of any other FOSS handwritten note taking apps for android?

nunyo

Write has been working pretty well for me
https://www.styluslabs.com/download/

I'm not sure if it's completely open source. I have network permissions revoked. Solely offline storage.

DrJack60

I downloaded & played with Saber but I don't like the idea that they want to control where your files are stored. I've been struggling to find something that works well, and that I can make a template (whether word processor or .pdf or whatever typed document) and then handwrite on it.

KEEP SEARCHING & POSTING! I've been focused on other things but this remains high on my list of 'needed things'.

I am using the Penoval USI 2.0 and it has great capability, but Saber doesn't do much with it (such as modify based on pressure; also there does not seem to be eraser function in Saber).

thompson

DrJack60 I'll keep this thread updated with any findings but it seems to be slim pickins for FOSS handwritten note apps. I made the mistake of opening Notability (not FOSS) the other day to be met with a new UI overhaul that makes this all the more painful.

Such features like pen smoothing, selection color changing and pen width changing, and background grid customization are extremely crucial to me. Perhaps I am too picky to be gunning for FOSS only on this one. I'm sure the security of GrapheneOS sandboxing on the Pixel Tablet could still be sufficient for some Google Play notes apps.

OfflinePuffin

DrJack60 what do you mean by control where your files are being stored I thought you can set that in the settings or it will just create a Saber directory?

thompson

bump
Does anyone have any FOSS handwritten notes app recommendations for the Pixel Tablet?

DrJack60

And another bump from a kindred spirit ;)

We REALLY need a good note app for this tablet!

stick4611

I just bought a pixel tablet for university note taking. Are there any news on this topic? If not foss.. which app are you using?

FfaM

Hello, maybe

stick4611 Hello, Xournall++ it's possible for Android, but I haven't tried it yet.

https://xournalpp.github.io/
https://github.com/xournalpp/xournalpp/discussions/5654#discussion-6595033

I will test it in the next one, two weeks. I will give you a feedback.

In Joplin, you can also use handwriting

https://joplinapp.org/

Not FOSS:

Maybe OneNote.

If you don't need handwritten notes, you have a wide choice.

thompson

stick4611
For the last two years i've been using Notability, although for the coming semester I'm going to switch to Goodnotes because of their handwritten and shuffleable flash cards. I will be missing out on the snap features for lines since I am using a custom pdf template. But I'll live.

I also was praying that Google would release a better pixel tablet but to no avail. The current pixel tablet is just too expensive to justify since I would only use it for note taking. (compared to my $250 iPad)

I may look into more FOSS apps but I doubt I'll be able to find one with all the functions of goodnotes.

MolRas66

stick4611 How are you finding it so far? I was about to buy one tomorrow but concerned about how well it's actually going to work. I get lots of PDF/docx files and need to be able to annotate them and draw diagrams during tutes etc.

brightjob4495

If you don't mind using proprietary software, I used to use Squid Notes when I had a Galaxy Note and the pen support was the best I had so far on an Android device. The app worked offline, and their terms of use and privacy policy were very reasonable.

stick4611

Xjournal++ would be great! I've tested squid and liked it but can't use the premium features as I don't have and want a google account linked to my devices.
For now I'm sticking with Saber, but it leaves much to desire..

In general it seems that apple hardware has much nicer writing apps.

stick4611

If you are going full FOSS road you will have to live with limitations. Saber seems the way to go and it gets improved constantly. But in comparison to the paid apps it is not so good.
I will continue with this setup, but if I were to make the decision again I would probably opt for an iPad since it has the best note taking apps (tried it on a friend's device and was amazed). This depends a lot on your use case, since I solely use the tablet for note taking and nothing else.

MolRas66

stick4611 ahh okay. I'm not married to only foss apps but I am however uncomfortable with how much I've let my habits shift on my phone for convenience (the barriers and irritations have worn thin over many years). I'm going to try to keep my tablet as clean as possible... But my university is balls deep in Microsoft so I'll probably run a separate profile with Microsoft office software and play services etc. My main barrier is no access to paid apps. I'll use aurora etc to get the apks but I'm not willing to sign up for a google account and purchase things from them. I really wish there were options to pay app developers directly. On my laptop I mainly use zim wiki for my notes. I love it but there are no decent options to use it on android (conveniently other than opening individual text files in markor)

I'll give saber a try.