Why Notion is the best note-taking app
14.9.2020
Translation: machine translated
Evernote, Onenote, Keep. I had them all. I didn't last long with any of them. Until I came across Notion. It was love at first sight.
Whether for the show notes of the digitec podcast, my coffee bean ratings or the rules of a complicated card game. My notes app holds pretty much everything that is important to me. I have already tried out a correspondingly large number of apps. Evernote, Google Keep, Onenote and many smaller apps. Unfortunately, there's always something I don't like. Sometimes it's the dull design, sometimes the lack of accessibility. But mostly it's the lack of editing options. I need flexibility when I create notes.
For a long time I was satisfied with Onenote, until a mate recommended Notion to me. Since then, I've been discovering new features almost every week that make the note-taking app even more appealing to me. It starts with the simple but clearly organised display. I can view all my notebooks and all the pages below them in one go. I drag and drop pages or notebooks that I often need to my favourites. I can also add pictures or small icons to each page so that I can recognise them more quickly - or simply because it looks nice. I can either use the included emojis or upload my own images. This makes the notes even more personalised.
Many editing options, if you can find them
The highlight is the design options for the actual notes. Notion relies on a block system. Texts, titles and graphics form blocks. This takes some getting used to at first, but ensures that you can easily move any elements around. Another special feature is formatting using Markdown. As we use the same system at digitec, I found it particularly easy to get started. Markdown allows you to format texts with certain punctuation marks. For example, ## turns the following text into a title. This shortcut system is extremely efficient. Of course, you can also format your notes manually using menus.
There are virtually no limits to the design of your notes. Texts can be easily hidden behind an arrow with a toggle list. You can use @ to refer to other notes and edit them directly on the corresponding page. You can also add various tables, Kanban boards, code blocks or galleries. You can choose between numerous predefined templates for everything. Or you can create your own templates, as I did for my game notes.
Notes can also be customised with individual properties, such as creation date, tags or a user you want to link to.
The many options mean that I can't always find what I'm looking for in Notion. However, unlike Onenote and the like, there always seems to be a workaround. As the app is based on Markdown, it's a bit like programming. There are many ways to get there.
I've been using Notion for several months now and I'm still delighted. The only thing the app lacks is handwriting recognition. Onenote is clearly ahead in this respect and this is unlikely to change any time soon. Apart from that, I can highly recommend the app. It's free and available on all platforms.
Philipp Rüegg
Senior Editor
Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.chBeing the game and gadget geek that I am, working at digitec and Galaxus makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop – but it does take its toll on my wallet. I enjoy tinkering with my PC in Tim Taylor fashion and talking about games on my podcast http://www.onemorelevel.ch. To satisfy my need for speed, I get on my full suspension mountain bike and set out to find some nice trails. My thirst for culture is quenched by deep conversations over a couple of cold ones at the mostly frustrating games of FC Winterthur.
