Parents' Guide to GoodNotes 4

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Common Sense Media Review

By Stacy Zeiger , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 13+

Solid digital note-taking app helps kids get organized.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 13+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

What's It About?

Instead of using actual notebooks, users of GOODNOTES will take and organize their notes in digital notebooks. Although they may look like traditional composition notebooks on the outside, they're definitely not limited to the lined sheets of paper. Instead, note-takers can fill the notebooks with graph paper, lined paper, blank paper, and even their own templates, allowing them to take notes on whatever background they desire. As they take notes, not only can they write in their own text or draw images, they also can highlight, add images, or even search their notes to find specific information.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say : Not yet rated

GoodNotes has a fairly intuitive design, which makes it easy for note-takers to jump right in and start taking notes without too much instruction. Although it comes with multiple features designed to make the process easier and more effective, it focuses on having users write notes using their own handwriting rather than typing text. For those without a stylus or who have sloppy handwriting, this could prove to be a frustration, particularly when the handwriting tool attempts to correct the handwriting and creates more illegible text. Fortunately, developers have included an option to type with a text box, although it may take users some time to learn how to use it.

With a stylus, good finger control, and discovery of the text-box feature, however, note-takers will appreciate the ability to organize their notes into clearly labeled notebooks and quickly flip through all the pages in a notebook using the thumbnail feature. They'll also have the ability to mark up PDF documents and save the notes they've made on them. The ability to share pages through multiple cloud sources also makes it easy for note-takers to share their notes or easily access them whenever they need them.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why note-taking can be important. Ask your kids if they retain information best when they hear it, see it, or write it down themselves. What does taking good notes mean to your kid?

  • Show your kids how you keep organized, whether it's through to-do lists, spreadsheets, or notes scribbled on napkins. Ask them why it's good to have your own system for keeping your life in order.

App Details

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