What note-taking app actually works for lectures?

I keep switching between typed notes, handwritten notes, and random photos of the board. By exam week everything is in five places.

What note-taking app do you use during actual lectures, not just for making pretty revision pages later? I need something fast and easy to search.

The app mattered less than the rule I used. One notebook per module, one page per lecture, and three tags at most. I type the main ideas and mark anything unclear with “??” so I can find it later.

I stopped recording whole lectures because I never listened to them again.

for maths i need handwriting, no question. typing equations while the lecturer moves on is impossible for me lol. for history i type because search is useful.

So my answer is annoyingly two apps. The important bit is exporting both to one module folder every Friday.

notesnacks wrote:

The important bit is exporting both to one module folder every Friday.

This is the part most app comparisons miss. Check whether you can export normal files and open them without the app. I lost access to old notes after a student subscription ended, so now portability is a requirement.

Good point about export. I was looking at features and not thinking about whether I could still open everything next year.

I’ll try one typed notebook for most lectures, handwriting for equations, and a weekly export. That already sounds less chaotic.

Small tip: turn off notifications before class and download the lecture slides first. Otherwise “digital notes” turns into checking messages for 20 minutes and copying slides you could have annotated.