5 Ways to Level Up your Notes

The Notes app is a built-in app on iPads, iPhone and Mac. It connects all three devices together where the Notes are living documents combining images, text, and drawings to illustrate your thoughts. Notes is my go to app to capture something quickly - a grocery list item, a workshop idea, or recipes to try. To make the most of using this app, here are 5 ways to level up your use of Notes! 

1. Lock note 

Storing personal information in your Notes? Just in case you lose your phone or you leave it unlocked, you can protect the information that is there by locking individual notes. This will require you to enter a password or use your FaceID to unlock the note. The same password is used for all locked notes and Face ID can be turned on!  To lock, click on the three dots in the top right of the note and select 'Lock'.

2. Collaborate on a checklist 

A checklist can be added to Notes by tapping the circle with the checkmark in it. To level up the grocery list or to do list, try adding collaborators to it. Collaborators can be added though email or iMessage. You are able to track the changes to the checklist by clicking on the collaborator button (Circle with a person) and select highlight all changes. This will colour code the changes in the note based on collaborator. In this menu, you can also turn on alerts where you can receive a notification when changes are made.  Using a collaborative checklist allows for quick realtime collaboration where tasks can be completed as a team.

3. Draw on a grid

Tapping on the pencil icon let's you launch the drawing tools. By drawing simple shapes and pausing on the screen can activate the auto-shapes. Simple shapes like circles, rectangles, stars, heart etc. can be created to add to your note. To help you draw, you can add a grid background.  This helps to keep things in line and evenly distributed. Using two fingers to pinch outwards will allow you to zoom into the drawing to capture the finer details. The drawing feature is a great to be able to take freehand notes with your finger or Apple pencil. 

4. Screenshoot full note to share

One way to share a note is to collaborate, but sometimes you might just want to share a view-only version of it. Another way to share a note by taking a screenshot. A great option is to select 'Full Page' as an option as it will capture the entire note.  Using the markup annotation tools allows you to add clarifications or feedback to a note. Clicking the share icon allows you to simply copy and paste this into an email or message to be able to share with others!

5. Share to notes

Notes can be the hub where web page links, video link, map destinations can be shared to notes. Click the share button and select notes as the destination to curate links from other apps! Using the organization features in your notes like folders and subfolders give you a way to organize all you different media for easy access. 

The power of notes is the ability to create simple collaborative documents that can have multiple types of input. Having it sync between devices allow you to have all the information that you need at your fingertips! How do you use Notes?