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CollaNote is one of the most frequently updated note-taking apps on the App Store in 2021. While this constant stream of updates is exciting, it also presents a challenge—keeping up with the latest features can be difficult as they quickly become outdated. This article covers updates from version 1.1.11 to 1.2.5.
On the homepage, the document thumbnails have been made smaller, allowing more notes to fit on the screen. A floating toolbar with five icons has been added at the bottom, superimposed over the documents. While this is a handy addition, a full-width tab, like the one at the top of the homepage, might work better for accessibility. You can now easily create a new note, notebook, or other items directly from this toolbar.
In the app’s settings, you can now change the user interface language. However, for French and Russian, the translation is still in progress, leaving much of the UI in English. It’s a promising feature, but still a work in progress.
A new “Cancel” option allows you to exit the text tool without adding any text. You can also now copy, duplicate, or delete text under the Basic options, and manipulate layers on your page—though this feature currently only works with images and stickers, not handwriting. Unfortunately, the app still lacks the ability to select and edit individual text boxes effectively, which needs improvement.
The lasso tool has seen some enhancements, such as the ability to pick up images and text together. However, it still defaults to selecting only handwritten notes when everything is selected. You now have the option to “Move Everything,” which is a welcome improvement.
Drag-and-drop functionality has been introduced for images and text, although currently, you can only drag items into the app, not out of it. The app now supports PNG images, and the developer is replacing icons with labeled actions for easier navigation.
A crop feature has been added, though it’s not fully functional yet. The app teases upcoming features, which can be frustrating. It’s better to release features when they’re ready rather than offering placeholders.
You can now scan documents directly into the app using your camera. The scanning feature leverages iPadOS’s native capabilities, allowing you to choose from color, grayscale, black and white, or photo scans. While the scanning process is smooth, the scans are currently saved as images, with no option to save them as PDFs—a feature that would be a useful addition.
The app now supports large PDFs, though it doesn’t load them in full resolution, which can give the impression that the document is still loading or is a low-quality scan. The app’s zoom is limited, and the document resolution is noticeably decreased, which is an area that could use improvement.
Hyperlink recognition has been added, which is a great feature. You can choose how you want to interact with hyperlinks in PDFs, whether through gestures or with the Apple Pencil.
PDF outlines are now supported, making navigation easier. You can also add and view bookmarks, though editing them after creation is not yet possible.
You can now change the paper template for individual pages in a notebook and choose to apply the template to new pages as well. The app smartly preserves custom templates when changing the entire notebook’s template. Moving pages up and down in a document is now possible, though page rotation is still absent.
Collaboration remains one of the most problematic features. The app sometimes stops collaborating on documents, requiring you to re-enable it. The process can be buggy and difficult to manage. There are also issues with moderation, where the app doesn’t allow document owners to moderate their own documents without emailing the developer, which is an unnecessary hassle.
You can now export specific pages out of the app, though only in a range, not individually. Audio files can also be exported, but only one segment at a time, which can be tedious. A feature to select multiple audio files for export would be a welcome improvement.
Gesture settings have been added for various actions within the app.
While CollaNote is the most frequently updated note-taking app, it’s also one of the buggiest. The rapid addition of features seems to have come at the cost of stability. A more polished, bug-free app with fewer features would likely offer a better user experience. Despite these issues, CollaNote has managed to rank higher than more established apps like GoodNotes, Notability, and Apple Notes on the App Store, which is surprising given its current state.
