There’s this classic meme floating around Reddit and X that shows dozens of project management tools and PKM apps sprawled across someone’s screen. Notion, Obsidian, Roam, Evernote, Bear, the list goes on. Eventually, all Mac and Apple users end up right back where they started: Apple Notes.
For years, I was the person laughing at that meme while simultaneously living it. I’d tried every note-taking app under the sun, downloading each new tool promising to “revolutionize my workflow.”
But Apple Notes? I completely ignored it. The interface felt dated, the limitations were frustrating, and honestly, looking at it on my MacBook made me want to immediately close the app and pretend it didn’t exist.
Then something shifted.
The iPad Pro Changed Everything For Me
My sentiment toward Apple Notes completely transformed the moment I started using my iPad Pro as my main driver. We’re talking 90% of my screen time.
My Mac became the backup player, only brought in for the heavy lifting tasks. And suddenly, Apple Notes wasn’t just tolerable on the iPad; it was actually… pleasant?
The touch interface, the Apple Pencil integration, the way folders felt more natural to navigate with gestures. It all clicked in a way it never had on desktop. But even after discovering this iPad magic, I still kept hopping.
Slite one week, Notion the next, then back to Slite when Notion felt too bloated, just to think that I could do it with another tool like Nuclino.
You know that cycle, right? You start with the best intentions. You take a few notes, meticulously create folders, maybe even set up some tags. Three days later, you’re second-guessing everything and eyeing the next app in your dock.
The grass is always greener, or in this case, the interface is always slicker.
The cost of tool hopping is immense. Not just financially, but mentally.
Every switch means relearning shortcuts, rebuilding your system, and worst of all: fragmenting your knowledge across multiple platforms like some kind of digital diaspora.
The Advice That Changed My Approach
Then someone told me something that stuck: You need to compound your notes for a few months and build a system without the constant hopping.
It sounds almost too simple, doesn’t it? But think about it as compound interest that doesn’t work if you keep withdrawing your investment. Your notes are the same way. Once you commit to a singular tool and adapt where needed, you’ll find clarity and actually create that personal knowledge management system you’ve been chasing.
That’s when I made the decision. All in. Apple Notes. No more hopping.
Apple Notes Isn’t Perfect, But It’s Closer Than You Think
Apple Notes is far from perfect. It doesn’t have the aesthetic polish of Notion, the minimalist beauty of Craft, or the sleek design of Nuclino. And some basic features will make you scratch your head.
Take tables, for instance. Simple tables in Apple Notes don’t let you resize column widths or even auto-fit content. I mean, come on, it’s 2025, and I can’t adjust a column?
This alone was a massive deterrent for me. I felt practically forced to keep Notion around as a secondary tool just for tables and better visual overviews.
Until I made the hard shift in my thinking.
Here’s what I realized:
- My tables don’t need to be top-notch eye candy. They need to function. That’s it.
- I don’t need tags and labels like I used in Notion. Folders and search work just fine.
- I can live with un-resizable tables. It’s not ideal, but it’s not a dealbreaker either.
- Working in Apple Notes on iPad Pro is faster, lighter, and more responsive than Notion. The difference is genuinely night and day.
- Split-screen multitasking is smoother. Notion often felt sluggish; Apple Notes just works.
- It works offline without limitations. Notion in offline mode? Let’s just say it’s not winning any awards.
- Syncing is instantaneous across all my Apple devices. No lag, no waiting, no “conflicted copy” files.
- Deep integration with Apple Calendar, Reminders, and Mail. Everything talks to each other seamlessly.
- Internal note linking creates a real second brain. You can build connections between ideas just like Obsidian or Roam.
- It never feels cluttered. Notion databases can become overwhelming; Apple Notes stays clean.
The more I dove in, the more I realized Apple Notes was actually close to perfection for my specific needs. And that’s the key phrase there: “for my needs”.
What Apple Notes Lacks (And Why Apple’s Slow)
Let’s not pretend Apple Notes is flawless. There are real disadvantages:
- No customization for page width. You’re stuck with whatever Apple decides looks good. Want your content centered? Narrow margins? Too bad.
- Limited formatting options. Compared to Notion’s blocks or Craft’s beautiful typography controls, Apple Notes feels bare-bones.
- No templates. If you want a consistent structure for meeting notes or project planning, you’re building it manually every time.
- Collaboration features are basic. Shared folders work, but don’t expect Notion’s commenting, mentions, or permissions granularity.
- No database views. If you’re into organizing information with different views (kanban, calendar, gallery), Apple Notes isn’t your friend.
But here’s the interesting part: Apple is progressing, just slowly. They added tags, smart folders, locked notes, Quick Notes, and scanning features over the years. It’s not the fast iteration pace of a startup desperate for market share. It’s Apple.
Deliberate, methodical, and frustratingly measured. But they are moving toward a more full-blown note-taking app, even if it takes them a geological age to get there.
The Mindset Shift Is Required
Sticking to a singular app like Apple Notes requires more than just willpower. It demands a genuine mindset shift.
You have to let go of perfectionism. You have to accept that your system won’t have every bell and whistle you see in product demos. You have to embrace constraints as creative boundaries rather than limitations.
But there’s something freeing about working within those boundaries. Your thinking becomes clearer because the tool isn’t constantly offering you new ways to organize, format, or prettify.
I had to reframe my relationship with note-taking entirely. It’s not about having the best tool; it’s about having one tool that you know inside and out. Mastery beats features every single time.
How I Use Apple Notes Now
Going all-in on Apple Notes eliminated two different subscription tools that had become bloated with AI features I never asked for. Those upsells weren’t helping me think better; they were just noise.
Here’s my current setup:
- Learning Chinese. I track my progress, add new vocabulary with example sentences, and link related grammar concepts together. The ability to hand-write characters with the Apple Pencil makes this infinitely better than any text-based app.
- Blog drafting. This post? Started in Apple Notes as a messy first draft. Later, I’ll open it in Apple Pages for additional editing and polish. Both copies live in iCloud, accessible everywhere.
- Daily planning. I have one pinned note that serves as my command center. Tasks, reminders, quick thoughts. Everything lands there first. It’s my digital desk surface.
- Shared folders with my wife. Separate notes for grocery lists, movies and TV shows we want to watch, bills, random information we both need. No more “where did you write that down?” conversations.
- Meeting notes. Usually scribbled with Apple Pencil during the actual meeting, then organized and typed up later. The handwriting-to-text feature is surprisingly good.
- Connected notes system. TI link different notes together in text, in tables, across folders. It creates a genuine PKM system where ideas connect and compound over time.
- Brain dump folder for 2026. Just a messy collection of ideas, half-formed thoughts, and possibilities. No pressure to organize it yet.
- Quick notes on the go. Captured with Quick Note on iPad or the lock screen widget on iPhone, then processed and filed later.
The system isn’t fancy. But it works, and more importantly, it keepsworking without requiring constant maintenance or system overhauls.
Final Thoughts
If you told me two years ago that I’d be writing a love letter to Apple Notes, I would have laughed in your face. But here we are.
The truth is, the best note-taking app isn’t the one with the most features, the prettiest interface, or the most impressive demo videos. It’s the one you’ll use consistently, without friction, across all your devices.
For me, that ended up being the app I’d dismissed for years and the one that was sitting right there on my home screen the whole time.
Sometimes the answer isn’t out there in the next shiny tool. Sometimes it’s in finally committing to what you already have and making it work for you.
Apple Notes isn’t perfect. But neither am I. And maybe that’s why we get along so well now.