The new OneNote features are interesting, but I'm glad I saved a backup of the app, because I did not like these things one bit:

* no offline access anymore
* 50 times as big as the previous version

(This new version 2.0 is 250 MB, the prior 1.3 was 5 MB)

----

Also Outline+ is free for a day. Coincidence? It's been free once according to appshopper, so I'm guessing it may be free again but it could be a while (in other words, now is your chance to save $15!)

I do feel sorry for the guys behind Outline+, which is a very good app. But I didn't realise OneNote no longer supports offline! That's a blow - I'll have to check it out. Could be a boon for Outline+, of course...

And yes, it is enormous.

The Android version is nowhere near as impressive as the iOS version, either - no tablet-optimised interface, for starters.

Tim the Red wrote:

Also Outline+ is free for a day. Coincidence? It's been free once
according to appshopper, so I'm guessing it may be free again but it
could be a while (in other words, now is your chance to save $15!)

Cheers for the tip-off! Needed something like this...

Thanks for the tip on the offline access no longer being supported by OneNote for iPad 2.0. This is a complete deal-breaker for me. I only have wifi on my devices, and that's not always dependable. Frankly, can anyone always rely on having online access all the time?

I did download the beast, and it took a long time to install. But I do like the interface. Nevertheless it is going to be uninstalled first thing this morning.

Steve Z.

Don't forget to double-check first! ;-)

Thinks Tim.

I didn't notice that they killed the offline mode. I canceled installation.
Online-only makes ON unusable for me. I often do not have Internet access when travelling with my iPad.

Franz

Well, I've just switched off WiFi on my iPad, and guess what? OneNote is functioning absolutely fine. I've skipped between pages, opened several different notebooks, edited various pages etc. etc. It's all working, despite no online access.

Everything that synchronised earlier appears to be in place.

And no, I don't have 3G or anything else that could explain this. So please note that OneNote for iOS is perfectly capable of operating off-line.

Just a little reminder that it does no harm to check out stuff you read on the web...

Tim the Red wrote:

Also Outline+ is free for a day. Coincidence? It's been free once
according to appshopper, so I'm guessing it may be free again but it
could be a while (in other words, now is your chance to save $15!)

I see Outline as being free, but not Outline+. Was there anything special about downloading to obtain the free version?

--Ken

Ken wrote:

I see Outline as being free, but not Outline+. Was there anything
special about downloading to obtain the free version?

Both were free earlier today (at least in the UK). There was nothing special to do.

MadaboutDana wrote:

So please note that OneNote for iOS is perfectly capable of operating
off-line.

From the reviews I read, it appears that all MS Office 2013 desktop applications require internet access in order to check validity of their license. I don't know if the applications for other OSs have the same requirement.

I wouldn't know about MS Office 2013 - I currently have no intention of upgrading. I'm talking about OneNote for iOS (and OneNote for Android, which I've just tested in a similar way). So the mobile versions of OneNote are NOT restricted to online status only.

Alex.

Internet access is only once required for registering. After that, you do not need Internet access (otherwise I wouldn't have been able to work when my DSL connection went down several times in the last few weeks).

Franz

Don't forget to double-check first! ;-)

Bill, you're right. I should have done that.
But I already bought a licence for Outline+ a while ago and use that to access some of my OneNote notebooks.

Franz

I like Outline+, I must say - it's mainly very good.

But I have to confess I like the latest Microsoft offering even more. Not least because the synching is very good (rather better than Outline+, and streets ahead of the unfortunate MobileNoter).

Having said that, I've noticed some peculiar colour effects in synchronised files that have been edited on my iPad (pastel green seems to figure as a background colour, which is rather nasty). I hope this isn't Microsoft's attempt to push people into using OneNote 2013. I hate the idea of subscribing to office software - or being forced to subscribe to any software (hence my rigorous avoidance of Adobe products). I'm quite happy with Office 2010!

You can also buy a licence for Office 2013, though Microsoft would prefer you to opt for the subscription.

Quite!

What does appeal to me about OneNote is its seamless cross-platform compatibility - now that's impressive! Pages look exactly the same on my desktop, Android smartphone (Samsung Galaxy Note running 4.1.1, for those interested), Nook tablet (running a B&N-customised version of 4.0) and iPad (running iOS 6.2).

Having played some more, the colour issue appears to be a one-off problem, probably because I was playing enthusiastically with formatting (and trying to change the background colour of a table header, which even the desktop version of OneNote doesn't really do).

The more I play, the more impressed I am...

One of the things about OneNote is it appears there's no ability to have any local notebooks, unlike Outline+. I have a couple with sensitive content and I'm not comfortable trusting that kind of info to SkyDrive. I may end up using Outline+ strictly for local data.

-Mike