I just noticed that Alfonse Schmidt has released version 8 of his iOS app Notebooks. Just FYI for users. I haven't been one, but I may give it another go.

Steve Z.

Looks like a brilliant update, too, with a built-in PDF reader/annotator as an additional option. If the Mac/PC versions gain the same functionality as the iOS version -- as Alfons appears to suggest in his news item -- then Notebooks will be making its way right up to the top of my pile of 'preferred apps' again. Unlike many of the Big Notebooks (NoteSuite, OneNote, Ulysses etc.), Notebooks also runs on iPhones, which sets it apart.

The only dark horse racing up the back straight at the moment is the impending iOS release of Scrivener, which will be a Universal app (pace Alexander) and offer two-pane views on iPads.

But Notebooks does something else that only NoteSuite does as well: manages tasks for you. Now currently, I have a very efficient task management system running in Ulysses, but it's a bit too dependent on the weird vagaries of iCloud for my liking. The Notebooks task management function has clearly been substantially improved – and depends on Dropbox (with which Notebooks now -- finally! -- auto syncs).

Will it challenge Ulysses? Or am I just looking for a CRIMPing excuse...? (Okay, okay, you don't have to answer that last purely rhetorical question!)

I've been using nothing but the Windows version for several months now on my Dell E7440 laptop - and love it. It seems many are using the iOS version and then discover there's a desktop version; looks like I'm doing it the other way around. Sounds like it's time to pick up a version for my iPhone. I can strongly recommend Alfons Schmid's "Notebooks." I will, again, voice my opinion that Alfons should find a new name for this excellent software. "Notebooks" just (imo) won't cut it and allow it to build a following with such a generic name. It is very hard to find in any kind of internet search for these kinds of software/applications, and many other reasons. It's TOO GOOD to get lost because of the name. If you haven't given it a whirl, do yourself a favor!
http://www.notebooksapp.com

I entirely agree with you, although I'm amused by your unusual discovery of the software – as you say, most people discover the iOS app first!

And yes, it's high time Notebooks was called something else! Perhaps InfoJammer or something... Hey, Alfons, you could hold a naming competition!

I'm anxiously awaiting the updated Windows release. However, my vote is to maintain some variation on the Notebooks name. It states the function of the software simply and clearly. I wouldn't know what an "InfoJammer" was if it bit me. I remember someone on this forum suggesting that Mr. Schmid add his name to the title and call the product Alphons Notebook, and I rather like that idea.