Overview

Do you use OneNote as your primary note-taking tool on your PC?  If so, you’ve likely wanted to take your notes on the go with your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad.  MobileNoter is an app that lets you do just that.  It’s a nearly full featured OneNote app that runs on iOS, so you can view or edit your notes or create a new Quick note wherever you are.  Let’s take a look at its features and see if this is the mobile note taking tool for you.

Getting Started

MobileNoter is a free app in the App Store that lets you view and edit your OneNote notebooks once you’ve synced them with the for-pay MobileNoter Desktop program for Windows.  When you first install the MobileNoter app, you’ll be greeted by the stylish splash-screen, and then will see a sample notebook you can explore to try out MobileNoter.

MobileNoter doesn’t let you create new OneNote notebooks on your device, but you can quickly save a new note from it, even if you never sync with your computer.  Just press the plus button on the bottom, and type in the note you want to save.  From the bottom you can even attach images to the note.  These will be saved on your device, and will sync to OneNote when you connect it to the MobileNoter service, but if you wish, you could just use this as a simple and elegant notebook without using OneNote.

Syncing With OneNote

But, OneNote’s the main reason you’ll want MobileNoter, so let’s get it setup to sync on your computer.  Download the desktop app from the link below, then install as normal.

Once it’s installed, you can enter your MobileNoter account info to get started.  If you’ve never created an account, click the link to create one first.  You’ll get a free 30 day trial by default, and then will need to choose if you wish to purchase the WiFi edition or subscribe to the cloud service.  The WiFi editing costs $15, and lets you sync your notebooks with your iOS device when you’re in the same WiFi network.  The Could edition costs $1.25 per month, and lets you keep your notebooks in sync wherever you are.

At first, though, you can try it out and see what works best for you before you decide.

Enter the pin number on your computer, and seconds later you should see that the device is paired.

Alternately, if you wish to sync via the cloud, just enter your account info on your iOS device.  The cloud sync costs $1.25 per month, but will let you keep your notebooks synced even when you’re away from your computer.  You’ll still have to have the MobileNoter desktop app running on your computer, but your notebooks can sync even if your devices are connected at different times.

Either way, once your account or PC is added, you can select the notebooks you want to sync.  MobileNoter automatically recognized all of the notebooks in OneNote 2010 on our computer, so you just have to check the box beside the notebooks you want to sync.

Back on your iOS device, press the sync button in MobileNoter’s main screen, and your netbooks will be downloaded to your device.  Now you’re ready to keep up with your OneNote data wherever you are!

Editing OneNote Notes

Once you’ve got your notebooks synced, it’s time to start viewing and editing them.  Just tap a notebook’s name to see all the sections and pages it contains.  Then, just select the page you want to view to get started.

Your notes will render almost exactly like they do on OneNote.  If you have very wide notes, just pan or pinch to zoom in at the section you want.  All of the content will sync, including images and attached files.  In fact, if you’ve attached documents or other common files to your notes, you can just tap the content to view it right in MobileNoter.

Press the Edit button on the top right to change any text or formatting in a note.  While there’s not tons of formatting options available, it’s in general enough to do the formatting you’ll need in a note.

You can also add new content to a notebook.  Press the pen icon on the right to draw or write anything you want in your notebook with your finger or an iPhone compatible stylus.

Need to add pictures or a voice recording?  Just tap the respective icons at the bottom.  When you press the mic button, the audio will begin recording immediately; press the stop button on the popup toolbar when you’re finished recording.

Other Features

If you’ve used OneNote to store lots of information, you may find it difficult at times to find the note you’re looking for.  MobileNoter includes a search too, however, that makes this simpler.  Just tap the search button on the bottom of the home screen, and you’ll be able to find stuff in any of your notebooks with ease.

If you ever need help and are confused about how to do something in MobileNoter, you’ll find links to the online help in the Settings section.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer any offline help, so if you’re not connected to the internet you won’t be able to browse the help site.

As mentioned before, MobileNoter runs on iPad as well, and with the larger screen, you’ll find it even easier to keep up with your notes and add new sketches or content to your notebooks.  Plus, it’s a beautifully designed app that’ll make it fun to keep up with your notes.

Conclusion

OneNote is a great tool to keep your notes, outlines, and more organized on your computer, and we’re excited to be able to use it on our Apple mobile devices.  We were impressed at how well MobileNoter renders your notes, and all edits looked great back in OneNote on our computer.  The only thing its missing is the ability to add new OneNote notebooks on the go; if it adds that feature, it’ll be a full-featured OneNote client.

The WiFi edition works really well if you just want to sync your notes daily, or if you’re usually near your computer.  If you’re using an iPod Touch or iPad without a 3G connection, this definitely makes the most sense.  Otherwise, if you’d rather keep your notebooks synced throughout the day as you make changes on the go, the Cloud sync is a great option, and is not too expensive, either.  Either way, it’s nice to be able to keep your OneNote notes with you on the go without having to resort to importing your notes into other apps such as Evernote.  And if you’re an Android user, keep your eye out for MobileNoter’s upcoming Android version that will keep your OneNotes in your Android device the same!

Download MobileNoter from the App Store [free]

Check out MobileNoter Desktop options [$15 for WiFi, $15/year for cloud sync]

Learn More About MobileNoter

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