Note taking isn't the most fun activity in the world, but if you're organized, it is an excellent study tool. Paperly takes the variety of input methods available within Windows 10 and infuses them into a simple note-taking app.
Paperly is available for free on Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile, Xbox One, and Windows Mixed Reality.
Taking notes
Paperly is notebook app featuring a fluent design that allows you to create multiple notebooks and pages. You can make pages out of templates or from scratch and then insert or add a variety of content. The app supports inserting images, text, and a good set of inking tools.
The variety of input methods allows you create richer notes that enhance your note taking experience. I always hated that when I took notes on paper I couldn't add things like images or go back and add more text between things I'd already recorded. Paperly makes t simpel to enrich your notes and then go back later and add insight using ink.
One of my favorite features, especially when compared to a physical notebook, is the ability to add images and then draw over them with inking tools or annotating them with text.
Light weight
Paperly is a lightweight note taking app and that comes with pros and cons. The plus side is that performance is smooth with no hiccups or stuttering. Additionally, there's practically no learning curve if you've used any other apps that can perform similar tasks. The downside is that Paperly lacks some powerful features that you'd see in Evernote and OneNote.
One of the most glaring ommissions is tag support. In many note taking apps you can tag notes and then search for content through all of your notebooks. Paperly doesn't have tag support or a search function, making it difficult to find notes you've recorded in the past. You can ease issues stemming from this a bit by organizing your notebooks well but that doesn't make up for the lack of features.
Paperly is aimed at lighter note takers who need to record things and then jump back to an entire page rather than those looking for a powerful note taking app that could be used as a comprehensive set of notes for an entire course or class.
Overall thoughts
Paperly is a simple app that makes it easy to take notes. It isn't flashy, and the interface feels a bit boxy, but there are a number of input methods that allow you to record information including a large setting of inking options.
It's not as powerful as some note-taking apps that support features such as advanced tagging, but Paperly is good for general note taking and organization. It's a good app if you're looking a free note taking app that is more powerful than options that are built into Windows 10.
Pros
- Lightweight
- Easy to use
- Supports variety of input methods
- Free
Cons
- Lacks tagging support
