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App Imp

Handwriting notes app.

Sync & data runs in 10 of the 11 apps here — nobody on this shelf has fixed it.

11 apps · 4,182 reviews held · 1,636 negative · 2026-08-24 snapshot

77/100 opportunity

6 of 6 factors · not advice
Nobody's fixed it10 of 11 apps91
How far above typical16.3% vs 2.2% typical100
How angrystar2.3 · 267 reviews45
People in the market2,046,877 ratings77
Room to enterleader holds 52% of ratings48
Willingness to pay10 of 11 charge · $5.99 entry91

Mostly solved: ads. 10 of 10 apps run below the store’s typical rate on it — while 10 of 11 still carry sync & data complaints.

How this is scored

Weighted mean of the sub-scores, weights re-normalized over whatever is computable (nobody's fixed it 25 · how far above typical 20 · how angry 15 · people in the market 15 · room to enter 15 · willingness to pay 10). Fixed anchors map each count to 0–100: breadth and willingness-to-pay are straight shares; the gap’s heat tops out at 4times the store’s typical rate; anger scores star3 as 0 and star1.5 as 100; reach runs 104 to 107ratings on a log scale; room to enter is one minus the leader’s share of shelf ratings. A factor that cannot be counted is dropped and named — never imputed. The site’s one composite (#115, owner decision 2026-08-15); cited industry benchmarks are never blended in.

5 gaps.

01

Sync & data — unfixed in 10 of 11 apps

extreme · 16.3% of this shelf’s 1,636 negative reviews, against 2.2% typical store-wide, at 2.32star average anger.

What they said · 267 reviews
  • Sync fails between devices33 of 267
  • Everything gone at once18 of 267
“Nothing is syncing — My deleted notebook won’t stay deleted and nothing from my laptop syncs to my iPad”Microsoft OneNote · 1star · Aug 24, 2026
“Doesn’t sync well — It will not sync from my Lenovo tablet and it just sucks to use so I just pay for a different note service now.”Microsoft OneNote · 1star · Aug 24, 2026
“Save doesn’t work — The font won’t keep the select deletes sometimes and the backup to other devices doesn’t link!”Microsoft OneNote · 2star · Aug 23, 2026
How it compares
this shelf
16.3%
267 of 1,636
store-wide
2.2%
typical
breadth
91%
10 of 11 apps
02

Limits & caps — unfixed in 10 of 11 apps

high · 6.4% of this shelf’s 1,636 negative reviews, against 2.8% typical store-wide, at 2.49star average anger.

What they said · 104 reviews
“Poor implementation of access to photos — iOS gives developers better options than what OneNote appears to be using here. An app can present Apple’s private photo picker, where you can choose any photo at that moment without granting the app permanent access to your whole library. Many apps do exactly that. With Limited Access, an app can also provide a “Select More Photos” / “Manage Photos” butt”Microsoft OneNote · 3star · Aug 20, 2026
“Can’t Even Test the Free Version Before Subscribing — I am trying to test Goodnotes before committing to a subscription, but every time I try to open a new notebook, I get the message, “Empty your trash bin to make sure deleted notebooks aren't counting towards your quota, or upgrade for unlimited notebooks.” The problem is that I have zero notebooks (or anything else) in my account, and I cannot”Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF · 1star · Aug 12, 2026
“Bad update — Used to be able to move words, pictures, shapes, etc around freely and place where ever you wanted, now the movements are jerky and limited where you can place things. The app is getting worse and worse.”Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF · 2star · Aug 9, 2026
How it compares
this shelf
6.4%
104 of 1,636
store-wide
2.8%
typical
breadth
91%
10 of 11 apps
03

Performance — unfixed in 11 of 11 apps

elevated · 29.8% of this shelf’s 1,636 negative reviews, against 16.9% typical store-wide, at 2.26star average anger.

What they said · 487 reviews
“Needs a refresh — I use it daily., the premise is good. You’ve taken away my ability to host my notebooks on my workstations and forced the active notebook to be stored in the cloud. The result is the app is clunky and slow when you’re doing any volume work with it. If you want this app to be anything more than a pretty toy, It’s time for a refresh and to fix the structure so it returns the per”Microsoft OneNote · 2star · Aug 16, 2026
“What happened? — I’ve enjoyed using Notability for years until the most recent Cloud migration. My planner is no longer functioning. It lags so bad that it barely opens. Tech support is slow and offers the most basic/pointless tips. Not good.”Notability: AI Notes & Planner · 1star · Aug 15, 2026
“Crashing + Terrible technical support — love the app but crashing. Additionally microsoft support is the worst!!!”Microsoft OneNote · 1star · Aug 14, 2026
How it compares
this shelf
29.8%
487 of 1,636
store-wide
16.9%
typical
breadth
100%
11 of 11 apps
04

Support — unfixed in 11 of 11 apps

9.8% of this shelf’s 1,636 negative reviews, against 9.2% typical store-wide, at 2.48star average anger.

What they said · 160 reviews
“Broken and inoperable — Ever since moving to Windows 11 upgrade the Sticky Note/ OneNote program has significant issues performing normal functions to create basic notes without the cursor jumping around, skipping to the next line consistently uncommanded, the program stopping in the middle of note taking constantly every other word, and the list goes on and on. This was to the point where I had t”Microsoft OneNote · 1star · Aug 17, 2026
“What happened? — I’ve enjoyed using Notability for years until the most recent Cloud migration. My planner is no longer functioning. It lags so bad that it barely opens. Tech support is slow and offers the most basic/pointless tips. Not good.”Notability: AI Notes & Planner · 1star · Aug 15, 2026
“Crashing + Terrible technical support — love the app but crashing. Additionally microsoft support is the worst!!!”Microsoft OneNote · 1star · Aug 14, 2026
How it compares
this shelf
9.8%
160 of 1,636
store-wide
9.2%
typical
breadth
100%
11 of 11 apps
05

UX — unfixed in 10 of 11 apps

3.1% of this shelf’s 1,636 negative reviews, against 2.9% typical store-wide, at 3.35star average anger.

What they said · 51 reviews
“Needs a refresh — I use it daily., the premise is good. You’ve taken away my ability to host my notebooks on my workstations and forced the active notebook to be stored in the cloud. The result is the app is clunky and slow when you’re doing any volume work with it. If you want this app to be anything more than a pretty toy, It’s time for a refresh and to fix the structure so it returns the per”Microsoft OneNote · 2star · Aug 16, 2026
“Unreliable if making a new page on the go — This should be a 4 star review when it does work. Gets unintuitive and hard to input detailed info when docs get complicated. Giving it a one because lately every 6-7 new pages I make on the app, there is a sync conflict. Often the page with the correct info just disappears from the app and is not searchable. When I get on pc again, I can find the sync c”Microsoft OneNote · 1star · Aug 10, 2026
“Clunky and unable to use AI credits — This seemed like a cost-effective solution for getting summaries from a weekly in-person meeting. I have an Essential plan with AI credits showing as available but when I try to use them, it doesn’t do it. Instead it tries to upsell me the AI plan. Highly frustrating. Without the summary, this tool is worthless to me.”Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF · 1star · Aug 9, 2026
How it compares
this shelf
3.1%
51 of 1,636
store-wide
2.9%
typical
breadth
91%
10 of 11 apps

Is there a market for a new handwriting notes app?

11 apps compete on this shelf, holding 4,182 App Store reviews — and the widest unfixed complaint, sync & data, runs in 10 of 11 of them at 16.3% of negative reviews against 2.2% typical. Those are counts, not a verdict — the page shows what is unfixed, not whether to build.

What do users complain about most in handwriting notes app?

1. Sync & data — in 10 of 11 apps, 16.3% of negative reviews; 2. Limits & caps — in 10 of 11 apps, 6.4% of negative reviews; 3. Performance — in 11 of 11 apps, 29.8% of negative reviews; 4. Support — in 11 of 11 apps, 9.8% of negative reviews; 5. UX — in 10 of 11 apps, 3.1% of negative reviews.

How many handwriting notes app reviews did App Imp count?

4,182 US App Store reviews across 11 apps, 1,636 of them negative — counted on the 2026-08-24 snapshot, never estimated.

Searched on the App Store.

Apple’s own suggestions for handwriting notes app terms, in their order.

ai notes takerai handwriting to text makerai notes & voice recorderhandwritten notesai handwriting pen+ai noteshandwritten notes widget, drawai notes free

Searched, but no app on this shelf says it in its name.

Who’s in it

All 11 apps counted on this shelf · 2026-08-24.

App
Microsoft OneNote1,058,86620%3%25%7%
Notability: AI Notes & Planner452,97826%5%39%13%
Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF443,54513%5%29%9%
MyScript Notes: AI Handwriting38,50913%5%39%7%
Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup22,9699%12%9%6%
CollaNote: Notes & PDF Markup13,4788%22%31%7%
Noteshelf 3: AI Digital Notes6,22610%2%17%14%
SuperNote Notes Recorder+Photo4,47220%3%25%20%
Element Note2,52614%—44%2%
Feenote - Notes and lists1,968—11%17%11%
tatter1,34015%5%16%9%

Each cell: that app’s share of its own negative reviews. Bold from 1.15 times the store’s typical rate for that complaint, and only where an app holds 20+ negative reviews. Click a column to sort.

What they charge, and what it costs them

Prices from Apple’s public pages; the share counts payment-mechanics language only.

AppMoney complaints
Noteshelf 3: AI Digital Notes$7.99–$49.99 · 10 tiers8.3% of 158
Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF$0–$35.99 · 8 tiers2% of 349
Notability: AI Notes & Planner$5.99–$99.99 · 8 tiers1% of 394
Microsoft OneNote$9.99–$12.99 · 3 tiers0% of 223
MyScript Notes: AI Handwriting$1.99–$24.99 · 9 tiers0% of 126
Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup$6.99–$6.99 · 1 tiers0% of 33
CollaNote: Notes & PDF Markup$6.95–$13.90 · 4 tiers0% of 178
Element Note$3.49–$14.99 · 3 tiers0% of 43
Feenote - Notes and lists$4.99–$19.99 · 6 tiers0% of 18
tatter$4.99–$4.99 · 1 tiers0% of 74

What each one owns, where each is exposed

Notability: AI Notes & Planner

Owns. Largest reach (451,656 ratings), audio sync, decade-long install base

Exposed. 69% negative share — highest in category; forced cloud migration deleted 300+ notes; retroactive paywall on lifetime buyers; crashes on every update

Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF

Owns. 438,328 ratings, best Apple Pencil feel, whiteboard mode

Exposed. 59% negative share; notebook cap dropped to 3 free; billing via Paddle with no cancellation path; macOS lag widely reported

CollaNote: Notes & PDF Markup

Owns. 13,482 ratings, collaborative annotation, lowest IAP ceiling ($13.90)

Exposed. 45% negative; silent free-tier limit cuts mid-use; crashes block note access before lectures; support unresponsive

Noteshelf 3: AI Digital Notes

Owns. 6,012 ratings, richest IAP tier count (10 tiers, up to $49.99), physical notebook feel

Exposed. 51% negative; misrepresented yearly update promise; pricing described as bank-account-draining by 1-star reviewers

Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup

Owns. 22,799 ratings, 10% negative share — lowest anger in category, single clean IAP at $6.99

Exposed. Reach modest vs leaders; no clear sync story; limited mindshare despite cleanest satisfaction record

Penbook: Paper Planner & Notes

Owns. 44,769 ratings, planner aesthetic, IAP up to $49.99

Exposed. 35% negative; update wiped seven notebooks for users; no recovery path offered

Browse the apps behind these counts

Every app we count, with the complaint it runs furthest above the store’s typical rate.

Open the app library
How this is counted

Every number is arithmetic over the reviews we hold, re-counted weekly — nothing modelled, nothing scored. Themes come from a frozen pattern classifier rather than a model reading reviews, so the same review always lands in the same bucket. A shelf rate is pooled across every app here; the store rate is the same count across 12,122 apps. A complaint is only called a gap when at least half the shelf carries it and at least 20 reviews are behind it — a problem concentrated in one app is that app’s bug.