Skip to main content

Handwriting in Notion and Joplin

 


Even though Joplin and Notion don’t natively support hand-written notes, you can still write your notes by hand in both of these apps by enabling Google’s handwriting keyboard on any Android device. This will automatically convert your handwriting to text on your pages.

If you own a Samsung device, you can do this with Samsung’s handwriting keyboard as well. I personally prefer Google’s handwriting keyboard, for some reason it feels more fluid and natural.

Now why do I prefer this solution instead of using something like Samsung Notes or OneNote, or just pen and paper?

I’m a big fan of Ryder Carroll’s bullet journal method and I enjoy filling up my daily spreads in an A5 notebook. But I also like having important information available to me in all of my devices, and on the go. And as someone with ADHD and bad short-term memory, I feel safer having an app to remind me of important tasks and events.

I also like handwriting my blog articles, and this makes it easy for me to transfer my final draft to the blog for publishing.

My brain retains and processes information better when I write it down, as opposed to typing it out. Handwriting on my Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite in a cross-platform app gives me the best of both worlds.

As for which app I prefer to use, I like Joplin the best. I found Notion to be slow and buggy, and especially on Android devices, whether you’re typing or handwriting, the text input is so buggy, it will randomly start deleting words or full sentences; or while you’re typing, it will miss characters or input random ones, making your text illegible.

Another thing that always worried me in Notion, is the safety of my data. Most are rightfully concerned with Notion’s privacy policy, but I’m more concerned about data loss. Not only I can’t have access to my data offline, the backup options are far from ideal. Based on how many Notion users have already experienced loss of important data, I don’t feel comfortable keeping all my work in Notion.

Joplin on the other hand:
stores my notes locally, therefore I have access to them at all times with or without an Internet connection,
there’s end to end encryption, which means I’m the only one who can read my notes,
and I get to choose how and where to automatically sync and backup my data, which is a lot better than what Notion currently offers.

I’ve also found taking notes in Joplin to be a distraction-free experience.

To conclude, you can expand your options for handwritten notes or digital bullet journalling, by enabling Google’s handwriting keyboard, which works on any app of your choice.


Disclaimer: The content provided in this article is for informational purposes only. You are solely responsible for verifying the information as being appropriate for your personal use.



Popular posts from this blog

NVIDIA Web Drivers Mojave Workaround

It is still uncertain when will NVIDIA release any Web Drivers for macOS Mojave, but we can try a workaround.

How to rebuild cache and repair permissions of kexts in a Hackintosh

After installing 3rd-party kexts in /Library/Extensions, or replacing vanilla kexts with patched kexts in System/Library/Extensions, you may want to repair their permissions and rebuild the kext cache to ensure they work as intented. Here's how.

New Page template button with timestamp in the title - Notion

These days I'm all about discovering ways for people to use Notion  without  the use of databases, as databases slow things down. I'm also an advocate for minimalism while still having an efficient workflow. Today I'm giving a tip with an example of daily journal entries. Usually, a Notion template comes with a database for journal pages, with a "Date created" property which is mighty convenient. But you can also replicate that without a database.  This will make it super fast for you to start journaling on a new page with the current date and time already added to the title. Create a simple text page where all your journal entries will be stored (no databases/tables). Optional: You may create a subpage to serve as an Archive for past entries. Again this should be a simple text page, not a database. You may also have multiple archives, named after the 12 months or years to keep things more organized. Type / , then template , then select the Template button . Give