iOS Note Taking Apps

I've always found note taking kind of interesting; what techniques are effective and what apps are useful. In college I took hand written notes, on unlined pages and with a couple of pen colors. On laptops I just typed into a plain text file using Emacs. When I started this blog I used to take handwritten notes in a Moleskin notebook. When the iPhone and then the iPad came out I started trying a lot of different note taking apps. I meant to write a review of many of them but never quite got around to it. Here's what I'm using and you should particularly look at iThoughts today.

I now sync things to a Dropbox folder. and mostly use Markdown format just to have something to be consistent with and because many apps have a markdown preview mode that makes things pretty.

• Simplenote - I use this for quick notes. It comes with it's own cloud syncing service that's worked well for me. i use nvAlt on the Mac for access to the notes. I now tend to write in Markdown format. I use this for restaurant lists, movie lists, little things I want to remember either to bring on an iPhone or because I don't know another good place to put it (a list of links to college commencement pages that I check once a year because they cause traffic problems in Boston).
• Editorial - This is the best app on iOS for typed notes. It's now universal, has good markdown support, an extended keyboard and lets you create new "Workflows" that act as new commands by using a graphical system instead of having to write code. The only limitation I've found is that it syncs to just one Dropbox folder instead of letting you browse (I could be wrong). Before Editorial, iA Writer was my app of choice for typed notes.
• NotesPlus - This is the best handwriting app I've found (it's iPad only and while probably stay that way as an iPhone screen is too small). It's got a tons of features, in-app purchase for converting handwriting to text, all the drawing tools you want (including smart shapes like on an Apple Newton), a built-in browser for research, does voice recordings, etc. Dan Bricklin's Note Taker HD is another powerful app but I never liked the user interface and never tried it.
• iThoughts - This is the best mind mapping app I've found. I kept hearing about mind maps and thought they might be useful but they never quite worked for me until this app. It's got enough features that maps are easy to create and manipulate and is still easy to use. I still don't use it that often but it's great for things that you want to move around a bunch. Today I found out they did a big iOS7 update and made it universal. It's on sale for just $2 (instead of $10) until June 1st. At that price it's a steal. I don't do mind maps enough to get the companion Mac app for ~$50, but the iOS version supports many export formats (like pdf and markdown).
• GoodReader - not a note taking app but a PDF reader and a great one. It handles large files easily and works great on an iPad. E.g., lets you crop pages for the margins so its maximally zoomed (Supreme Court decisions have huge margins). Lets you highlight text in different colors and then can send email of just the highlights. That might be the best note taking feature I've ever used.

I have Evernote but don't really use it (though some people swear by it). On the Mac I've been a long time user (and sometime employee) of The Hit List for todo lists. It seemed to get everything right while all the apps are missing something or are too hard to use. THL got an iPhone app (and a paid sync'ing service) and then went fallow. It was bought out and seems to have new life as the mac version got an update this week. I can't quite endorse it for everyone yet, but I'm hopeful and it's worth a look.