OneNote on the go ~ the App

iPhone Screenshot.

More OneNote Awesomeness
Just when you thought you couldn't love OneNote any more I've found another reason to make you go gaga over it. It has an app for smartphones and tablets.

Before I get into the features of the app for each operating system, I thought I'd explain a little more about Microsoft and its cloud and syncing system.

Microsoft's Cloud ~ SkyDrive [online storage]
Microsoft has its own cloud [cuz everyone either owns a cloud, puts stuff in a cloud, or is in a cloud], and it's called Skydrive. If you enable your OneNote notebook on your PC or laptop to sync to SkyDrive, then as you make changes in it, those changes will be synced to SkyDrive. [Like magic.]


SkyDrive's pricing structure:

• 7GB Free storage
• 20GB for $10 per year
• 50GB for $25 per year
• 100GB for $50 per year

Not bad. Beats Dropbox, but doesn't outdo GoogleDrive when it comes to available storage.

Microsoft's Online Web App
Once your OneNote notes are synced to SkyDrive, they are available to use in Microsoft's online Web App which includes not only an online version of OneNote, but PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. They don't have identical features to their desktop counterparts, but they're pretty slick for free.

So, if you ~for whatever reason~ need to use the online versions, you now know that that data is stored in SkyDrive and accessible later because it's synced to your desktop/laptop and your phone and/or tablet, if enabled.

Which brings me to smartphones & tablets ~ MS OneNote Mobile
Microsoft also has OneNote installed on its Windows 7 phones and it has many functions. However, the company has created OneNote apps for other operating systems. Their features vary across platforms, and I'll go over that below. The OneNote app syncs to SkyDrive making those notes accessible to you either at home on your desktop or while you're online using the Web app. [See the fantabulous chart below that I made to illustrate all the devices and this syncing business. This is what happens when I have an internet outage for 10 hours.]

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Now, in the world of Microsoft OneNote Mobile, not all OneNote apps are created equally. Unfortunately. I don't know why this is so. If I had to guess, I'd say that coding apps for different operating systems so that the apps run exactly the same no matter the platform is not an easy feat. And at the time they probably just wanted to get something out there to compete with Evernote. And that would explain why the Android and the iOS apps have different features. But the reason Android and iOS don't have full functionality like the Win 7 phone is obvious. It's their phone. Much easier to code. Also? It's probably a silly marketing ploy to get people to buy a Win 7 phone. And I say that's silly because no one buys a smartphone based on one app. So, they need to rectify that, IMHO.

Similarities
Listed below are the common features between the apps for all of the platforms. This wasn't easy to create, and if you have a platform other than the iPhone, and I have listed something incorrectly, please let me know.]

• Can edit a rich text formatted note that was previously created on the desktop OneNote or on the Web App OneNote.
• Can see images already put into an existing note.
• Can take a photo within the app to insert into a note or can insert an image from the phone's/tablet's library and insert into a note.
• Have 1 tap access to your more recent notes.
• Can have access to multiple notebooks within the app.
• You can choose which notebooks will sync. Thus allowing you to budget your storage.
  
• As mentioned before, it syncs all designated [by you] notebooks and their contents to SkyDrive & SkyDrive then syncs the notebooks to the desktop OneNote and Web App OneNote.
• Have offline access to notes.
• Can have up to 500 notes stored for free within the app.
• Unlimited amount of notes is a one-time fee for $4.99 unless you're on an iOS platform, which is a one-time fee of $14.99. [These prices amaze me. They're cheap. And Apple, I'm guessing, charges more? But anywho...]
• New notes are automatically filed into Unfiled Notes. This cannot be changed within the app. It's syncs into the Unfiled Notes Notebook onto the desktop OneNote and the Web App OneNote where you can then file it in the proper section in the proper notebook. And then further syncing will get every OneNote version on the same page. <grin> [Why? Don't know, but my guess is that it makes the syncing faster. And if that's so, I'll take fast over fiddling with my already crafted notebooks on my small iPhone for $1000 please, Alex.]

Differences
Okay. Here are the differences that I found. [See how I qualified that statement? If you see that I have something incorrect, please let me know.]

Android

1. Can take notes in very limited text formatting. [To-do boxes]
   
2. External hyperlinks sync & are live.
3. Displays rich text formatting. [ex., bold is bold]
4. Can edit tables.
5. Cannot audio record notes.
6. Must download app.
   

iOS

1. Can take notes in very limited text formatting. [To-do boxes]
   
2. External hyperlinks do sync & show up as HTML & not live. [Fun.]
3. Does NOT display rich text formatting.
4. CANNOT edit tables.
5. Cannot audio record notes.
6. Most download app.
   

Windows 7 Phones

1. Can take notes in rich text formatting. [highlighting, bold, italics, to-do boxes, etc.]
   
2. External hyperlinks sync & are live.
3. Displays rich text formatting. [ex., bold is bold]
4. Can edit tables.
5. CAN audio record notes.
6. Integrated into phone with MS Office [which is really cool].
   

My Thoughts
Microsoft needs to clean up their app. <grin> Make them equal. However, until I started researching the differences, I really liked my MS OneNote app on my iPhone. And I still do. I just want it to at least do what the Win 7 phone can do minus the integration. I'd even pay for it. Making the Win 7 OneNote app do more for just marketing purposes is so 1980s marketing. No?

Anyhow, I do definitely recommend the app. It's free for goodness sakes. FREE. And who doesn't like free?

~Caroline

Below is a gallery of screenshots of the OneNote app in action taken with my iPhone.