How to Take Notes on an Android Tablet?

/ /

The user can easily take notes on any tablet via a voice recorder, stylus (optional), or on-screen keyboard. In short, the pen-and-paper notebook is more like a relic from the past. But to take notes, the user must know the basic steps on how to Take Notes on an Android Tablet.

Taking notes on a tablet is impossible without a note-taking app. These apps can be installed from different platforms, such as the Google Play Store.

If users want to use any free note-taking apps, they could go for Google Keep. On the other hand, users such as graduate students can also try the Evernote app, which is free for normal use. However, there is also a paid version available for premium use.

In this topic, we will discuss the use of both apps in simple steps that any user can follow.

  1. Google Keep

Open Google Keep

In the first step, the user has to open Google Keep, a cloud-based note-taking app. New users can recognize this app through its unique icon, which is based on yellow sheet paper with a light bulb. Using this information, the user can install this free app from the Google Play Store.

Tap + to take a new note

In the next step, the user must touch the plus symbol at the bottom-right corner of the app.

Enter a title

Furthermore, the user has to enter the title of the school or work notes by tapping on the title field found at the top of the note. Using this title, the user can easily filter out notes.

Tap the + to bring up the note option

The user can write regular text by simply tapping the screen. This will pop open the keyboard, and the user can start typing. The user can even access some additional options by tapping the plus symbol found in the bottom left corner of the app.

Choose image

This feature of the app allows the user to select an image on the tablet.

Recording

The user could easily transcribe the words by simply recording a voice moreover the user could even play the recording. By tapping on the play button found at the bottom of the app.

Take photo

This feature allows the user to take snap pics through a camera that can be uploaded into the note.

Checkboxes

This functionality allows the user to place a checkbox at the start of each line.

Drawing

By using this feature users could write or draw through a finger or stylus (optional). Moreover, there are different writing or drawing tools available at the bottom of the tablet’s screen. This includes a marker, highlighter, or eraser.

  1. The user won’t be able to convert handwritten notes into text; they’ll remain as handwriting. So, if the user wants to convert a handwritten note into text, it can only be done through the app’s Take Photo tool. For this, the user has to take a picture of the paper or whiteboard with text.

After this, the user has to upload the image to the note and tap on the three dots at the top right. Furthermore, the user has to select the Grab Image Text option, which will extract the image into the text.

Tap the back to return to the main Keep screen

The user has to tap this button several times to go back to the main keep screen to view the overall notes that have been saved.  

Organize the notes

Google Keep also offers a unique tool known as Keep’s Tools that the user can use to organize notes in proper order.

  1. The user has to tap and hold any particular note. At the same time, the user could also select more than one note.
  2. Next, the user taps on the palette to open the color palette tool. Then, the user selects the desired color to apply to the selected note.
  3. The user could pin any note or multiple notes to the top by tapping on the pushpin option.
  4. The user could apply the label on any particular note by tapping the icon at the top. After that, the user has to select a label. Furthermore, the user could also create a new label simply by typing into the — Enter label name field.
  5. The user could even move any particular note from one location to another by simply dragging it via the app.
  6. Different icons are also available at the bottom of the screen to create quick notes. For instance, the user could create a quick checklist by tapping the checkbox icon. The user can even tap on the pencil icon to write with a finger or stylus, etc.
  7. Users can also search notes by entering the criteria in the search bar.

Tap any note to open it for viewing and editing

The notes saved by the user could be reviewed at any time, anywhere. Moreover, the changes applied by the user in any particular note could be saved automatically.

  1. Evernote

Open the Evernote on the Android tablet

The user could open the Evernote app on a tablet, which is used worldwide by different organizations for taking notes. If the user doesn’t have this app, it can be installed via the Google Play Store. It can be easily recognized because of its unique icon, a green elephant with a white background.

Sign in or create an account

The interesting thing about this app is that it uses a cloud-based service to store the data of any user. However, new users must sign in for the first time.

  1. The user could sign in or sign up directly with the option Sign in or Sign Up with Google. However, the user has to create a password by following the app’s simple instructions. The user should remember this password as it will be used each time they sign in to the app.
  2. To sign up for the app, the user must enter the email address in the required field. After that, the user must tap Continue and follow the instructions on the screen.
  3. An ad will appear on the screen, appealing to the user to sign up for Evernote’s free Premium trial. By signing up, the user will be able to access additional features. These include 10GB of uploads per month, syncing to different devices, and offline notebooks.

If the user doesn’t want to Sign Up for this, they can tap the x icon to close the ad at once.

  1. In the end, the user will be navigated to choose the type of note that needs to be created by the user. In that case, the user has to tap the Blank option and tap the checkmark found at the top-left corner.

Now, the user must tap the back button to navigate to the main screen before starting to use the app.

Tap the navigation menu

In the menu section, the user can find different options this app offers. It’s based on three horizontal bars that can be found at the bottom-left corner of the Evernote.

Shortcuts

This is the section where the user could include notes that need quick access.

Shared with Me

Using this option, the user could share any note with the other Evernote users

All Notes

In this section, the user can view the overall notes created till today

Notebooks

In this section, the user could organize notes in separate categories, such as school and work.

Tags

This is also a tool to organize different notes by applying tags.

Create a new notebook

The user could create a new notebook on this app by following simple steps.

  1. First, the user needs to touch the three-line menu to choose the Notebooks option
  2. Now, the user needs to tap on the New Notebook.
  3. Furthermore, the user needs to enter the name and tap on Create.
  4. In the end, the user will be navigated to the new notebook that has no notes till now.

Tap New Note to create a new note

After opening the new notebook, the user can create its first blank note.

  1. The user can use the template to create a note or choose a blank note by tapping the up arrow to the right of the New Note button.
  2. If a user wants to convert a handwritten note on a whiteboard or anywhere else. The user could use the Evernote scanner to convert the picture into text. Simply tap the up-right arrow and select Take a photo or scan document.

Although the user must choose the JPG instead of PDF as it could be indexed easily for searching.

Enter a title

The user needs to tap on the top of the note to give it a relevant title so that it could be filtered out easily.

Tap Template to choose a template

The user could use any of the templates that appear at the start or could go for the blank notes.

Take notes with the keyboard

The user could type the notes through the keyboard by simply taping the area to spring open the keyboard. Moreover, the user could also manage the font controls appearing at the bottom of the screen.

  1. The user could use the Aa menu to select a font face, color, size, and different other options of formatting.
  2. The user could even add a list in the note by simply tapping on the list-icon row at the bottom of the note.

Tap to open the insert menu

Using this option available at the bottom-left corner the user could open the insert menu options.

Insert a note-taking item

The user could also use other features of the app as an alternative to typing through the keyboard.

  1. The user could insert the images into the notes prepared on Zbrush or take them through a camera.
  2. The user could also record the audio in a note through a microphone. After recording the audio, the user could tap the square to stop. Moreover, the user could listen to the audio back by tapping it in the note.
  3. Users could even include hyperlinks from different websites in the notes
  4. Even the data in the form of rows and cells could be included in a note via table.
  5. The user could also insert strings of a code in various fonts through Code Block. This makes it different from other note-taking apps.
  6. The user could also separate text in a note through a Divider
  7. The users could also attach different files via tablet through the Attachment tool
  8. The user could even draw sketches in a note through its sketch tool using a stylus. In case of undoing the previous actions, the user needs to tap the curved arrow on the top-left side of a note.

Furthermore, the user has to tap on the Done option found on the top-right side of a note to save the changes. Although the sketch will remain as handwriting it won’t be converted into the text.

Tap the checkmark to save your note

This option could be located on the top-left corner of the screen

  1. After saving notes, the user can also make further changes by simply tapping on the Edit button at the bottom of the note.

Tap the three dots to view other options

The user can easily locate additional options by simply tapping on the three dots found at the top-right corner of the note. This means the user could find more general options regarding organizing notes such as tagging, labeling, etc.

  1. The user can add a reminder in any note for a particular period
  2. The Move note option could be used to move notes from one place to another or Duplicate a note.
  3. The Add tag allows the user to add descriptive keyword tags in different notes. So that it can be organized easily.
  4. The Delete option located at the bottom will allow the user to delete any note

The user could use the Add to shortcuts options to access any note quickly.