I’ve used Notability since 2019 and have over 5,000 notes on the Classic plan. After trying to move from my 2020 iPad to my 2025 iPad, I’m finding it difficult to recommend the app—or a Classic/lifetime purchase—to anyone.
Migration took days and repeated restarts.
The iCloud syncing process was extremely unreliable. It took about three days to complete and repeatedly stalled along the way, requiring me to restart both Notability and the iPad many times just to get the transfer finished.
Search indexing then took another three days to count down from thousands of notes to zero. That process also repeatedly stalled and required more restarts. Between syncing and indexing, I restarted the app and rebooted the iPad dozens of times.
After all that, content search still doesn’t work.
I can search note titles, but I cannot search the content—either from the Library or within an individual note—even when the text is visibly there. With over 5,000 notes, this severely affects my ability to find information and get work done.
"AI Support" suggested duplicating a note. Here is what actually happens:
- Search within the duplicated note works immediately, but stops working again after a few seconds.
- Global content search still fails.
- Note Replay also breaks in the duplicated note: tapping content during playback sends the recording straight to the end instead of the corresponding timestamp.
Even if duplication worked, manually duplicating over 5,000 notes would not be a practical solution.
I’ve provided evidence, but I’m still waiting for meaningful follow-up.
Safe Mode is off, iCloud syncing has completed and remains enabled, and the indexing count reached zero. I updated Notability on October 9 and supplied two screen recordings showing the search failures, plus screenshots of the app version and Connected Services settings.
Support said this looked like a bug on their side and that my report had been forwarded to the team. Since then, despite following up, I still have no solution or clear update.
Being told to expect a reply within “3–5 business days” offers little reassurance when the problem remains unresolved and there is no substantive follow-up.
What does a lifetime purchase mean if core features stop working and help doesn’t arrive?
As a Classic user, this leaves me wondering how much priority long-term customers receive once we are no longer generating recurring subscription revenue. I cannot know whether that has anything to do with my case, but this experience makes a lifetime purchase feel much less reassuring. Existing paying users still need working core features and responsive support.
Based on my experience, I would advise anyone considering a Classic/lifetime purchase to think carefully before paying, and to compare alternatives such as Goodnotes—especially if you depend on a large archive, content search, and reliable device migration.
If someone from Notability sees this, please help move my existing support case forward. Has the team reproduced the issue? Is there a safe workaround that preserves Note Replay? When can I expect a fix or a substantive update?
I’ve spent years building this collection of notes. I would much rather have these problems fixed than have to move everything again.
