This function used to generate decent questions and answers but lately many of the workings make zero sense or they’re worded like this. With the dang answer stated in the question.

Can we go back to previous versions that made sense?

Hello, just writing this in hopes maybe they will see it. I think it would be pretty cool if I could run notability on my iPad and Linux on my school computer

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.

When I'm handwriting notes, I like to go back and make a couple changes. In OneNote, you get a ruler like tool that lets you pick a spot on the page and translate everything else down the note.

So far, I've been lassoing things down, is that the only option?

I borrowed an iPad last summer and was able to create dozens of notes when teaching with no problem. I got my own iPad this year and hit the error "You have reached the maximum number of notes. Upgrade to unlock unlimited notes" message after 5 notes. I asked IT and the employee has no clue because their iPads had the free version installed, maybe the terms of the app changed? That would make sense because I can no longer backup to Google Drive for free, but I did backups last year and still have them.

How do I get around the notes limit without paying for the full version? It's a nice app and I want to keep it. My institution has OneNote for free, but it looks like a worse app. For now, I'm gonna use multiple emails to get 5 at a time.

What's odd is I checked all my emails and can't find the notes from last year on any account, but that must be because they're saved to device and not to account.

Is anyone else having trouble opening notes in Notability? Mine keeps lagging and showing a blank white page

does syncing from iCloud normally take this long? I’ve been syncing my notes in notability for 3 hours, but only 10 out of 800 notes have been downloaded so far. my notes take up 6.5 GB, and I really need to access them as soon as possible. is this normal, and what can I do to speed up the syncing process?

WHY does it do that?! Whenever my text automatically wraps to the next line, the line spacing becomes much larger than when I press Enter manually. It's really annoying. How to fix it?

We've recently released a new update to Notability!

• Notability now fully supports Liquid Glass on iOS 26 and later (iPhone only)
• Notability now fully supports Liquid Glass on macOS Tahoe and later (Mac only)
• Improved calendar events shown in Home (not China)
• Fixed imported PDFs landing above your last page
• Fixed a bug with the chat bar keyboard on iPhone (not China)
• Fixed a crash when using the camera

If you experience any trouble with this version, please contact our support team or let us know your feedback in the comments below!

Thanks for using Notability ✏️💙

Need to ask a question, leave feedback, or remind yourself to come back to something in a note? Comments make it easy to do without changing what’s already written.

Here’s how Comments work:

Find the comment tool
The comment tool lives in your toolbox. Like any other tool, you can move it between pages or hide it.

You can also open a comment by selecting an existing comment pin with the Text tool or the Select tool.

Add a comment

1. Select the comment tool in the toolbox.
2. Select anywhere on the note to open a comment draft.
3. Type your comment.
4. Select the submit button, or press return, to post it.

The thread opens so you can keep going, and a comment pin appears where you placed it.

To cancel a draft, press escape or select outside the draft.

Work with a comment

• Move a pin: Drag the pin to a new spot. Pins stay inside the note boundaries.
• Resolve a comment: Select the checkmark.
• Delete a comment: While in a comment, select the ⋯ menu, choose Delete, then confirm.

On a shared note, anyone with access can reply. Each comment shows the name of the person who left it.

Use the comments panel
Open a note's options menu (⋯) and select Comments to see every comment in the note.

• Select a comment to open the thread and jump the note to that spot.
• Select the checkmark to resolve a comment.
• Press and hold a comment, then select Delete, to delete it.

Show resolved comments
Resolved comments are hidden by default. Select the filter icon in the comments panel and turn on Show resolved to bring their pins back on the note.

This setting applies to one note at a time, so turning it on in one note won't change the others.

Comments are powered by Notability Cloud.

1.multi windows? shouldn't be that hard to implement right?
2. why does it ask me to enable microphone like every time after I update. and each time it does

there's one more duplicate in the permission settings like OMG

3.the PDF export is broken and I've tried on 3 diff pc

1. would be nice to add/delete/edit pages

It would be really useful if Notability allows handwriting over the tapes for active recall. Right now, the handwriting goes below the tape. Thank you!

I would love a way to archive my notebooks that I want to keep but don't want cluttering my homepage. I make a different notebook every term for each class + a planner for every term. It would be great if I could archive previous terms so they arent on my dash but I could still reach them if I wanted to look over old notes.

I'm surprised this isnt already a feature- maybe it is and I just can't find it? Lol

I enjoy using Notability, but I’ve run into a frustrating issue. When I tap “Generate” or “Finish Notes” after recording, the generated text starts at the top of the note and overlaps anything I’ve already handwritten with my Apple Pencil.

It would be helpful to have an option to insert the generated notes on a new page or at a chosen insertion point.

Has anyone found a way to prevent this without duplicating the note?

Hello Notability! I want to request to bring back this kind of laser feature. This one works better for me than current one since pen doesnt need to be touched with the screen all the time. If possible, could you bring this feature along with the current feature instead of replacing the current one.

Thank you for your time.

The practice questions show only 20 questions at first. After completing through the first 20 practice questions, a new set of questions appears, and the first attempted questions disappear. Why? It would be really helpful if there was a log or history for previously attempted sets of 20 questions, because at some point I would like to revise all 100 questions at once. An option for this would be really helpful. Please help.

Hello Notability Team,

I would like to request a search feature that allows users to type a keyword and find every instance of it within a specific note, similar to Ctrl+F or Command+F. Ideally, clicking a result would take you directly to the corresponding slide. Thank you for your consideration!

The new outline feature implemented earlier this year is a cool addition. However, similar to noteful or goodnotes, I would really like the ability to create and edit outlines (manually add, rename, rearrange, and delete outline entries) within a note instead of being limited to preset outlines from a PDF that can't be modified.

I am unsure whether this is just pure incongruence with the newer iPadOS update but I cannot paste literally anything into my notes unless I use the lasso workaround which also doesn't work 85% of the time. I have spent an hour now trying to copy and paste a table (the copy feature is native in the app its coming from, so I know it is not a markdown issue). I then saved the table saved as an image file (not a photo) and I finally import it to find there is literally zero way to select or format it (size, placement etc), it is just slapped in the middle of an empty page 3 pages below the rest of my notes. The add Media (+) for files also is missing entirely, which is why this has been such a process. The only option for media is from photo album.

I have had this app/been subscribed with this app for years at this point and do not ever recall this being an issue. I won't even suggest new features at this moment I would just love for paste to work at least.

The Calligraphy Pen lets you create strokes that shift between thick and thin as you write, making it perfect for lettering, titles, and anything you want to stand out 💙

Find the Calligraphy Pen

1. Open a note and look for the fountain pen nib icon in the toolbar. On iPhone, expand the toolbar if you don't see it.
2. Tap the tool once to select it.
3. Tap it again to open its options.

To keep it within reach, drag the tool into your primary toolbar.

Set the nib angle
The angle slider controls which direction your nib faces, which decides where your strokes are thick and where they're thin.

• 0° holds the nib flat across the page, so vertical downstrokes come out at their widest.
• 30° and 45° are two common calligraphy angles for right-handed writing.
• Negative angles tilt the nib the other way, for left-handed writing.

The preview next to the slider rotates as you drag, so you can see the nib angle before you write.

Writing with Apple Pencil Pro
If you're using Apple Pencil Pro, the nib angle follows how you're holding the pencil. Roll the barrel and the nib rolls with it.

Hovering above the page previews the angle before your pencil touches the canvas. The angle is set the moment your stroke begins and stays constant for the rest of that stroke.

Notability detects Apple Pencil Pro on your first hover, stroke, or squeeze. Once it does, a Lock angle switch appears in the pen options. Turn it on to ignore barrel roll and use the angle from the slider instead. While Lock angle is off, the slider stays dimmed because barrel roll is setting the angle for you.

The Calligraphy pen is also available from the Apple Pencil Pro squeeze menu.

Stabilization
Turn on Stabilization to smooth out small jitters as you write. Turn it off if you'd rather your strokes track your hand exactly.

Calligraphy notes on Android and the web
You can create calligraphy strokes on iPhone and iPad. Notes containing those strokes sync and open on Android and the web, and they will render as regular ink for now.

The Calligraphy Pen is currently available on Notability Cloud and requires Notability 16.9 or later on iOS.

Have you tried it yet? Show us your best lettering or Calligraphy Pen creations!

I think Notability is a handful of features away from being top tier teacher/lesson delivering platform. I really like this calendar idea of being the front page. However, could we prepopulate the scheduled events with my pdf of lessons that’d be grand.

I’m sure others would find it useful to populate an agenda for example