[App] Quill - handwritten notes (v2)

[bevo]

Pressure sensitivity is formidable now. Thanks.

[stuartv]

I just joined this forum just to post in this thread.

And I just paid the $1 to buy the app, just to try it out on the Galaxy Tab that I'm currently evaluating. It's downloading now, so I haven't tried it out yet.

A couple of comments, before I even try it.

I have already tried 9 different apps from the Market for taking handwritten notes, plus the notes app that comes on the HTC Jetstream and the SuperNote app that is now available on the Asus Transformer.

Of them all, the best so far is the notes app on the Jetstream and here's why:

- It uses an N-trig pen, just like the TPT, but that pen has 2 buttons on it. If you press and hold one button while you're writing, the pen changes to a highlighter. And if you press and hold the other button, the pen changes to an eraser. VERY handy.

- it is built on top of the Evernote API, which is, apparently, freely available for developers to use. So, when you create a note there and save it, it goes into an Evernote notebook. I don't own a Jetstream, so I don't know exactly how it works if, for example, you don't already have an Evernote account. But, Evernote supports the notebook model and tagging, both, which seems to be the perfect world.

I have been on a mission for several weeks now to find an Android tablet (or an app for the TouchPad I have) that can be used to take handwritten notes in a meeting and then easily access (at least view) them from my laptop and Android phone. Having the app be integrated with Evernote seems to be the ultimate solution for that. Integration with Dropbox (which some other apps have) would be a useable substitute. I just want to write my note and save it and have it automatically show up on my PC and phone. I don't want to have to save it and export it or email it or whatever. And, really, I want to be able to edit it, say, on my PC. Not necessarily modify the graphics, but, as you can do in Evernote, open it and add text around the graphic, add/change tags, etc. And then, when I save it on my PC, have that updated version automatically synced back to my tablet and phone.

So far, it seems like only tablets with an N-trig stylus are viable candidates because all the others can't do truly good palm rejection. I emailed N-trig and they said the only Android tablets that work with the N-trig stylus are the TPT and the HTC Flyer and Jetstream. In my opinion, the Flyer is too small at 7". And the Jetstream is too expensive ($699 w/2yr contract, plus a data plan subscription).

So, I'm seriously considering a TPT. My major holdback at this point is that I don't want to buy one, try it, decide that it still doesn't really do what I want effectively, and be stuck with it (or stuck paying shipping plus a restocking fee). I'm trying the Galaxy Tab now because I can return it to Best Buy for a full refund (which I expect to do this weekend).

[Volker1]

I saw that Evernote lets you easily add tags to the uploaded notes, I'll definitely want to support that when I implement tags. Right now the uploaded notes are just tagged with "Android" and "Quill"...

I haven't found any way to detect whether the button on the pen is pressed. That would really be handy if one could use it...

[stuartv]

So, now, just for the record, Quill is not usable on a Galaxy Tab 10.1. At least, not with a capacitive stylus. The pen strokes just don't register very well. Even if I write very slowly, it will miss a lot of each pen stroke. But, according to the author's notes for Writepad Stylus, in the Android Market, this is an issue with the Galaxy firmware, specifically. I will report again after I return this GTab and (probably) get an Asus Transformer to try.

[stuartv]

Also, in Quill, all I can see is multiple pages. No way to organize them at all? If I make some notes on TopicA, then next page is notes on TopicB, then next page is more notes on TopicA, the only way I can look at the all my notes for TopicA is to flip back and forth between page 1 and page 3? Am I missing something, or is that just how it is?

It appears that each page is implicitly saved. There is no explicit save command. The app just saves everything I do, as I go along. No explicit save, so, of course, no way to indicate "save this in folder TopicA", "save this in folder TopicB", etc..

It would be awesome if the app just used the Evernote API to implement its "file system". Let me save a page or set of pages as a note and choose the Evernote notebook to put them in, and then let me navigate my Evernote notebook structure and pick a note to open as a page or set of pages in Quill to draw on.

[Fiorenzo]

Hi,

just wanted to point out that I found a bug (at least I think its a bug).

When you make a note in landscape mode and try to export it as a PDF, this won't work - the PDF document is not landscape and will cut the note in half.

[thriceberg]

Looks like a great app, Volker1! ("Looks like" because I haven't yet received my tablet to try it)

Does the pdf export feature create vector-based pdfs?

I would like to second a few feature requests (in order of most to least desired):

• I would love to see some basic layers, ideally with a dialog that allows you to select, show, and hide layers.
• I would also like to see some color choices available directly on the toolbar (ideally they'd be colors set by the user).
• Finally, I'd like a to be able to copy, paste, move and proportionally resize a selection.

Even if you don't add any more features this app sounds very solid, and I can't wait until I get the chance to use it.

[Volker1]

Replying to a couple of posts:

Tagging of pages will come in a future version.

Correct aspect ratio is indeed missing, good point.

PDFs are 100% vector. Sample is attached (from the market screenshot)

I'm of course keeping all suggestions in mind, but we can't make a direct access button for every function and at the same time maximize the space available for writing 

[obscure_detour]

Love the new version Volker1, I used it in class today for the first time and it worked great.

I absolutely love the responsiveness. It is by far the best I've ever used. I did run into an issue mid-way through class. I let the TPT go into sleep mode during 10 minute break and tried to resume taking notes. I started getting delay/unresponsiveness in the pen. Now, I highly doubt this is a fault of your app, as it seems to happen in EVERY app after writing for a few hours. I cannot seem to pin down exactly why or what causes this behavior.

Also, as I mentioned before, the drop down menus don't bother me for thickness or color. It is just as fast or faster as say, picking up a different pen/pencil. Different background styles would be much appreciated. Other than that, everything is wonderful.

Cheers.

EDIT:  I'll be picking it up on the market after I can uninstall, but need to export my current 9 pages of notes  

EDIT2: Purchased 

Also, many people are trying to get a sub-forum created for the TPT over at XDA-Developers. The TPT is currently in the lead to have one created, but we need more support. Anyone able to reply, head over to the request thread.

[vijil]

Awesome to see the updates! (purchased it)

I'm using it instead of SketchBookPro because it's better for sketching.  No I'm not even kidding, it actually is.

However I need to be able to export rasterised images like .jpg or .tif for this to be practical (then I can colour in a different program...)

Since it's vector based something super simple like a screengrab option would do the trick - I could zoom to wherever I want to export and then "export current area as .jpg" or somesuch.  Nothing complex.  Just some way to get a basic image out without downloading a screengrab software and probably rooting the device to get it working.

Of course once again I realise that this is primarily a note taking app and so raster exports may not be a priority for you.  You just happen to have made the best sketching software available for the TPT while you were at it...