UpNote
The user interface of UpNote is stunning and having the ability to write in a distraction-free environment is remarkable. I don't have any complaints or suggestions for the overall design of how the app operates, but I would like to see some additional features developed. The pricing seems very fair, and having a lifetime as an account option is a big plus.
- DESIGN
- EASE OF USE
- PRICE
- FEATURE SET
UpNote is the perfect app for anyone who wants their notes to stay organized and focused
Journaling is a great way to keep track of your thoughts and emotions, and there are many different note-taking or journaling apps available to help you do this. Some of the most popular apps include Evernote, OneNote, and iCloud Notes, and they all have their own benefits. Note-taking apps can help you organize your thoughts, capture important details, and stay motivated.
I have actually lost count of the number of these types of apps I’ve used over the years. Being a writer, I’m always looking for the best way to organize my thoughts and draft articles and I recently found myself on the hunt again for a clean, easy-to-use, cross-platform journaling system. This search led me to UpNote.
About UpNote
UpNote was developed by a small team based in Hanoi, Vietnam. The journaling system began development in 2017 and was launched in July 2018. It started with just the Mac and iOS version, but quickly expanded to include all major platforms.
Because there are several different platforms, multiple programming languages were used during app development.
- Mac, Windows, and Linux – developed with Electron
- iOS – developed with Swift
- Android – developed with Kotlin
From the beginning, UpNote developers wanted to make UpNote clean, reliable, and easy to use – especially for non-technical users. Even though new features have been added to UpNote, the developers still keep the interface simple and intuitive.
UpNote developers continue to improve UpNote based on user feedback. They are currently working on some frequently requested features like iOS and Android widgets, formulas, and nested tags.
Main Features
- Notes Management through the use of hashtags, nested notebooks, pinning notes to the top of the note list, adding notes to Quick Access, and note filtering
- Complete Note Editor multiple rich text options, Markdown support, creation of lists, insertion of images, links, attachments, quotes, code blocks, multiple fonts from the configuration, and highlighting of text in various colors
- Note Syncing across all devices
- Notes are available without an internet connection
- Elegant themes including Dark Mode enhance the distraction-free user interface
- Web Clipper Extensions for Chrome, Safari, and Firefox allow users to save elements from any web page
- Focus Mode provides a distraction-free environment where all the notes, notebooks, and menus are hidden
- Advanced features include – Backup and Version History, Protect Notes with Lock, Sticky Window, Links between Notes, Export, Collapsible SectionShare note via a web link
UpNote Premium Features:
- Write unlimited notes on iOS, Mac, Android, Windows, and Linux
- Add attachments, tables, codes, and more to your notes
- Protect your notes and notebooks with lock
- Elegant themes and notebook covers
- Export to text, PDF, HTML, and Markdown formats
- NEW! A collapsible section is now available on all platforms.
Pricing and Availability
UpNote is available on multiple platforms including:
- iPhone & iPad
- Android
- macOS
- Windows 10/11
- Linux
UpNote is free to use across all devices. The free version has a 50-note limitation and is only available with basic features. The premium version of UpNote is available as a monthly subscription for $0.99 per month or users can purchase the lifetime license for $24.99.
The premium features are available as in-app purchases and can be opted into from the iOS, Android, or Mac apps, but it’s not an option within the Windows or Linux apps. Upgrading on one device will make the version for all devices. Additional questions on the premium features are answered here.
Privacy Policy
According to the Mac App Store, UpNote only collects data related to diagnostics from the app. This type of data can be linked to a user’s identity. The full developer’s privacy policy can be found here.
UpNote’s developers had this to say about their commitment to user privacy:
Keeping user data safe and reliable is always our top priority. If you have signed up for an account, your data will be backed up to a server and synchronized with all other devices. You can access your notes offline on any device. UpNote recently introduced backup and version history features, so users can have peace of mind when using UpNote.
User Experience
As I mentioned at the top of the review, I’ve used a lot of note-taking and journaling apps. For the longest time, I was using Microsoft OneNote for my business notes and Agenda for actually drafting reviews. I also had notes scattered in Notes for Mac – just so I could carry them with me wherever I went. Once I started using UpNote, I found that it was the best of all the options I had been using in the past.
The first thing I really want from this type of app is a low-distraction view. I like having features, but sometimes I want them to be invisible. That’s one of the reasons I started drafting reviews inside apps like Agenda and Bear instead of an actual word processor like Pages or Word. Pages and Word are great for more formal documents, but all the toolbars and formatting options get in the way when you are just trying to get some thoughts out.
I wrote with Bear for a long time, but it didn’t give me the option to sync between devices without subscribing to the premium version. I just wasn’t that invested in that app to pay for it. That’s when I moved to Agenda. It also provides a low distraction writing option, but it’s set up to provide users a place to connect notes directly to tasks or calendar items.
The app also ended up being just a tad too simple for me. I wanted more features that Agenda just didn’t have. It has a great purpose and that makes Agenda unique, but it wasn’t what I needed for writing. This is why UpNote is a great option for people like me who want a clean UI that has bells and whistles that are hidden when you don’t need them. Once I really dug into UpNote I found that it accomplishes all the things I wanted and was the best combination of all the other apps I had tried. Here are some of my favorite things about UpNote.
The UpNote Guide: I have recently discovered that a lot of apps and software systems provide little or no onboarding or instructions about the best way to use the product. UpNote developers have an entire guide written up on their website. It’s incredible and it walks through each feature step-by-step so that you get a full picture of how to use the app system to its fullest capabilities. It takes you from Installation to Account Deletion.
I’ve honestly never seen such a complete user guide for an app like this. Even though using the app is an intuitive process, it’s great to have this as a resource. It’s easy to find (a Guide breadcrumb in the top menu of getupnote.com) and very easy to read through. I would love to see a direct link to the user guide inside the app. I don’t think it would be good to store the entire guide in the app, but having a link to it somehow would be fabulous.
Distraction-free Focus Mode: This really is the #1 feature I look for in a note-taking/journaling app and UpNote does it right. In the upper right-hand corner of the UpNote window, you will see the expand and collapse arrow icon. If you click on this once to expand the window it does not expand the window to the full screen – it goes into distraction-free mode!
When you are done, you click the collapse arrows to unhide the sidebars and other menus. I love that this is a one-click method for getting into that mode. With Agenda, you have to manually hide the projects side bar and related panel by swiping the two sidebars away, selecting the ‘hide’ option from the View menu, or typing the keyboard shortcuts.
UpNote’s method is much easier and there is even a keyboard shortcut (CMD+SHIFT+F) to enter Focus Mode. Again this is a one shortcut option to enter the mode. It’s super simple and obviously a feature that was made with the user in mind.
Filter Options: This is another standout feature to me. There are five different filters a user can choose from – Todo Notes containing todo items, Today Notes updated today, Notes containing words, Uncategorized, and Shared notes. These are pre-defined filters by UpNote and they are smart. Once you select the filters you want (Todo and Uncategorized are the two default options), UpNote will sort your notes into those categories according to the traits of the notes themselves. For example, any notes that have a to-do checklist included in their content will end up being filtered into the Todo category. The app does all the work though. You don’t have to label or tag the note a certain way. It just gets filtered based on its content.
Along with my favorite features, I do also have a couple of suggestions. There are two elements I would love to see included in the app system.
- Make the keyboard shortcut list available in the app. When I was playing with the Focus Mode toggle button I thought, “There should be a shortcut keystroke for this.” I visited the guide on UpNote’s website and found an entire list of shortcuts. But, none of them seem to be listed in the app. That means users have to go to the website in order to find out if a specific feature has a shortcut. I would see this being housed inside the settings since that is where a lot of apps place lists like this.
- Add an option to hide the dock icon. UpNote does have a menu bar option, which is great. But, the user cannot hide the dock icon. I think it cleans interfaces up quite a bit when you can just have the app running in the background without the dock icon visible. In addition to that, I would love to see the same types of features/functionality from the menu bar utility that DayOne has. From the menu bar utility, DayOne features a quick entry option. I think that would be amazing for UpNote to include.
Conclusion
UpNote is a great app system for anyone looking for a beautiful environment to write in. The app is feature-rich and provides users with a lot of options to help them organize their thoughts into words. UpNote provides a great experience for writing and it’s very easy to use. I feel that the pricing structure is extremely reasonable and I highly recommend giving it a try.
For more information, visit getupnote.com, reddit, and Twitter.