Notability's New Mac Catalyst App Adds Shape Detection, Apple Pencil Support for Sidecar, and More

Thursday March 11, 2021 6:58 am PST by Sami Fathi

The developers behind the popular note-taking app Notability today announced a brand-new version of Notability for macOS, based on Apple's Mac Catalyst technology.

Notability Feature
The latest version will bring popular features from Notability on the iPad to the Mac. Now, Notability on macOS supports shape detection, paper backgrounds, Apple Pencil for ‌iPad‌ when using Sidecar, and more. Marc Provost, the apps team director, calls the update "especially useful for students who take notes on ‌iPad‌ and also use a Mac for studying."

Mac Catalyst enables us to maintain feature parity across Apple devices, something we've wanted to offer for a long time. This can be especially useful for students who take notes on iPad and also use a Mac for studying. They can easily pick up where they left off with the same functionality and experience.

Existing customers of Notability for iPhone and Pad can download the new Mac version of the app for free from the Mac App Store. New customers can purchase the new app for a discounted price of $3.99, compared to its regular $8.99 price tag.

Tags: Notability, Project Catalyst

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Top Rated Comments

drntgogol

73 months ago

Same for me over here in the UK, £3.99 listed but I have the old macOS version, and iOS versions for iPhone and iPad. However, I decided to buy it anyway, clicked the Buy button and then it said something like This Update is Free, Click OK to download and I did that, so it was free in the end.

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

chrfr

73 months ago

I really don’t understand why everyone seems to be stressing so much about whether this app, that only cost a few dollars, is free for existing users.

I'd have paid the $4 so I wasn't concerned, but my issue is with how poor the App Store upgrade experience is. A user has to click through 2 different dialogs which tell them that they will be charged before they discover that there actually is no charge. Apple is putting up barriers to users and making the experience worse, and furthermore increases the support load for the developer who now has to answer lots of questions about why the update isn't actually free.

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Eddy Munn

73 months ago

Same for me over here in the UK, £3.99 listed but I have the old macOS version, and iOS versions for iPhone and iPad. However, I decided to buy it anyway, clicked the Buy button and then it said something like This Update is Free, Click OK to download and I did that, so it was free in the end.

This worked for me as well.

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

TheGreenDog

73 months ago

For the people who were concerned about high CPU usage: I am almost certainly sure this is due to initial note indexing (for search) that happens locally. When all notes are indexed CPU usage should go down.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

sidewinder3000

73 months ago

As an existing Notability customer, I cannot figure out how to download the Mac (Big Sur) version for free. I'm logged into the Mac App Store (US) correctly, but am prompted to purchase the Mac version of Notability. I've browsed Ginger Labs' website (including support section for the Mac), but cannot find any indication that the Mac app is free for existing customers.

I’m happy to pay a few bucks for a great app. I want them to be rewarded for big updates like this and be able to pay their employees. I expect small maintenance updates to be free, but I have no problem paying for large updates like this. Especially when the initial investment in the program was so low.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

chris4565

73 months ago

After the touch-id for me, it went through like it was going to charge me then I got another OK saying - I had already purchased. Didn't do that for you?

You're completely right. I indeed had to click on "Buy" in the prompt shown in my screenshot. Thank you. I really wish Apple would make this more clear.

Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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Notability's New Mac Catalyst App Adds Shape Detection, Apple Pencil Support for Sidecar, and More

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