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

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.

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4

Thursday November 13, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, the AirPods 4, and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 firmware is 8B21, all up from the prior 8A358 firmware released in October. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 3...
CarPlay Pinned Messages

iOS 26.2 Adds New CarPlay Setting

Thursday November 13, 2025 6:48 am PST by
iOS 26 extended pinned conversations in the Messages app to CarPlay, for quick access to your most frequent chats. However, some drivers may prefer the classic view with a list of individual conversations only, and Apple now lets users choose. Apple released the second beta of iOS 26.2 this week, and it introduces a new CarPlay setting for turning off pinned conversations in the Messages...
Tesla Charging

Tesla Working to Add Apple CarPlay Support to Vehicles

Thursday November 13, 2025 8:31 am PST by
Tesla is working to add support for Apple CarPlay in its vehicles, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Tesla vehicles rely on its own infotainment software system, which integrates vehicle functions, navigation, music, web browsing, and more. The automaker has been an outlier in foregoing support for Apple CarPlay, which has otherwise become an industry standard feature, allowing users to...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket Now Available to Order, But Already Selling Out

Friday November 14, 2025 6:20 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. iPhone Pocket is available to order on Apple's online store starting today, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. However, it is already completely sold out in the United...
tvOS 26 Profiles

tvOS 26.2 Adds a Useful New Feature to Your Apple TV

Friday November 14, 2025 10:02 am PST by
Starting with the upcoming tvOS 26.2 update, currently in beta, additional profiles created on the Apple TV no longer require their own Apple Account. In the Settings app on the Apple TV, under Profiles and Accounts, anyone can create a new profile by simply entering a name and indicating whether the profile is for a kid. The profile will be associated with the primary user's Apple Account,...
homepod mini thumb feature

New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and AirTag Were Expected This Year — Where Are They?

Wednesday November 12, 2025 11:42 am PST by
While it was rumored that Apple planned to release new versions of the HomePod mini, Apple TV, and AirTag this year, it is no longer clear if that will still happen. Back in January, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple planned to release new HomePod mini and Apple TV models "toward the end of the year," while he at one point expected a new AirTag to launch "around the middle of 2025." Yet,...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Available Next Month With These 8 New Features

Tuesday November 11, 2025 9:48 am PST by
Apple released the first iOS 26.2 beta last week. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date....
m1 chip slide

Five Years of Apple Silicon: M1 to M5 Performance Comparison

Monday November 10, 2025 1:08 pm PST by
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Apple silicon chip that replaced Intel chips in Apple's Mac lineup. The first Apple silicon chip, the M1, was unveiled on November 10, 2020. The M1 debuted in the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro. The M1 chip was impressive when it launched, featuring the "world's fastest CPU core" and industry-leading performance per watt, and it's only ...
walmart new ornametns

Walmart Black Friday Deals Begin Today With Low Prices on Headphones, TVs, and More

Friday November 14, 2025 7:55 am PST by
Walmart's Black Friday sale has officially kicked off today, with an online shopping event that's also seeing some matching deals in retail locations. There are quite a few major discounts in this sale, including savings on headphones, TVs, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Walmart. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us...
iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.2 Beta 2

Wednesday November 12, 2025 3:29 pm PST by
Apple today provided developers with the second beta of iOS 26.2, which adds a few new features worth knowing about. Measure App Apple's Measure app now features a Liquid Glass design for the level, with two Liquid Glass bubbles instead of white circles. Games App There's now an option to sort games in the Games app Library by size, in addition to Name and Recent. CarPlay The...

Top Rated Comments

drntgogol Avatar
61 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 Avatar
61 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 Avatar
61 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.



Attachment Image
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheGreenDog Avatar
61 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 Avatar
61 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)
ChrisFa Avatar
61 months ago
I have the Notability app on my iPad and the "old" "non-catalyst" version on my Mac. Weirdly enough, the "new" catalyst version is still priced at 5.49$ CAD even if I bought the app with the same Apple ID back then. Maybe they didn't update their pricing yet?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)