I find I often need to write something down quickly: a business idea, a quick to-do list, or something personal to remember later. Since I always have my smartphone with me, it makes sense to use that to keep notes, but unfortunately I find most note-taking apps frustrating to use compared to desktop or web apps.

AK Notepad is a good all-round app that suits my needs. It’s not exactly feature-rich, but it is versatile and simple to use. Here’s why I like it.

The Basics

Upon starting the app, it prompts you to create a new note using a simple form at the top of the screen. The new note appears as a blank, yellow, lined sheet of paper by default; the appearance is easily to customize under the Preferences menu option.

AK Notepad Note

The app then allows you to type whatever you would like, as well as edit the note’s title, discard the note, and customize the font as you desire. AK Notepad also lets you pin notes to your home screen for easy and quick access.

User Interface

Note-taking applications on smartphones are often pretty difficult to use, due to the small screen and keyboard, so it’s very hard to use them as a replacement for desktop or web apps. It’s crucial that a note-taking app should be organized, versatile, and very simple to use, even for the absolute beginner.

AK Notepad does not have a very appealing interface, but is very simple to use, which is really one of the most important qualities of the app. There are also customization settings which add to the looks and function of the app, as in background, themes, font, and buttons.

Settings and Customization

There are many helpful features in AK Notepad that I personally love. The developers, Catch.com, clearly had the user in mind when constructing this app, which has a lot of settings.

One of the features that too many note-taking mobile applications lack is the option to sync to the cloud or to another Wi-Fi enabled device. AK Notepad equips the user to sync notes with Catch.com’s website.

AK Notepad Settings and Customization

The Editor Settings allow the user to customize looks of the “paper” when writing, customise options for font styles (including text size), and add auto-links, which automatically turns web and email addresses into hyperlinks.

Other settings let you set the default action that occurs when you select a note from the list, and define how notes are sorted in the note list.

For the security conscious, AK Notepad lets you set a passcode lock (making the app require a password to read notes), and includes a firewall which blocks any external access to the app without further permissions from you.

Organization

The app also allows you to easily organize your documents with the option to tag your notes as, for instance, #work #groceries or #articles. You can search and sort through all your notes quickly and easily with the sidebar and menu option. When sharing you can also easily organize notes while downloading or backing up by using the tags or the name and file folders feature.

Sharing

AK Notepad makes it easy to share your notes with friends or co-workers with its built-in import and export features. All you need to do is long-press the note and hit Share; a popup then prompts you with the following sharing options: Bluetooth devices, Email (via any email app installed), Text Messaging, QR Codes, Facebook, Twitter, and any other custom sharing or social applications installed on the phone. I find sharing very easy with AK Notepad, and this really raises the app’s performance and overall rating.

AK Notepad Note Options

The app allows you to not only to share over social apps, but also to share and sync over Catch.com’s cloud or website. The only exception with Catch.com is that the user needs an account before syncing with the cloud.

One of my favorite sharing options (if installed) is the Dropbox download feature, which makes downloading files via your Dropbox account easy if you do not want to use the stock Catch.com sharing feature.

Conclusion

I use AK Notepad for a number of scenarios – business, pleasure, and just making basic to-do lists – and cannot fully function without a great note application. AK Notepad is very versatile, customizable and easy to use, which makes it a great app even for absolute beginners.

One of the only flaws of this application is that it cannot totally replace your mobile office application and does not have an overwhelming amount of writing style options – but it does have a lot more features than most note-taking applications for Android.