Notable for Android review: simple note taking

When it comes to remembering what I need to do, and when I need to do it, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m rubbish at it. Sure, I’ll remember what happened ten years ago, one miserable night in a foreign town, but trying to remember to draw cash before walking home is something which has more often than I’d like to admit got the better of me. That’s where another useful app, which I found comes in, ladies and gentleman, Notable is the solution to your short-term memory problem.

At first glance the app’s simplicity will leave you slightly puzzled, but fear not, half of the magic of Notable is exactly that. No more fumbling awkwardly with your calendar app to create an event with a reminder and a location and notes and a time, you get the picture. Notable creates notes and they stay right there in your notification dropdown.

Another thing I should tell you is that I absolutely loathe uncleared notifications. So in essence this app displaying the way it does, annoys me to such an extent that I have to do what it tells me. I can either do that or give in to my OCD, clear the notification and forget to draw money, which will of course result in a late night adventure to secure my coffee cash for the next morning.

Simple and functional Some of the app’s other features include different colour flags to help you prioritise your notes, a voice recognition shortcut so that you can simply say what you want to remember and you can also set the app to clear notifications with a swipe. I have it, but you can turn off the persistent shortcut in the notification dropdown and use a normal shortcut on your homescreen instead.

Dismissing your notifications is as easy as a tap and marking it done, and in the developer notes on the Play Store, it’s also mentioned that it will be able to sync with Google Tasks, soon. How useful that will be once Google’s worst kept secret, Keep, is released remains to be seen. There is both a paid and free version available in the Play Store, so give it a try and see if it suits your needs. I didn’t think it would, until I used it and remembered to do all the little things I normally forget.

It looks as if it was made by Google, for Android 4.1 and up, so when it comes to aesthetics, Notable blends in effortlessly and might I add, I think it looks pretty fantastic. Gone are the days when Android apps were ugly, and yes, I’ll happily admit to remembering them, and they were particularly hideous to be honest. Apps like Notable, however, are working hard at changing all of that. I prefer the light holo design to the dark, all you have to do is look at Google Now to see why, it is stylish, simple and elegant. I hope that more Android app developers take the design guidelines into consideration when creating their apps, because it makes a huge difference using an app that looks as if it is part of your actual OS.

It also has a Dashclock Extension, so if you’re on 4.2 you will be able to see your notes right on your lockscreen, urging you to do what you need to, before you even unlock your phone. Creating a note is as simple as selecting the shortcut from your notification dropdown, choosing a priority and saving it. There are minimal settings in the app itself, but it allows just enough customisation so that you can tailor it to your needs. I think it’s the most useful (from a pure productivity perspective) app that I’ve found on Android for my needs, why not give it a try, because it could do the same for you.

Notable will help you easily remember the things that we all too often forget. Without shouting about it, and sans reminders, Notable helps you make the most of your time.

Score: 7/10