NotateMe App Reviews

As a teaching tool, or perhaps as a means of jotting down simple projects and ideas, this would be a great app. However, for the price I paid, I was expecting something that would actually allow me to do real, grownup, professional work. This app does not meet the needs of a professional arranger, and I am disappointed that I had to spend $40 to find that out. One of the more positive aspects of this app, in spite of its myriad of shortcomings, is the handwriting recognition feature. It has the potential to become a powerful tool for composers, arrangers, and copyists. But until the developers come up with a better, more efficient way to handle tuplets and other, more complex functions, this app will continue to be nothing more than an expensive novelty. The company should either lower the price or offer more functionality.

Love the app, but wheres the transposing functions that allows to change the entire or partial score to any key by semitones?

This is a great little app for transcription. My only regret is that it doesnt have the option to transpose. However, Ive been easily able to work around this because I can export these files to FinaleNotePad and transpose it there. I love the ability to hear what Ive written in both the writing mode, as well as when I view the full score. So far I have only used 3 instruments at a time, but it works well. Im not a composer, Im a teacher. I write out exercises, transcribe/transpose, etc. for my students. I got this at the early release price, and its worth every penny. I also have NotateMe Now on my cell phone. While that free version only allows one stave, it can be exported to the paid version, which can add more. I use these three programs to notate music anywhere I go, and then have the functionality to print from my iPad or Computer (via FinaleNotePad) or email, as needed! While it may be limited in some features, I feel that the price is good, considering the cost of other software is that offer more than I currently need. Also, the developers seem committed to continued improvements! Thanks!

I really enjoy this product for what it does. It is really useful and easy to create a score of music on your iPad and be able to export print and use this, especially as a middle school music teacher for arranging music for my choirs. The core product works well, is fairly intuitive to use and has overall been a creative boon. Unfortunately I was incredibly disappointed by the decision to charge 40 dollars for the photoscore plugin for the app. When I pay money for an app on the store, especially shelling out the initial price for this app, to me there is an implicit expectation that if there are any significant upgrades that they should come for free, or alternatively for much much cheaper. Practices like this where you get nickel and dimed for every new upgrade cause customers to feel inherently distrustful of the publisher. Will there be a new version of the app that we will have to buy in order to get all of the new version of the app? Perhaps I am being unreasonable, but the price seems excessive in a tablet world. tldr; App is 5 stars top notch for mobile composing App is -1 stars for making me feel like Im getting a good value.

The developers keep improving it a bit at a time. Its now practical to use.

Hi, This would be a great app if it worked and paired with stylus adonit jot touch! I just got my my adonit jot touch for100$ and got disappointed,cause it doesnt pair with this app and im not able to use must functional options of this expensive stylus...I hope to fix this problem and make your app more pro to be the first professional hand writing software in the world!

Ive been a professional composer/ arranger/orchestrator, for over 30 years and find this program pretty amazing. I have been waiting for something like this for years. The handwriting recognition is very good, and Im sure will only improve. The guys at NotateMe are on the verge of revolutionizing software notation. I am excited about the future development of this program. It is easily worth the $40 price tag. Keep up the good work!

This is a phenomenal app. Its great. Its worth teaching it your handwriting and everything. Easier to use than Sibelius and the other stuff in my opinion. The price is a bit scary, but Im glad I bought it. I couldnt compose without this app. That being said, theres a few features that the next update needs to include support for such as grace notes, glissando, the ability to make crescendo and descresendos longer/short, accelerando, and custom chord symbols, but the ability to insert bars is most important. The app is improving, and theres room for more, but this is still a phenomenal app.

Heres what I feel is desperately needed: --Needs a metronome/click track for playback --even when turned up all the way, I can barely hear playback... My other piano apps are much louder on the same device --piano sounds could certainly play smoother --photoscore needs to be able to read pdf files --need a button on camera page to import page from photo library instead of using picture. --I need to be able to switch default instruments in the settings (the SATB default midi choirs sounds are as bad as you would expect, which I get, Id just like to set the default to something else --when changing instruments, instead of rename instrument there should also be a drop down menu of choices. (If you type piano, it does change to piano, but it can be better) --where are the settings? Is there no where to change settings? Dont get me wrong, great app. Its like magic and I can compose in editable format on the go or in bed on my iPad which is awesome. The problem is I paid $40, and leaving out basic functions and user interface necessities doesnt seem right. I am sure at this price point this is in constant development and these issues will be addressed quickly if not already in process. Until then, I find notateme more of a novelty than really usable for work.

Love this app but the update is unusable for me. Regardless of clearing memory and restarts crashes 99% of the time. Need the old version back. Too bad.

I tried Notate Me before but didnt think it was too awkward to recommend. I was hopeful that the latest update would change that but now it doesnt even open. Crashes immediately on my iPad 2.

I was hoping to replace my paper and pencil and go right to print...not so fast. I have had mixed results trying to get the app to recognize my handwriting, after resetting it and starting the learning process several times. I have tried both using just slash note heads and round/oval note heads and both give me mixed results. Im also not a fan of how large the measure gets when I add a note. Every time I add a note the measure gets longer. That is a distraction for me...maybe I dont have something adjusted right? Im going to keep trying though, because I think eventually Ill get it, or itll get me. Just not when Im in a hurry.

With this app I am able to do what I once needed a full sized scanner and normal computer for! Hand write music but more importantly use the PhotoScore plugin to recognize sheet music and turn it into digital music so that it is quick and easy to transpose parts to other instruments, make edits and everything else you can do with digital music! Absolutely outstanding!

I wanted badly to support this apps development. The idea is awe-inspiring. But sadly it is just horrible. What would take maybe 5-10 minutes on Finale takes almost TWO HOURS on Notateme, and that is no exaggeration. It is because the recognition software is very, very, very bad. (And my handwriting with a stylus is not so bad.) It says it is learning your handwriting, but thats a joke. Maybe by this it graduates from infancy to toddler and not much more after 6+ hours with the software. I have tried to use it for notating melodies and chords, and melodies it may be marginally better at detecting. If you want to write any voicing with 4 notes or more, it will never read your notes correctly-- every single time-- I guarantee it. After way too much of this headache, I tried using the already drawn notes and symbols included in the interface and can confirm it is nearly just as bad. (And at that point, you wonder why are you using this handwriting recognition software at all when other better iOS apps are available that allow users to simply input notes on a staff not via handwriting.) Photoscore didnt work once for me. I used the free trial on Notateme Now. It could never even recognize a staff in my photos. I took into account lighting and angle and filling up the cameras field of vision properly, etc. It almost hurts to say it, but this is clearly to me not meant to be. Id never want to disparage a developer with such an innovative idea, but I cant hold myself back when Im compelled to call this horrible. Sadly, its very much so. After following the app for months on Facebook and feeling a natural eagerness to support a would-be amazingly cool product, I finally made the purchase after reading an article they had posted giving it a stellar review. (How is this possible, Ive no idea.) You can imagine my utter disappointment. Ive never rated anything 1-star but this I must because not only does it not work, but I have paid their expensive price and now my money is gone.

Im still trying to get a refund for this product. What few things do work on this app are done in other apps much better. To get the ability to photo scan scores is $70 and it does not work. Youd be better off asking a drunk toddler to just transcribe it for you. Even as a composition app it fails spectacularly! It gets one star because zero stars isnt an option. Unless youre trying to play a cruel joke on yourself this app is less than worthless!

Improving and getting better , but still not usable for everyday compositions .

I wish it was possible to make an anacrusis.

This app is already very good, and I cant wait to see where it goes in the future!

This is an amazing piece of software with the right device, (6s plus has a great camera for it!). It does a quick and accurate job turning sheet music in audio. And THAT is why I bought the app. But oh how I would love to also open pics Ive previously taken! Why must it be on the spot? I dont want to keep my physical music with me at all times...I want to go digital with everything. Oh well. A very very nice start. I cant wait for audioscore to come out (is that what it is called?) I need that too :) Also...in-app purchases should be no more than $20...that is a lot for an app. $30 is over the top (esp with tax now)

This app in concept is amazing. As a professional musician and an eternal student of music and theory, Im always writing. Be it documenting ideas, composition, jazz theory, teaching, transcribing, Im always writing. I keep a staff paper close by. I thought this would be the perfect use of my new iPad Pro and Apple Pen. Like others reviewers here, I wanted this to be the go to solution. Unfortunately, I have given up. My handwriting is very good and easily recognizable. The resolution on the Apple Pencil is amazing. Despite all of this, NotateMe doesnt seem to understand a simple sharp and even sees it as a flat sometimes. Most of us dont have a lot of disposable free time, and to burn it trying to teach this app recognition in futility is extremely aggravating. I know the following statement may seem contradictory, but I do wish the developer much success. We do need something like this, especially when discussing musical concepts with students on the fly. The concept is a very creative one, however, it is not ready for the prime time, and the company should not be putting this software out when it is not ready.