Spiral by Digital Generalists

…a simple notepad to handwrite a phone number or name or any passing piece of information I might forget. I keep it on my homepage in the upper right-hand corner. It opens in a flash and hasn’t ever malfunctioned. I’m embarrassed when I have to scrounge for pen and paper because I’m one of those who has to dig around in my purse to find anything in it, much as I constantly try to organize it. And when I’m distracted in any way, I slow way down when using even common, regularly-used apps. With Spiral, I add a new first page when I close it so it’s right there when it opens. Since I can write on it with a finger, I become one of the efficient people with this notepad. It would be really nice if I could move the pages into a different order so related information is coming all in a row when I flip back through.

Such a simple idea, but so many notebook apps get it wrong. This one really replicates the experience of writing in a pocket notebook by hand. It is super responsive, and doesn't have so many options that I feel like I am opening a design app each time I want to scribble a note. Just what I was looking for!

I love how this app allows me to jot down notes quickly and naturally by "drawing" instead of typing, but I'm also impressed by the many other use cases I've discovered. For example, this app works great for annotating images. Communicating your thoughts visually is a breeze as well, since you can simply draw out your idea instead of having to describe every detail in words. Very cool!