GoodNotes 3.5 is a major update with user interface improvements. If you are updating from older versions, this post should be helpful to you. If you are new to GoodNotes, be sure to check out the new user guide.
Zoom Window
You can now single tap anywhere on a page to move the zoom window to that position. To close the zoom window, instead of single tapping on a page, you will need to tap on the zoom window button on the toolbar, or the close button on the zoom window. This may take some time to get used to but I believe it is more efficient.
New Toolbar
The biggest change you will find is the new editor toolbar. The old toolbar floats above a page and is hidden in read-only mode; the new toolbar is fixed at the top so that it does not obscure a page and it stays there even in read-only mode, but it has a dedicated button to enter full screen mode.
The reason to change to a fixed toolbar is to make the app more predictive and to not obscure any part of a page. You will be able to control whether to hide the toolbar or not. Moreover, you can open the bookshelf with a single tap instead of two in previous versions.
However, the downside is that the thickness and color options are moved from the toolbar to an option window accessible from tapping on the tool button. This is a hard decision but it will give you faster access to other important functions and leave room for other buttons in future updates. Having the thickness and color options in a window will also make it easier to add a customize function.
New Thumbnail Panel
The old thumbnail panel was a single column panel and expands to fill the width when you tap Edit. I believe this makes it too complicated and the new thumbnail panel is always three column which gives you a better overall view.
The best improvement with the thumbnail panel is that it gives you the ability to insert new pages or import documents anywhere you want. Just tap the Edit button and a + button will show up between any two pages.
Batch Import and Export
The file browser has been updated to allow importing multiple documents from the same folder at once.
When you export multiple documents from the library, it will upload each of them individually instead of putting them into a zip archive first. It will even allow you to set the upload file names individually.
Other Changes
- You can now add page above a page instead of just below.
- Shape recognition will also work with the highlighter now.
- SkyDrive integration.
- Continue an import or export process when the app goes to background.
- Replaced the long press option window with a standard menu bar for consistency.
- Allow users to import PDF with printing restricted. If you don’t supply an owner password to unlock the printing ability, blank pages will be generated when you try to export to PDF.
- Fixed a bug that cause crashes when using the fountain pen.
- PDF optimization is removed as iPad is faster now and it will often generate bigger files and complications.
What’s Next?
- PDF search
- Tab function to open multiple notebooks at the same time
- Dedicated text input function like normal text editor and fix the current text box alignment issue.
- Fast iCloud two way sync across devices.
- Better shape recognition with ability to move and adjust individual corner.
- Image cropping and border options.
- Support for new pressure-sensitive stylus.
Which feature do you want to see next? Please let me know by leaving a comment below.
