We all have favorite apps, with our top picks changing based on our mood and our circumstances. In my particular case, when I'm using the iOS 18 public beta, I can't think of a better app than the revamped iOS 18 Notes.
I've become more of a fan of Notes in recent years, as I think it's a good tool for quickly jotting down lists and ideas or even typing up notes when I'm sitting in presentations and want a rough outline to reference for what's been said. Even as other apps have come along to take away some of the things I used to turn to Notes for — Reminders has taken over to-do list duties for me, and have I mentioned lately how good that app is for making grocery lists? — added functionality in Notes has made it a great option for gathering research and sharing ideas with people.
The iOS 18 version of Notes has continued that trend. I wrote in my iOS 18 public beta hands-on that Notes is what an updated app should be. The changes aren't reinventing the wheel, but fitting seamlessly into what's already there. At the same time, they're adding new capabilities that bring immediate value to the app. Unlike iOS 18 Photos, which is going to be an acquired taste for most people, Notes is something you can jump right into here.
Here's everything about the updates introduced in iOS 18 that make the Notes app so great.
You can make your Notes look better than ever
Maybe you're not into formatting what you jot down in Notes, but plenty of people are, especially anyone using Apple's built-in app as a full-fledged writing tool. Basic formatting tools like bolding and italicizing text and adding headers have been in Notes' bag of tricks for a while now, but iOS 18 adds something new to the mix.
Specifically, heading and subheadings are now collapsable. A tiny arrow appears next to either heading type, and if you tap on it, the text below it either becomes hidden or reappears. Not everyone's going to use this feature, but if you turn to Notes for stashing a lot of research — I use the app to collect information about possible places to stay nd things to on trips — having collapsable headers can make a document a lot easier to sim.
Another iOS 18 addition lets you change the color of text. Essentially, this doubles as a kind of highlighter, adding a visual cue to the part of the text that you want people to read.
Math Notes works in multiple ways
Really interesting features give you more than one way to achieve the same result, and that's one of the things that cool about Math Notes, which uses a built-in calendar to bring automatic calculations to the Notes app.
The more eye-catching implementation of Math Notes works best on the iPad, with its larger screen and (depending on the tablet model) Apple Pencil support, where you can sketch out a mathematics problem in Notes and have the solution automatically appear. It's possible to do on an iPhone screen, though on the 6.1-inch panel my iPhone 12 offers, drawing out complex math formulas with my finger can be a little difficult to do. (Turns out Steve Jobs was wrong about the best pointing device for the iPhone.)
But you're not totally shut out of Math Notes if you're using an iPhone. Just type out the formula, and the feature can calculate the response. In my testing, I've found Math Notes to be very good at keeping running totals that update as I change the inputs — good for tracking inventory on my daughter's Girl Scout cookie sales or keeping a running tab of reimbursements.
At long last, recording transcripts
Prior to iOS 18's release, I professed a desire to see Apple follow the example set by Google and Samsung with their recording apps and add the ability to generate transcripts to Voice Memos. That feature does appear in iOS 18, and Apple has even extended its use by adding a built-in voice recorder to the Notes app. And yes, it's pretty easy to get a transcript on the fly as you can see in our guide on how to make an audio recording in iOS 18 Notes.
Transcript accuracy is a little dodgy at this point, particularly if anyone's speaking quickly in your recording, though I imagine things will improve during the beta process. Even a transcript that you have to clean up is more useful than one you've got to generate entirely on your own, and having audio files right there in Notes figures to be a great addition if you use the app for meetings or lectures. And if you don't already, maybe this is the addition that changes that.
No Apple Intelligence required
Everything I've talked about above works on any recent iPhone running the iOS 18 public beta, as I've been doing all my testing on an iPhone 14. (You will need an iOS 12 to use the recording features in Notes, but that only means iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max users are left out of that capability.) To put it another way, you don't necessarily need a phone capable of supporting of Apple Intelligence to use these features.
That said, there is one addition to Notes that is part of the iOS 18.1 developer beta that supports some initial Apple Intelligence features. iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max users running iOS 18.1 will be able to get summaries of their recordings in Notes. That's a nice-to-have feature, particularly for long recordings, but it's not an essential tool in the way some of these other additions are.
iOS 18 Notes outlook
I realize that not everyone is going to be excited by these newfound powers in Notes the way that I amn or even agree that it's the best addition to Apple's software update. For some people, the Apple Intelligence features will be the selling point of the upgrade, while outdoor types might appreciate the downloadable hiking maps that are part of iOS 18 Maps. Still others might look past the interface changes in Photos to find something new to embrace there.
But my larger point about iOS 18 Notes stands — the changes that come via iOS 18 aren't just bells and whistles added so that Apple can tick off the Put In Something New box. They're actually welcome improvements that make this a more powerful note-taking tool. And making an app better than it was before should be the goal of any upgrade.
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