Tardis Girl Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 There are so many apps, and I am new to iPads (have an iPad 2). I've been using a Kindle Fire (love it!), but one of the things I'd like to be able to do with this larger-screen iPad is: 1) Write/annotate for active "mom" books/resources I have on it (PDFs) 2) Have my elementary kids be able to "write" directly on the screen for certain PDFs we use...and then save it that way... and maybe have 2 of the same PDFs (with a name change) so that 2 kids could "write" on their separate documents. Suggestions? I'd really prefer not to spend $10 on an app -- of course, if I knew I'd LOVE it and could try it out, that would be fabulous. And I guess I will have to buy a stylus for this, so recommendations on that too would be terrific. And I've read some threads about One Note which looks like a dream but we don't have it and our PCs are very old and we do most everything on Chromebooks. THANKS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherimoya Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 I have tons of apps as we had the app store gift card from the BTS promotion last year at Apple. I use the following two on a daily basis for PDF annotation. Notability for the kids - visually appealing for the kids and I like the organization levels - $2.99 right now, used to be $ .99 PDF Expert for me - ability to quickly to organize, merge, delete, split documents (a bit boring in appearance) - $9.99 normal price, sometimes goes on sale for $4.99 I have also tried and deleted iAnnotate, Goodreader (good but too cluttered), and Penultimate (poor). As for stylus - I have tried the Targus and Boxwave. I like the mesh fiber for the Boxwave. Edited: Autocorrect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freerange Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 We're using PDF Master. There's a free version you can try out. You might also want to try PDF Splicer for cutting out just the pages you want in longer PDFs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 I like Notability. But I also recently got Scrapnote and I think it looks really nice - like functional Notability and elegant Paper had a baby. For styluses, I've had the really cheapie ones, but I appreciate the weight and quality of the nicer ones, which don't tend to get their tips broken. The bamboo is really nice. But you can pick up the Targus at any Target or office store and it's pretty good too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 I like Notability a lot as well, and I also vote for the cheapie styluses (the kind amazon sells for like $3 for 10). Sometimes we hit a dud or two in a pack of 10, but we also have a toddler who tends to take the styluses apart, so I really can't justify spending $15 or so on one stylus when the cheapie ones work just fine (except that they take about three weeks to arrive). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardis Girl Posted August 21, 2013 Author Share Posted August 21, 2013 Thank you for your replies! I'm sure everyone has their preferences, but it's so nice to narrow the field (with prices too!) and hear of some apps to avoid as well. Om the topic of a stylus, would you be inclined to get the cheaper kinds for the kids to use? Do you think there is there any problem with letting your kids use the stylus on the iPad? I would think the elementary kids would be good with it, and even the 4yo should be fine although at times he can be a little exuberant in touching a screen when that's required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 The rubber tipped styluses can't hurt the screen so I definitely think it's fine. Considering how greasy kids hands are, it may be preferable. I have a pack of cheap styluses for the kids and a couple of nicer ones for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 I let my kids (the older ones, not the toddler) use the cheap styluses on the iPad, with no problems. I do have some inexpensive screen protectors for it; we had one get a small scratch in it (watch the cheap styluses, as some of them can have snags on the edges), but it didn't hurt the actual screen at all, just the protector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Did you see the little credit card holder stylus thing at Target in the dollar bins? No clue if it works or not, but it was a nifty idea. My dd wasn't impressed with our regular rubber-tipped stylus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 Genius Scan (to make the PDFs) and PDF Notes to write on them. I think both are free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardis Girl Posted August 30, 2013 Author Share Posted August 30, 2013 I'm still looking into apps from all the suggestions (love the direction, thanks!), but am frustrated with the stylus. So I found a Brookstone one being clearanced out, so I think it's a fairly decent one. Do any styluses (styli??) have a finer tip to them? How can you write normally or semi-normally with them on a screen?? This is not quite how I envisioned it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 There is apparently one kind with a finer tip, but for every two glowing reviews, there was one that said it scratched the screen for all the brands I saw. The nicer ones do work a bit better - the Targus and the Bamboo are two. It takes an adjustment. Think of it like learning to write with a quill and ink when you've only used pencil. And as you go, you get used to zooming in and out - I do that without even thinks now. But your handwriting will never be as good - not without a huge amount of time spent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardis Girl Posted August 30, 2013 Author Share Posted August 30, 2013 Ah, I see what you mean. Well that's really a bummer. I guess I had visions of even my kids being able to do some of their schoolwork on the ipad -- like handwriting practice, some math, worksheets (we don't do many, but the kids like them from time to time and I despise paper clutter so it seemed like a win-win) -- and then of course my own PDF books for notetaking. From what others do, I think I could do it, but it will be an adjustment... and probably not the big solution for my kids I was hoping for. Bummer! But thank you... I'll compare a few tools and see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I'm still looking into apps from all the suggestions (love the direction, thanks!), but am frustrated with the stylus. So I found a Brookstone one being clearanced out, so I think it's a fairly decent one. Do any styluses (styli??) have a finer tip to them? How can you write normally or semi-normally with them on a screen?? This is not quite how I envisioned it.... The best I can do is use apps that have a way of zooming so that I write big, but the update on the final document is small. Some apps zoom the whole window (try the free Bamboo Paper app), but I prefer a mini-zoom in window like on GoodNote because I can see how my changes will look in the bigger picture simultaneously. I find a fiber-covered stylus (AmPen Hybrid Stylus on Amazon is my current one) flows a bit better over the screen than a rubber tipped one. The gold standard is an artist stylus that connects to the ipad via Bluetooth, so it doesn't depend on the ipad's underlying capacitive touch screen for everything. These give better fine control, and also allows you to make faint and light marks, but the full features are only available in apps that take advantage of Bluetooth stylii. (These are mostly art-making apps.) --Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Yeah, I read about the bluetooth stylus. They're all really, really expensive though. I think you can have the kids do math and other worksheets on the ipad though. I just wouldn't do handwriting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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