If you have an iPad and an Apple Pencil, you probably already know how excellent these tools are when it comes to note-taking. Some great apps like Notability or GoodNotes let you scribble and make handwritten notes on an iPad using the Apple Pencil.
But if you use Notion, a very powerful note-taking app that many productivity enthusiasts use on a day-to-day basis to take notes, make their to-do lists, organize tasks, and overall workflow. In that case, you might wonder does Notion support the Apple pencil.
Yes, Notion support Apple Pencil but only as a stylus and doesn’t have native drawing or handwriting support yet.
Therefore you can’t draw, take handwritten notes, make diagrams or scribble directly on a blank Notion page using the Apple pencil. In fact, the only things you can do natively with an Apple pencil in Notion are – click, select, and scroll.
However, of course, you can create handwritten content in different applications like Notability, GoodNotes, or OneNote and then import it into Notion. So, if you absolutely need to add any handwritten notes or drawings inside Notion, you have to do the additional step, as of now, that’s the only way possible.
It’s needless to say that if in the near future, Notion rolls out any updates, and supports Apple pencil natively, we will update this article and let you know. But as of now, that the everything you could do with an Apple pencil in Notion.
Can you Draw in Notion using Apple Pencil?
As I mentioned already – Notion currently doesn’t have drawing or handwriting support, therefore you can’t use the Apple Pencil on an iPad to create drawings or diagrams in Notion. However, if creating drawings is something really important to you, also at the same time, you don’t want to shift to other tools just for the sake of pencil support, then there is a way of doing this.
Many tools available in the market, allow you to draw and scribble using Apple Pencil on your iPad. You can use the free and pre-loaded Notes for iPad or more advanced and premium GoodNotes 5, Notability, or Miro to do the same.
However do remember, just installing the apps neither means you can now draw inside Notion nor your drawings in the third-party apps would automatically be synced with your Notion account. In order to add a drawing, you need to create it in a separate app first and when you’re done, you can import it into Notion.
This works just fine if you occasionally need to add drawings. But if you regularly create drawings and diagrams, then unfortunately every time you have to bear the additional hiccup, until Notion fixes it once and for all.
Will Notion add native support for the Apple Pencil?
Back in 2018, on asking about when Notion will add support for the Apple Pencil, NotionHQ replied on Twitter by saying – It’s one of their top feature requests, and handwriting/drawing support is definitely on their radar.
Even though they didn’t announce the exact release date, we get a sense from the Tweet and the sheer number of replies that there are plenty of iPad users who desperately want this feature and Notion is soon going to support Apple Pencil.
Should you use the Apple Pencil with Notion?
Well, if you already have an Apple Pencil then instead of using your fingers to interact with Notion, you may use the pencil as a precision stylus, for sure it would improve the experience.
But, if you’re planning to buy a new one just for the Notion, then it is not advisable, because we don’t know exactly when Notion will add support for the Apple Pencil, and how good or bad the integration would be.
However, as I said already if you want to draw and scribble on your iPad then go for an application like GoodNotes or Notability, only then purchasing a 129$ Apple Pencil would make sense and you’d make the most out of it.
Does Notion support the Samsung S Pen?
No – similarly to the Apple Pencil, Notion doesn’t have native support for the Samsung S Pen or any of the stylus for that matter. If you have a Samsung S Pen then it can’t be used for handwriting or drawing in Notion.
To do so, just like the iPad, you’ll need to use a different application like S Note that supports the S Pen, only then handwritten notes can be taken and imported into Notion.
Keep in mind, while adding the handwritten notes from different applications like S Note, if you go back and update old notes, you’ll create duplicates. To avoid that make sure you’re deleting the old versions whenever you’re updating your notes.
Conclusion
Notion is an all-in-one workspace for you and your team. It was first released in June 2018 as a humble note-taking system, and with every passing day, it has evolved a lot. Despite being very young it already boasts an array of amazing features.
It can be used on so many devices including the iPad. Although it is not perfect on iPad as it lacks Apple Pencil support and that’s the primary reason, holding many people back to make a complete shift from other offerings to Notion.
Nonetheless, we can only hope for the best and see what Notion has up its sleeves for iPad users. Lastly, if you have any thoughts on this topic please go ahead and share them in the comments section below.
