Starting with iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, the Notes app becomes even more powerful with support for audio recordings and math notes. You can also finally highlight text and merge sections, making it easier than ever to focus on the information that matters most.
The biggest improvement is the collaboration with the Calculator app, which allows you to use Math Notes. These math notes give you the answer as soon as you type or write a formula or equation.
Highlight Text in Notes
Thanks to the software updates, it will be possible to highlight text in the Notes app for iPhone, iPad and Mac. This allows you to make words, sentences or important pieces of text stand out.
- Open a Notes
- Select the text you want to highlight
- Tap or click the Aa button
- Select the pencil
- Also select a desired color
Collapse note sections
Have you created a long note with a lot of text in it? Then you can now collapse sections to draw attention to the most important information. You can do this for all components that you provide with a title, header or subheading formatting via the Aa button after selecting the text.
Collapsing works like this; tap or click on the title, header, or subheading and a v sign will appear to the left of the title. Tap or click on this to collapse the item. The text between two titles or the end of the note will then be hidden and can be viewed by clicking or tapping on the > sign again.
Math notes
A major addition to the Notes app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac are the math notes, which you can also access from the Calculator app. In these notes, you can type or write down math formulas and see how they are solved in your own handwriting.
Machine learning also enables iOS, iPadOS, and macOS to automatically solve formulas and sums. You can also assign values ​​to variables, which is useful when you’re learning new concepts in school or creating a budget.
It is up to the user to determine how advanced the formulas are. In principle, Notes can recognize simple calculations such as calculating sums or percentages, but you can also go all out with complex mathematical formulas.
Additionally, the new Graphs feature lets you type or write an equation and convert it to a graph with a single tap. You can even graph multiple equations on the same graph so you can see how they relate to each other.
Automatically add or hide math results
As a user, you can determine whether Notes should show and/or automatically add your math results.
- Open a Note
- Tap the three dots
- Navigate to ‘Math results’
- Select a desired option
- On a Mac, you can choose this via the ‘Format’ menu option.
Add Audio Recordings to Notes
If desired, you can add audio recordings to notes. The procedure is the same as with the Voice Memos app, except that you can immediately process them into a note.
- Open a note on your iPhone or iPad
- Tap the paperclip icon
- Then select ‘Record audio’
- Press the red button to start recording
- Confirm afterwards with ‘Done’
On a Mac, you can start recording audio immediately by clicking the audio icon in the toolbar.
Make a transcription
Another advantage of these audio recordings is the ability to convert recorded audio to text. The Notes app can, starting with the new software updates, transcribe the recording live, making it easy to search. Unfortunately, this option only works in English.
Smart Script for iPad
Another feature that only works well in English is Smart Script. Designed specifically for Apple Pencil, this option converts handwritten text into fluid, flexible, and easy-to-read text that still looks like your own handwriting. Smart Script instantly makes handwritten text smoother and straighter, so everything is easy to read – even if you quickly scribbled something down.
Plus, you can edit handwritten text as easily as you would type. With Apple Pencil, you can easily add white space, delete a sentence, or even insert typed text into your own handwriting. And the paragraph automatically adjusts to fit the new text.
Smart Script is part of handwriting recognition and writing for iPad. This function can be used to a limited extent in Dutch, but lacks some useful options such as spell checking.