Milanote
Milanote Review! The concept of a whiteboard note app is great, but couldn’t they make it work well on mobile?
This is a note app I’ve been monitoring for a while because of its unique concept. As someone who’s tried almost every writing app, I couldn’t pass this one up, so I tried it. However, these days, the concept of the app feels a bit faded, and more importantly, it was quite disappointing on smartphones. This is Milanote.
Table of Contents
- Milanote Review! The concept of a whiteboard note app is great, but couldn’t they make it work well on mobile?
The biggest feature of Milanote is that it’s a whiteboard note app!
But what’s the difference between a whiteboard app and taking notes? The speed is fast.
The biggest difference between this app and others is its basic note format. While conventional note apps like Evernote organize notes neatly into notebooks or folders, with notes being created and accessed from there, Milanote allows you to create notes on a single board, functioning as a whiteboard. In fact, nowadays, whiteboard apps like Miro and Microsoft Whiteboard can also create notes, so the concept feels somewhat dated. However, it is still relatively fresh compared to other ‘note apps.’
Looking at the examples on the official website, you can create quite impressive notes that rival those made with Notion. Using the app yourself reveals it operates smoothly. This is likely one of the app’s advantages compared to other whiteboard apps. Apps that allow you to work freely on a large board often become noticeably slower and more sluggish as the number of notes and other elements increases. Although I haven’t used the app at an advanced level, I appreciated that there was almost no loading time during use. This smoothness is definitely a positive aspect.
The smartphone version of Milanote is really disappointing.
On my Galaxy Fold, I could only view and edit a few notes.
However, there is a truly serious issue: the smartphone version is really disappointing. In reality, the smartphone version is barely usable for anything beyond simply viewing notes. On the Galaxy Fold, the app seems to offer no real benefits. While smaller smartphones might struggle with the note-taking concept because of their screen size, I would expect at least a larger smartphone like the Galaxy Fold 4 to function more effectively, similar to the desktop version. It would surely be much better than it is now if it could at least perform well on larger smartphones.
The basic functionality is lacking. For instance, I created a table on the iPad version, but I couldn’t modify it. It seemed odd, but it appears that table editing is not yet supported on smartphones. As of now, the smartphone version only supports tasks, images, and basic notes. So, it seems that table editing is simply not available. It’s frustrating, especially since the app isn’t outdated and still receives updates.
The iPad version of Milanote has issues with Korean input.
Honestly, it’s lacking in quality.
On my Fold, I could at least view and edit notes, although the unique extensibility wasn’t available. However, on the iPad, Korean input didn’t work at all, making the app practically unusable. Some iOS reviews mention that it works for certain users, but they might be lucky. Honestly, on the iPad, it’s a subpar writing app. Reviews suggest that this issue has been around for a while, with some users noting problems with Korean input. This implies that there’s little chance of improvement. After all, reading reviews is essential for any potential fixes.
If you mainly work on desktop, it’s a note app worth recommending.
It offers decent value for money.
Milanote surprisingly offers good value for money. Milanote offers good value for money, even though there is a limit on the number of notes you can add to the board. Users can still effectively use Milanote for personal, light whiteboard organization without significant limitations. However, the paid version costs around $9.99 per month per user, making it relatively expensive among note apps. Fortunately, whiteboard apps have similar pricing, and Evernote’s pricing has also increased significantly. Popular productivity apps like Trello are also somewhat pricey. Therefore, while Milanote is on the pricier side for note apps, it’s not excessively expensive.
Milanote is quite usable on desktop, and since the app has been around for a while, the site offers a good range of templates and guides. Therefore, if you primarily work on desktop, it’s a note app you can use effectively. However, since I primarily draft content on my smartphone for blogging, this app isn’t suitable for me. The Korean input issues really need to be addressed. It seems there are no Korean users of this app, as anyone who experiences the app’s terrible Korean input would likely provide feedback immediately or delete the app. While lack of localization is common, having issues with Korean input is disappointing, especially for a note app.
Milanote Conclusion
Good point
- Among writing apps, the whiteboard concept is quite refreshing.
- The freedom of use is good, and the app operates smoothly (desktop version).
- The free version is usable to some extent.
Bad point
- Terrible Korean input experience (iPad version).
- The smartphone app is quite disappointing.
- Among note apps, it’s on the expensive side.
