Soundpaper: Notes + Audio on the iPad

Soundpaper

There is no shortage of note taking apps for the iPad. Soundpaper (iTunes link) by David Estes distinguishes itself in this crowded space by pairing audio recording capabilities with its basic type entry notetaker in a unique way.

The interface for Sounds pretty standard:  a file list in the left pane and the note pad in the right. Soundpaper’s notepad is supplemented with a “Record” button, a time counter and a playback slider. Unsurprisingly, tapping “Record” begins recording audio. Smartly, Soundpaper suppresses the clickty-clack sound effect generated by the iPad while recording. This also suppresses other iPad generated audio. (this may be a multitasking limitation and/or for copyright reasons as much as anything else). As such, it isn’t possible to play a podcast or song in the iPod and take notes about it using Soundpaper.

Soundpaper Recording Slider

In playback mode, you can tap on a word in your notes to immediately jump to the portion of the audio that was happening when you typed that portion of the notes. The jump is instantaneous and accurate. This is useful to review a speaker’s precise comments, when you doze off or if your notes can’t keep up with the speaker.

I used this pairing of audio and text to “bookmark” a lecture I attended recently. Rather than typing extensive notes on location, I simply noted the start of each of the main subjects covered by the speaker. Later, I was able to use these bookmarks to review the comments of the particular sections I was interested in. I found I could use the app this way while standing or at in a dining room where taking extensive notes wouldn’t have been practical.

Audio files recorded with Soundpaper can be exported from the app as high-quality AAC formatted 64kbps mono mp4 email attachments. The developer says that a 30 minute file is around 15MB. The audio and text integration can only be used in the app, however. Files can be exported via email or shared with a computer via wireless local network. Note that when accessing the mode for sharing via local network, any other computer on the local network could access your Soundpaper files (this is true for many apps that allow for local network file sharing, but would require someone to be actively “looking” for your iPad on the network at the time you invoke local file sharing capability to be able to access your files).

Soundpaper doesn’t allow insertion of images, handwriting or formatting of typed text. For me, this is OK but I can see where some of see other choices would be helpful, especially in a classroom setting. The ability to capture handwriting (and match with audio) would be the first of these features I’d like to see if done well (i.e., like Penultimate).

Soundpaper is a special purpose app. I think a typical lawyer would have limited use for the app on a day to day basis, but when needed it handles it’s job admirably. I can see this as a killer app for law students or when conducting an interview. A paired Bluetooth keyboard would improve the usefulness of this app by allowing for more comprehensive and speedy notes. There are desktop apps with this same functionality (notably Pear Note and Transcriva), though to my knowledge Soundpaper files (at least the pairing of text and audio data) aren’t compatible with these apps

Of course, don’t forget to check applicable law and copyright issues before recording someone without their consent.

Soundpaper is available in the App Store for $2.99.