Notability: Inefficient note-taking after frustrating update
Users are experiencing significant frustration with the recent update to Notability, which has rendered the Apple Pencil unusable and disrupted efficient note-taking. The changes have led to a cumbersome user experience, with no option to disable the new features that many find annoying.
9 different people have complained about this since 14 Aug 2023, most recently on 04 Jul 2026.
No new posts for 127 days. This may have been fixed, or people stopped writing about it — the evidence below is from before 04 Jul 2026.
- “Notability: AI Notes & Planner — Frustrating update.”
- “Many of the iPad users are also pencil users and this makes the whole process annoying.”
- “Now can’t take notes efficiently and have to manually switch to eraser feature with absolutely no setting anywhere to turn the useless feature off.”
9 people in 9 posts across 1 source · 0 in the last 30 days, 0 in the 30 before
The pain
shares of 9 peopleWhat goes wrong, and for whom
- Who
- 9 people using Notability: AI Notes & Planner
- What goes wrong
- Apple Pencil squeeze gesture no longer erases7 people · 78%
- Since
- 14 Aug 2023 → 04 Jul 2026
Is this a startup idea?
Not directly. These are complaints about a product or service people already use — the fix belongs first to that provider.
- Complaints are about
- Notability: AI Notes & Planner
- Looking for something else
- 0% want an alternative · 11% ask the provider for a feature
- What the numbers say
- Almost nobody is looking for a different product — people want this provider to fix it, not a new option.
The pain — what people say
Their asks, who is writing, and the posts themselves
What people were doing
Every post behind this page, by what its author was doing — and when each one was written
- Complaint889%
- Request111%
Sources
9 signals · 1 sources
Evidence
Raw public posts behind this opportunity — click through to the original
Notability: AI Notes & Planner — Frustrating update Latest update introduced a significant change to Apple Pencil functionality with no way for the user to revert to the old system- press used to erase and now brings up a mini menu to switch between every tool… except the eraser. Very annoying and diminishes the user…
Frustrated…tes & Planner — Fail You have taken away the favourite pen settings. Many of the iPad users are also pencil users and this makes the whole process annoying. The floating toolbar always seems to be in the most annoying place and I can't choose an exact spot to dock it which is incredibly frustrating. I used to love…
Frustrated…otes & Planner — New squeeze feature Why on earth would you do that. Now can’t take notes efficiently and have to manually switch to eraser feature with absolutely no setting anywhere to turn the useless feature off. That is the point of a toolbar at the top, you don’t need two of them. Please fix it.
Manual work…queeze it instead of it ONLY being the eraser now you have to choose. That’s a Good Notes feature that I hate and a a reason I use note ability. Switch it back, this is so inefficient.
Strong complaint…se the apple pencil update PLEASE or give a option to change it back. it’s not more convenient it’s actually quite annoying
Frustrated
Market and score
Products already there, how the score moved, and what it is made of
Opportunity history
Every score change is stored as a snapshot — click a sub-score to overlay it
Why did it move?
Score 23.6 → 23.8 · 12 Oct 2026, 17:00 → 18:15 UTC
How the score was measured38 measured values behind the seven sub-scores · each shows the value, then the points it earned out of 100Show ↓Hide ↑
Questions about this idea
- Is Inefficient note-taking after frustrating update a startup idea?
- Not directly. These are complaints about a product or service people already use, and the fix belongs first to that provider. The page shows what is frustrating users and how badly — not an open market to start a company in.
- How many people have this problem?
- 9 different people described it independently, in 9 mentions, the earliest from 14 Aug 2023 and the most recent from 04 Jul 2026. The quotes, with dates and links to the originals, are in the Evidence section.
- Is this problem getting worse?
- Status: quiet — no new posts in the last 60 days. 0 people raised it in the last 30 days and 0 in the 30 days before; the status compares its share of everything collected from the same source, so collecting more or less cannot create a trend.
Adjacent opportunities
Nearest neighbours by embedding similarity
Have you run into this?
Written by readers, except comments marked Team, which are ours. Not part of the evidence above and not counted in any score.
Create a free account to answer — it takes a few seconds and brings you back here. Already have one? Sign in
The recent Notability update has made the Apple Pencil's squeeze gesture a real headache, forcing users to navigate a mini menu instead of auto-switching to the eraser. Nine people have shared their frustration about this change disrupting their note-taking flow. For those who've experienced this, does the issue occur on a specific iPad model or iOS version?