Onyx BOOX’s text note feature is a welcome addition to its e-notes
While Onyx BOOX’s text note feature is welcome, further improvements are needed for a better-integrated productivity experience.
Like reMarkable, BOOX has integrated a text note feature into the note-taking application. Developing user-friendly word processing software – considering the limitations of E Ink – is a welcome update in the e-note space. Hopefully, the text note feature is a stepping stone to developing a fully-fledged productivity application.
A standalone word processing application designed for E Ink will be a fantastic addition to Onyx BOOX devices if it supports desktop features like syncing, page numbering, footnotes, advanced text formatting and the creation of tables.
While the text note feature is a step in the right direction, some improvements could improve it further:
(1) Pen input is not yet supported in text notebooks: The text feature is integrated into the note-taking application. However, the integration is poorly thought out, as the application separates a text notebook from a handwritten one. The user can access text formatting features within a text notebook, and the insertion of external files is also possible. Unlike reMarkable, there is no option to use the pen to write within text notebooks.
(2) Better sync features: Unlike regular notebooks, text-based ones do not sync to third-party applications like Dropbox or Google Drive. It would be helpful if text notes automatically sync as a Word or Libre Office document so that writing can continue on another device.
(3) A wider variety of export formats: Notes can be exported only as a TXT or NOTE file (the latter is for Mac users, as it is Notability’s native format). For Windows users, as text formatting does not appear in TXT files, BOOX must expand the supported export file formats to include RTF or DOCX.