Pear Note

I used to love this app. One of my main productivity apps. Sadly it seems not to be supported anymore. Usefulfruit forum has been taken over by spam. Last response from Chad was 4 years ago. No resolution for file saving error that several users reported. Cannot risk loosing hours of work so I have resorted to insert video timestamps in a text editor. Could not find any alternative that even comes close Pear Note. Would love to see this one-of-a-kind software revived.

Pear Note needs a timer so the recording stops after a certain period. This has been suggested and requested, but unfortunately no response from developer. Pear Note crashes for no apparent reason occasionally, but usually is able to resume where it left off. Pear Note can't crop files larger than a certain size. The error just says it failed, no explanation given. Reached out to the developer for assistance. No response from developer. The timer would make this a much better product. The "crop failure" bug needs to be addressed. This app replaced another that similarly started out good and then became a disappointment. Looking for alternatives now.

This update fixes a problem I reported, nice work Chad. I been using it for a while and just bought it. Best not taking application there is for students bar none. Everything else is bloat or insufficient, Pear Note is the perfect balance and sharing your notes with video, audio and / or slides is super easy. 4.5 stars because I'm hoping for a couple of features to be added.

I´m a Pear Note user since version 1 and love the ease of use, options and stability. The developer for years works continuously on making it better and better with every update. Tanks. Mentionable is that I never had to pay an upgrade fee since I bought it. My license code still works with version 3.

Great app! Very useful for college students like myself!

Well, so far, Pear Note 2.0.4 might not work with OSX 10.6.6. Having serialized it, I cannot get any result with "Preferences" or "New". This might require a little research...

If you're a (serious) student or businessperson, this software is essential. Simply brilliant. On of the best pieces of Mac software I've used.

To the best of my knowledge, Pear Note is the only app of its kind in the Mac "appverse". And it's a VERY competent one at that. The novely lies in the fact that you can _navigate_ your meeting conversations, just by clicking on the notes/words that you've taken during the sessions. It's down to business at the very moment you open the application. Just hit Alt/Option + Shift + R (for recording) and you're on. I feel more relaxed (albeit perhaps a bit too relaxed, because of my confidence that I won't miss anything) during meetings using this tool. I can jot down a few words of relevance - without putting too much effort in correct spelling - and afterwards I'm able to keep future reference on every detail. Feels almost like cheating. It's useful for working teams to review both sporadic conversations and iterative planning sessions, and it proves to be a great strategic tool, since you're able to step back and analyse a sales conversation, job interview, etc. and in the end, let you take more informed actions based on things that might have slipped your mind during the actual meeting. (You get the idea.) The price tag for this app is definitely worth it and it pays for itself the first time using it. In fact, I'd pay again and again for this app, should I have to. It's one of those useful pearls you only ever so rarely find. A real productivity hack.

Perfect timing for an update! Law school starts back up again in 2 weeks. This program has been indispensable for my note taking. I just wish that it somehow filtered out the annoying clicking of my keyboard typing... I don't know how that would be possible, but it would be awesome! Also, some sort of integration with the MacSpeech transcription software would be pretty sweet.

Pear Note does what it claims it does and does that very well: You record video or audio presentations and take notes in a text field. Later, when you replay the rich media, a cursor highlights the relevant portion of your text notes. Alternatively, you can click anywhere in the text notes to immediately jump to the spot in the AV recording at which the notes were taken, enabling you to review the lecture for things you may have missed. Incredibly handy for taking notes on classes or for conducting interviews. The text editor enables notes, lists, tables, and links. The text is spotlight searchable. (It would be superb if you could search for text in spotlight and immediately jump from that to the corresponding AV, or if Pear Note could use speech recognition to take notes for you, but those are not features at this point). The program allows you to import audio and video and to add imports to existing Pear Note recordings. The downsides? * If you use this software often and fail to use its export functions to later decouple text from AV (text is separately exportable as RTF or text and video is exportable as QuickTime or AAC), you'll collect lengthy AV files on your hard drive, potentially taking up significant amounts of space. This is not a problem with the program--it's simply a function of the concept. * If you record with your Mac's internal microphone rather than with an external microphone, your recording will inevitably pick up the sound of your typing, which somewhat limits the value of any AV export. * The price is a bit steep for an app if you only use this occasionally so you'll want to try the program out thoroughly first to see if it makes a useful addition to your workflow.

I really recommend that you take a look Pear Note. It lets you take notes while recording audio (and optionally video). It integrates the recording with your notes when you play it back by highlighting what you were typing in sync with the playback. You can scrub around in the recording by clicking in the text. The program automatically skips to the point where you clicked. You can also import slides and the program will synchronize the slides to your text and the recording. This program really changes notetaking because it gives you the ability to easily fill in gaps in your notes and clarify the confusing or mistyped parts. If you're using your MacBook to take notes in meetings or class, this program is really useful. The program is available from www.usefulfruit.com, where you can also find a screencast demonstration and a free trial.