[Sep 2025 Launch] New Toolbar Suggestions
Thread for feedback on the new toolbar.
Feel free to share any bugs or suggestions for improvement regarding the updated toolbar.
Hello! We’re excited to let you know that we’ve updated the Text tool and introduced a new dedicated floating menu for text boxes, including more customization options.
One of the new tools is Pin Text Tool — when enabled, it keeps the Text tool active so you can create multiple text boxes continuously without having to reselect it each time.
This is especially helpful when you're focused on adding or adjusting text in your notes. The pin will automatically turn off once you switch to another tool.
Feel free to try it out and let us know how it works for you!
This improvement is available in the latest Apple update.
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Kristina Zimmermann commented
I hate the hovering toolbar. At least give the option of a hovering toolbar. Since the update "drawing shapes" is broken. When I try to delete one stroke, it deletes everything. and when I try to make a circle it only makes elipses. auto deselect eraser DOES NOT switch off, when the last tool was the lasso. it goes to the lasso yes, but if you go back to the pencil, it is still the eraser. I am actually considering switching to notability. this is not worth my money....
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Coralie Lundén commented
I agree, I almost only use textboxes for notes and it’s become very difficult to work with in the new update. I can no longer easily move the textbox around before typing in it, it has also become overly complicated to edit the font or anything else for that matter. It usually only takes a few hours to get used to new updates but this one has seriously affected the way I study and take notes. I would deeply appreciate if the old version was brought back, and for me it is critical for continuing using the app.
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Das Burbylein commented
Ich kann mich den Kommentaren nur anschließen. Es ist so umständlich geworden. Hoffentlich wird es schnell behoben, sonst werde ich wechseln. Das tue ich mir nicht lange an!
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Adam Hurst commented
With the previous version, I could use my left hand to switch between the pen and lasso tools while writing with my right hand. Now, they are on different menus with the lasso tool far away! Why completely change the UI when you could add important features? For one, make it so that when I duplicate writing, I can drag it onto a new page. You enabled this for the lasso tool, but not the duplicate tool. Bring back the old toolbar!!
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田中正樹 commented
The toolbar used to be displayed in a single row, but after the recent update it has become two rows.
This change makes the interface harder to see and more stressful to use.
I would really appreciate it if you could bring back the previous version or allow an option to use the old toolbar layout. -
Anna Schwäblein commented
Nichts funktioniert effektiv. Warum muss ich 2 aufploppende Fenster schließen um von meiner Audio zurück zum Dokument zu kommen? Die Toolbar sieht aus wie im Kindergarten und das doppeltippen auf meinem Apple Pencil ist beinahe wirkungslos. Eine Verbesserung ist das neue Update aufjedenfall nicht. Ich denke ich werde zu Notion und Notability wechseln, wenn wir nicht die alte toolbar zurückbekommen. Auch die Aufsatzfunktion fehlt, aber zum Glück haben wir den hässlichen Bleistift jetzt IMMER in unserer Toolbar.
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Lau Han Ning commented
The new toolbar is very much in the way when I am trying to write things and I don’t like how I have to click multiple times to make the pen icon expand. Please offer an option to toggle back to the old toolbar or simply revert back to the old one. Also do include bookmark still on the upper right corner because it is now difficult to identify my bookmarked pages. The new update brought nothing good, please just revert back to the old version as this new version simply inconveniences everyone especially when such an update was not requested or needed, and us users are all used to the old version.
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bre
commented
I cried about this update and it switched mid-class!!! I was so confused and lost and couldn't keep up with my normal color coding. PLEASE HOW TO FIX IT BACK TO THE OLD TOOLBAR. THIS UPDATE SUCKS. I'm ready to cancel my subscription and try Noteability!!!!!!`NOTEABILITY PROBABLY WOULDN'T DO THIS AND CAUSE EVERYONE ISSUES. MAYBE WE SHOULD ALL SWITCH
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Audrey L commented
Any updates? I haven’t seen a response from the Goodnotes team yet about downgrading back to Goodnotes 6.
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Jacob Halka commented
I agree, the new toolbar is very inefficient and clunky and was much better before!
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Jacob Halka commented
Completely agree. It’s so annoying and distracting and offers less functionality than before, it needs to be an option to toggle on or off.
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Mujiboy commented
Looks like a cheap note taking app with this new toolbar. I am begging, bring an option to restore to the original toolbar. I hate having a giant bar in my peripheral vision when taking notes. This was the only reason I bought the subscription of good notes. I will not be renewing next year if this is how it is. This is something urgent for me, my life is changing so majorly as an frequent note taker on ipad.
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Johannes Steffen commented
The new toolbar completely compromises my experience of Goodnotes. If this is not resolved quickly, I am considering switching to a different note taking app.
If I could choose between the old and the new one I would apreciate it very much!
(It would also be nice if I could collapse the entire toolbar with a button or sth similar while using the Apple Pencil)
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Jim Bezdan commented
There needs to be a way to make the floating toolbar optional. Now I have to move the document up and down when referencing previous sections.
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Иванна Иванова commented
Please bring back the old version of the toolbar. Or at least be able to switch between versions, as the new one doesn't work for me. Thank you!
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Elyse Arseneau commented
100% agree. The new toolbar is FAR WORSE. I wanted the option to have MORE in the toolbar, not less or needing to navigate a second toolbar. This has added a lot more clicks to get to the features I want. This like, ruins the app for me, it's very disappointing. The only good thing is the option to draw lines with arrows easily - that's literally the ONLY positive thing I can find about the new toolbar. Idk if this was a change just for the sake of changing/updating but that's a terrible philosophy - if it ain't broke, don't fix it
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Emily McCauley commented
I would love the option for the original toolbar or new one because the typing feature is extremely difficult when forced to use the text boxes. Taking notes that need to be typed has become near impossible as what I’ve written seems to disappear after I’ve typed it. Middle of the term and using this app to take note it has been difficult to adjust and I’m beginning to use google docs as well for the typed note which sucks because I liked having everything in one place I don’t want to have to import all of my notes to good note when I could just type directly into the notebook before.
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Emily McCauley commented
I would love the option for the original toolbar or new one because the typing feature is extremely difficult when forced to use the text boxes. Taking notes that need to be typed has become near impossible as what I’ve written seems to disappear after I’ve typed it. Middle of the term and using this app to take note it has been difficult to adjust and I’m beginning to use google docs as well for the typed note which sucks because I liked having everything in one place I don’t want to have to import all of my notes to good note when I could just type directly into the notebook before.
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Jahzara Jones commented
It takes me a long time to get used to changes in general, but especially when they're this drastic. I'm a music major and I use goodnotes for my sheet music as well as all of my note taking for every other class. It's definitely the most used app on my ipad, and since paying for the full version, I've recommended it to almost everyone I know because I believed it was much more user friendly than competing apps (both for notetaking and reading music). This update to the layout of the home page-- AND most importantly the toolbar-- has only made it more difficult for me to find my documents, bookmark pages, and edit in any way. I understand that some people might like the floating toolbar more, but I personally hate everything about it and would love the option to toggle it back to the previous, more compact version. After this, I'm seriously considering switching apps because it's taking me so long to find what I need. I simply don't have the time or energy to completely relearn how to use one app every time there's an update.
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Maeve Khan commented
I completely agree. I understand that it’ll take some getting used to, as all new features do, but I think it should be more customisable. For example, I never use the pencil or tape features, so if I could hide them to only keep the ‘pens’ that I often use, it would make the user interface much better!