Flashcard GoodNotes 5: The Best Way To Turn Your Notes Into Powerful Study Cards (And A Smarter Alternative Most People Miss) – Learn how to use GoodNotes for flashcards and when a dedicated app like Flashrecall will help you remember way more in less time.

So… Can You Actually Use GoodNotes 5 For Flashcards?

Alright, let’s talk about flashcard GoodNotes 5 stuff directly: yes, you can use GoodNotes 5 to make flashcards by writing question/answer pairs on separate pages or splitting a page in half, but it’s more like a DIY workaround than a real flashcard system. GoodNotes is built mainly for handwritten note-taking, not spaced repetition or active recall. That means you don’t get automatic reminders, smart scheduling, or proper flashcard stats. If you want real flashcard features with spaced repetition built in, an app like Flashrecall (free to start on iPhone/iPad: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085) is way more effective and still works perfectly alongside your GoodNotes notes.

GoodNotes 5 For Flashcards: What It Actually Does Well

So, here’s the deal: GoodNotes 5 wasn’t designed as a flashcard app, but people still try to bend it into one because:

• You can handwrite questions and answers
• You can draw diagrams, mind maps, formulas, etc.
• You can import PDFs (like lecture slides) and annotate them
• You can organize stuff into notebooks and folders

If you love handwriting, it feels natural to just write “Q” on one page and “A” on the next, or split a page with question on the left, answer on the right and cover it with your hand.

That works… for a while.

But here’s the problem:

GoodNotes doesn’t know these are flashcards. It can’t:

• Track which cards you keep getting wrong
• Space out reviews over days/weeks
• Send you reminders to review
• Shuffle cards automatically
• Give you stats on what’s actually sticking in your brain

So yeah, GoodNotes is amazing for taking notes, but not amazing for remembering them long-term.

That’s where pairing it with a proper flashcard app like Flashrecall makes a huge difference.

Why GoodNotes Alone Isn’t Great For Serious Flashcard Study

You ever notice how you end up with a beautiful GoodNotes notebook… and then never open it again until exam week?

That’s the classic problem:

1. No Spaced Repetition

Spaced repetition is that “review at 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 14 days…” thing that helps your brain actually keep information instead of just cramming and forgetting.

GoodNotes doesn’t do that. It just stores your notes.

2. No Real Active Recall Flow

Active recall = testing yourself without seeing the answer first.

In GoodNotes, you’re:

• Scrolling
• Hiding parts of the page with your hand
• Flipping pages manually
• Trying to remember which questions you’ve already done

It’s clunky.

In Flashrecall, every card is literally made for active recall:

You see the question → you think → you tap to reveal the answer → you rate how hard it was → the spaced repetition system adjusts.

3. No Smart Feedback Or Stats

GoodNotes doesn’t tell you:

• Which topics you’re weak on
• Which cards you keep failing
• How many cards you’ve mastered

Flashrecall gives you progress, streaks, and a clear sense of what’s improving. It feels like a proper study system, not just a digital notebook.

The Better Setup: Use GoodNotes For Notes, Flashrecall For Flashcards

Here’s the combo that actually works well:

• GoodNotes 5 → for writing, annotating, sketching, and organizing class notes
• Flashrecall → for turning the important bits into flashcards and drilling them with spaced repetition

Flashrecall is on iPhone and iPad and is free to start:

👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

And the cool part? You don’t even have to manually retype everything from GoodNotes if you don’t want to.

How To Go From GoodNotes To Flashcards (Without Losing Your Mind)

Let’s break down a simple workflow.

Step 1: Take Your Normal Notes In GoodNotes 5

Do your thing:

• Lecture notes
• Textbook summaries
• Diagrams, formulas, vocab lists
• Imported slides with your annotations

Don’t worry about flashcards yet. Just focus on understanding.

Step 2: Highlight What’s “Flashcard-Worthy”

Later that day (or after class), go through your notes and mark:

• Definitions
• Key formulas
• Dates / names / facts
• Concepts you always forget
• “This will definitely be on the exam” stuff

Think: Would future-me be annoyed if I forgot this?

If yes → flashcard.

Step 3: Turn Those Into Flashcards In Flashrecall

This is where Flashrecall makes life easier.

You can create cards in a few ways:

• Manual typing – just type question/answer, super fast
• From text – copy/paste text summaries straight from your notes
• From images – screenshot a GoodNotes diagram, import it, and ask questions about it
• From PDFs / YouTube / prompts – Flashrecall can generate cards from all of these too

Flashrecall is really flexible: it can make flashcards from images, text, audio, PDFs, YouTube links, or typed prompts. Or you can just build them manually if you like full control.

Step 4: Let Spaced Repetition Do Its Thing

Once the cards are in Flashrecall:

• The app schedules reviews with spaced repetition
• You get study reminders, so you don’t forget to review
• You can study offline (perfect for commuting or dead Wi-Fi spots)
• It works for languages, exams, medicine, business, school, uni – literally anything

And since it’s fast and modern, the whole process feels smoother than trying to hack GoodNotes into something it’s not.

“But I Really Like Handwritten Flashcards…”

Totally fair. Some people love handwriting because it helps memory.

Here’s a hybrid approach:

1. Handwrite in GoodNotes like normal

2. At the end of the day, quickly summarize each key point into a short flashcard in Flashrecall

3. If you want, screenshot a handwritten example or diagram and add it as an image card

This way, you still get the memory benefits of handwriting, but you also get:

• Proper active recall
• Spaced repetition
• Study reminders
• Progress tracking

Best of both worlds.

Flashcard GoodNotes 5 vs Flashrecall: What’s Better For What?

Let’s compare them honestly.

GoodNotes 5 – Best For:

• Handwritten lecture notes
• Annotating PDFs and slides
• Drawing diagrams, charts, and mind maps
• Organizing notebooks by subject

It’s your digital notebook.

Flashrecall – Best For:

• Actually remembering what’s in those notes
• Turning content into flashcards quickly (from text, images, PDFs, YouTube, etc.)
• Spaced repetition with automatic scheduling
• Active recall built-in
• Study reminders so you don’t fall off
• Studying offline on iPhone or iPad
• Chatting with your flashcards if you’re unsure about something (yep, you can literally chat with the flashcard to understand it better)

Flashrecall is your study engine.

You can grab it here:

👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

How To Decide: Stick With GoodNotes Only Or Add Flashrecall?

Ask yourself a few questions:

• Do you keep re-reading your notes instead of testing yourself?
• Do you cram the night before and then forget everything a week later?
• Do you have zero idea what you actually know vs what you’re weak on?
• Do you feel overwhelmed by how many pages of notes you’ve made?

If yes to any of these, GoodNotes alone isn’t enough. It’s great for capturing information, not great for drilling it into your long-term memory.

Flashrecall is free to start, so you can literally test this for one subject:

1. Take notes in GoodNotes as usual

2. Make flashcards in Flashrecall for just one topic

3. Study them with spaced repetition for a week

You’ll feel the difference pretty fast.

Example: How This Looks In Real Life

Let’s say you’re doing:

Example 1: Med School / Nursing

• You take detailed anatomy notes in GoodNotes
• Highlight key structures, functions, and diseases
• In Flashrecall, you create cards like:
• “What does hormone X do?”
• “Innervation of muscle Y?”
• “Side effects of drug Z?”
• Flashrecall reminds you daily with spaced repetition
• Before exams, you’re reviewing hundreds of cards you actually remember, instead of scrolling 200 pages of notes

Example 2: Languages

• In GoodNotes: vocab lists, grammar explanations, example sentences
• In Flashrecall:
• Front: word in your target language
• Back: meaning + example sentence
• You review a bit every day, offline, on the bus or at lunch

Example 3: Business / Certifications

• GoodNotes: meeting notes, course notes, frameworks
• Flashrecall: definitions, formulas, frameworks, key steps in processes

Same pattern: GoodNotes = storage, Flashrecall = memory.

So, What’s The Best Way To Use Flashcard GoodNotes 5?

Use GoodNotes 5 to capture and understand.

Use Flashrecall to remember and master.

You don’t have to choose one or the other. Just stop trying to force GoodNotes to be a flashcard system when there’s an app built specifically for that.

If you want:

• Automatic spaced repetition
• Active recall without the hassle
• Study reminders
• Offline study
• Fast, modern, easy-to-use flashcards
• Plus the option to chat with your flashcards when you’re stuck

Then add Flashrecall to your setup and let GoodNotes do what it’s good at.

You can grab Flashrecall here (free to start, works on iPhone and iPad):

👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

Pair it with your GoodNotes notes, and suddenly your “pretty notes” actually turn into grades and real long-term memory.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the fastest way to create flashcards?

Manually typing cards works but takes time. Many students now use AI generators that turn notes into flashcards instantly. Flashrecall does this automatically from text, images, or PDFs.

Is there a free flashcard app?

Yes. Flashrecall is free and lets you create flashcards from images, text, prompts, audio, PDFs, and YouTube videos.

How do I start spaced repetition?

You can manually schedule your reviews, but most people use apps that automate this. Flashrecall uses built-in spaced repetition so you review cards at the perfect time.

What is active recall and how does it work?

Active recall is the process of actively retrieving information from memory rather than passively reviewing it. Flashrecall forces proper active recall by making you think before revealing answers, then uses spaced repetition to optimize your review schedule.

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