LinaPad: PDF Notes & Recording

CommonSource

About this app

Make your Android tablet a focused place for handwritten notes, PDF annotation, and lecture recording.

LinaPad keeps the two parts of a productive class or meeting together: what you wrote and what you heard. Import a PDF or open a blank notebook, write naturally with an S Pen or compatible stylus, and record audio while you take notes. Each stroke and recording shares the same session timeline, giving you a direct path from your handwriting back to the related moment in the lecture.

PDF ANNOTATION FOR STUDY AND WORK

Import lecture slides, course handouts, ebooks, research papers, forms, or meeting documents. LinaPad keeps the source PDF separate from editable vector handwriting, so the original is not rewritten while you take notes.

• Annotate PDFs with ballpoint, fountain, brush, and highlighter tools
• Choose ink colors, opacity, and stroke width
• Write with an S Pen or another compatible Android stylus
• Erase whole strokes or precisely erase part of a stroke
• Undo and redo handwriting edits
• Pan through documents without switching apps

BLANK NOTES WITH YOUR CHOICE OF PAPER

Create a blank notebook for class notes, planning, problem solving, journaling, or meeting minutes.

• Choose ruled, grid, dotted, or plain pages
• Adjust paper color for a comfortable writing surface
• Add new pages as your notes grow
• Duplicate, rotate, delete, and reorder pages
• Navigate longer notebooks with page previews

EDITABLE VECTOR HANDWRITING

• Select handwriting with the lasso tool
• Move, resize, and freely rotate selected strokes
• Copy or cut handwriting and paste it elsewhere
• Delete only the selected ink
• Reopen a note and continue editing the original strokes

LECTURE RECORDING LINKED TO YOUR NOTES

Start recording without leaving the note. LinaPad connects handwriting and audio through a shared session-relative timeline, so review follows the way you actually studied.

• Record lectures, classes, interviews, study sessions, and meetings
• Pause and resume while keeping the recording session organized
• Save completed audio in durable, independent segments
• See whether handwriting has audio behind it
• Tap a stroke to return to its related recording time
• Watch relevant handwriting highlight during playback
• Change playback speed when reviewing difficult material
• Export individual recording segments as M4A files

A LOCAL NOTE LIBRARY

Keep coursework and documents easy to find without creating an account.

• Search notes by title
• Sort by recent activity or name
• Add important notes to Favorites
• Organize subjects, semesters, projects, or clients with folders
• Preview note pages from the library
• Recover notes from Trash before permanent deletion

PDF, PNG, AUDIO, AND EDITABLE BACKUPS

Your notes are not trapped in LinaPad. Export the pages or audio you need and keep a complete editable backup for later.

• Export selected pages as a PDF with handwriting included
• Save selected pages as separate PNG images
• Export completed M4A recording segments
• Create a versioned .linapad backup with the PDF, vector ink, audio, and metadata
• Restore a backup as a new note while leaving the archive unchanged

BUILT FOR ANDROID TABLETS

LinaPad prioritizes the larger canvas and stylus workflow of Android tablets. Its editor keeps pen presets, page navigation, recording controls, and the document within reach without turning note-taking into a collection of unrelated screens.

LOCAL-FIRST, WITHOUT AN ACCOUNT

Your source PDFs, handwritten notes, and recordings are stored on your device. LinaPad has no required account, ads, subscription, or real-time cloud sync. You decide when to export a document, audio file, image, or editable backup.

Use LinaPad as a PDF annotator for university, a handwritten notebook for daily study, a lecture recorder connected to class notes, or an organized workspace for meeting documents. When an important detail lives in the audio, your handwriting helps you find it again.