Outline (note-taking software)

Outline is a note-taking application, available on iOS and OS X platforms. It is being developed by Gorillized Corporation, specializing in Productivity and Business apps for Apple devices. The distinguishing features of Outline are design, hierarchy, free placement of notes as in a paper notebook, support of various types of content ("text, images, inks, tags, web-content, etc."), synchronization options and Microsoft OneNote compatibility.
History.
Outline was first released in July 2011 as a reader of OneNote files on iPad. The next update enabled editing and creation of new notebooks. Outline for Mac also developed from the reader to the editor on OS X.
Its first edition was launched in March 2013. Since December 2013 it performs as a full-functional note-taking app on Mac.
Design.
Outline's design was invented as an alternative to standard office look.
Hierarchy.
Outline hierarchy resembles that of a real notebook: there are notebooks for general subjects, section tabs for specific topics and pages for actual notes. For more complex notebook structures additional section groups can be created within a notebook. There is no limitation on the number of notebooks, section groups, section tabs and pages.
Platforms.
Outline for iPad is compatible with iOS 9 and later. Outline for Mac requires OS X 10.9 and later, 64-bit processor. Outline for iPad and Outline for Mac are separate though compatible apps. They can be synced between each other via Box, Dropbox, iCloud or OneDrive.
Features.
Besides the built-in standard editing tools Outline is equipped with additional features:
Compatibility.
Outline supports Microsoft OneNote file format. Each notebook consists of .one – section files and a .onetoc2 – table of contents file. Outline can open and edit notebooks consisting of such files and also create new ones in the same format.
Currently Outline is compatible with OneNote 2010 and 2013. OneNote 2007 is supported in read-only mode. OneNote 2003 is not supported.
Import/Export.
Outline and OneNote notebooks can be exported from and imported into Outline for iPad via iTunes. It requires iTunes to be installed on all the involved devices. They need to be connected via USB cable and be in the same Wi-Fi network. It performs manual transfer of a notebook in its actual state from and to Outline.
Outline also allows pages to be exported to PDF and e-mailed directly from Outline.
Synchronization and backup.
Outline supports several backup and sync options.
Notes may be synchronized with users' accounts on Box and Dropbox online services, which retain versions history and deleted items. Files are stored in ".one" and ".onetoc2" standard OneNote format. On Windows and OS X this feature requires native client software for these services.
Outline also syncs data over iCloud, easy way to store notes, keep them synchronized and access anytime across multiple devices. Synchronization process is strong, reliable and provides an error-free data transfer. All the data can be backed up to iCloud or hard drive (for Mac version).
Alternatively, Outline notes may be synchronized with Microsoft OneDrive (Microsoft's online storage service for OneNote software) and Microsoft SharePoint (versions 2010 and 2013 only). Files are stored in single notebook files, which does not retain versioning information and deleted notes. Only incremental updates are sent to the server during synchronization, reducing transfer time and bandwidth usage.