Even the most loyal Evernote fans should at least consider making the switch to OneNote, because Microsoft's note-taking app frequently gains useful, and unique, new features. Seemingly every month, Microsoft makes its OneNote note-taking app more compelling. Most recently, Microsoft updated its free Office Lens Android app, a document scanning app that connects to OneNote. The update gives Office Lens the ability to scan business cards using the camera on a Android smartphone or tablet. Once captured, cards can be saved to OneNote, as well as to your Google contacts. The feature works fairly well, in my experience, but in a few cases it took 15 minutes or more for scans to be converted into .vcf contact files, for importing into my address book. And the more “artsy” the business card, the more difficult it is to get a good scan and optical character recognition (OCR) from it. [Related: 7 things Microsoft OneNote does that Evernote can’t] Office Lens is playing catch up with Android, because a similar business card feature has been available in its iOS and Windows Mobile apps for some time. Lack of feature parity is a consistent gripe I have with Microsoft, Google, and other software developers. It’s all part of the competitive games they play, but it can unfortunately create confusion and frustration for consumers. OneNote and the stylus Meanwhile, Microsoft continues to be savvy about supporting stylus input for drawing and annotating in OneNote notes. The company recently announced that OneNote for iOS is now compatible with FiftyThree’s Pencil stylus ($50 to $60) for freeform drawing or annotating OneNote documents, or for sending documents created in FiftyThree’s Paper app to OneNote. [Related: 6 things Evernote does that Microsoft OneNote can’t] In my experience, OneNote notes are easier than Evernote files to annotate with a stylus on mobile devices. OneNote notes are designed to be “freeform canvases,” compared to Evernote’s more rigid format. I find annotating OneNotes on a Microsoft Surface tablet with a Surface Pen to be especially useful and convenient. It will also be interesting to see how well OneNote works on the iPad Pro when it’s paired with Apple’s new Pencil stylus. (Microsoft says OneNote and other Office apps will support the Apple Pencil.) Evernote has plenty of strengths over OneNote, including its wealth of third-party apps that expand its overall value. Evernote has an iOS scanning app too, Scannable, which I use frequently and recommend. But Microsoft’s note-taking app continues to grow stronger, and it’s an increasingly worthy Evernote alternative. Related content opinion 3 top travel apps worth revisiting TripAdvisor, Kayak, and TripIt have been around for years. But they keep getting more powerful and more useful with new features. By James A. Martin May 09, 2017 4 mins Mobile Apps Consumer Electronics opinion Amazon Echo Dot gets more portable and better sound from Vaux A new speaker/dock called Vaux gives Echo Dot two things Amazon left out. But does that make Echo Dot and Vaux a better buy than Amazon Tap? By James A. Martin Apr 29, 2017 2 mins Amazon.com Gadgets Mobile Apps opinion Who's smartest — Alexa, Siri, Cortana, or Google Assistant? You won't be shocked to learn that Apple's Siri virtual assistant has the best sense of humor. But you might be surprised to learn which virtual assistant is the smartestu2014and which one is no. 2 with a bullet. By James A. Martin Apr 27, 2017 4 mins Gadgets Mobile Apps Artificial Intelligence opinion Does the world need a Windows smartwatch? The answer is, 'yes,' if you like the idea of a commercial-grade wearable for retail, hospitality, healthcare and manufacturing. But the track record of squeezing Windows into a small device isn't good. By James A. Martin Apr 26, 2017 4 mins Wearables Mobile Apps Consumer Electronics Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe