Botple Notes
Filling in worksheets, scanning a paper page, exporting a finished copy, and the teacher marking tools.
Help & Documentation
How to use both Botple apps, how to install them, and straight answers to the questions people actually ask. Botple Notes and Botple Calc each have their own section below.
What do you need help with?
Botple Calc
Fractions and roots in proper notation, SHIFT and ALPHA, the calculation modes, and installing it as an app.
What's new
- Update: Botple Notes now wears its own mark in the app, not the Botple Education B.
- New: Type a page number straight into the page counter to jump there — and it goes by the number printed on the page, not its position in the file.
- Note: Fixed: short blanks like "Mass = ____" were thrown away before they could be found. One-word and number answers now get boxes like every other blank.
- Note: Fixed: the toolbar could claim a huge number of blanks on a document you had not touched. It was counting every uncertain guess as a real one; it now counts only the blanks it is confident about.
- Note: Fixed: the answer box no longer turns white while you type in it. The page stays visible the whole time, not only after you click away.
- New: Mark an answer right or wrong when the marked sheet comes back, then revise only the ones you got wrong. The library gathers every worksheet still holding a mistake under To review.
- New: Study mode: hide your answers on a finished worksheet, try it again, then see the two side by side. The sheet you already did becomes what you revise from.
- New: Worksheets can now have a due date. The library says "Due tomorrow" or "3 days late", and a new Due next sort puts whatever is closest at the top.
- New: One button: Hand in. It writes the finished PDF, names it with your name so a teacher can find it, and marks the worksheet done in your library. The old export screen is still there under the arrow beside it.
- New: The toolbar now says how many blanks are still empty instead of only which page you are on. Press it to jump straight to the next one.
- Note: Fixed: Tab now moves between answers in the order you read them, down the page and on to the next one. It used to follow the order the boxes happened to be created in.
- New: Photographed worksheets now get answer boxes too. A photo of a paper page had never had them found for you — only PDFs did.
- Note: Fixed for teachers: opening a class folder failed on every submission that had not been opened before. Marking a whole class works again.
- New: A page strip down the right edge of a worksheet: hover it to see which page you are about to land on, click once to jump straight there.
- Note: Fixed: page numbers now match what is printed on the page. A textbook that starts with i, ii, iii no longer shows the wrong number on every page.
- New: Answer boxes no longer cover the page. An empty box now shows a thin outline instead of a white panel, so you can always read the question underneath.
- New: A short four-step tour now shows new students how Botple Notes works. You can watch it any time from Settings → About → Start over.
- Note: Fixed: after exporting, a document could stop saving your later changes. If you use the installed Windows app, update to 1.0.3 — the previous version has this bug.
- Note: Fixed: the eraser could remove a typed answer without saying so. It now warns you and tells you to press Ctrl+Z.
- Update: The Marking settings are now only shown to teachers, since the Stamp tool they configure is a teacher tool.
- Note: Fixed: Google Drive sign-in could hang on "opening…" forever because the popup was silently blocked
- Update: A loading screen while the app starts, so a slow start no longer looks like a broken one
- Note: Fixed: the eraser could remove a typed answer without showing it was there — answers now light up while the eraser is out, and erasing one tells you so
- New: For teachers: set an answer key and its model answers follow the page you are marking
- Note: Fixed: exporting Chinese could stop a document saving afterwards
- New: You can now write in Chinese and export it — worksheets in 中文 no longer refuse to save
- New: New Shapes tool: draw a line, arrow, box or circle straight onto the page
- New: Export as PNG or JPG images as well as PDF, one file per page
- New: A real pen thickness slider, with strikethrough added to the text styles
- New: Optional sync through your own Google Drive — settings always, worksheets only when you choose
- Update: For teachers: comment stamps, your own editable phrase list, and every marked script exported as one PDF
- Update: Settings can replay the welcome screen, replay the release notes, or reset every preference
- New: Drawing is dramatically faster and smoother — long strokes no longer lag behind the pen
- New: Move the tool settings panel: drag it to the top or either bottom corner, and it stays where you put it
- New: Page numbers can now be positioned and styled — corner, format, font, size, and the number to start at
- Update: Choosing a colour now opens beside the swatch you pressed, with the colours you used recently
- Update: Answer boxes and highlights only show their outline while you are using them, so a finished worksheet looks finished
- New: For teachers: open a whole class folder and mark every submission in one pass, instead of one file at a time
- New: For teachers: a class report showing which question everyone got wrong, not just who scored what
- New: For teachers: mark with ticks, crosses and points, with a running total on every page
- New: The Windows app can now open worksheets straight from your Google Drive
- Update: A short first-run setup: put your name on the files you export, and choose whether to keep the Botple Notes credit
- Update: The credit on exported pages is now the full Botple Notes mark, and one tick in the export screen turns it off
- Update: Dropdowns now match the app instead of opening a grey system list, and notifications no longer pile up on top of each other
- New: Botple Notes is now in beta — worksheets, handwriting, voice notes and Drive
- New: Scanning is dramatically faster, and can now straighten a photo from your phone
- New: Better answer-area detection, including real fillable PDF forms
- Update: Botple Notes can now be installed as a Windows app
- New: boxed square roots on the √ key
- New: ∫ integral/d/dx modals, plus stored variables
Botple Notes
Botple Notes fills in worksheets. It opens a PDF — or a photo of a paper page — finds the places answers go, and exports a clean copy when you are done. Nothing you open is ever uploaded.
1
Open a worksheet
Drag a PDF onto the page, or press Open. Only have it on paper? Photograph it and open the photo instead — the page edges are found and straightened for you.
2
Type the answers in
It offers the blanks, boxes and ruled lines it found — press Tab to move between them. If it misses one, click anywhere on the page and type there instead.
3
Write, draw and highlight
Switch to the pen for working out, the highlighter for marking a question, or shapes and arrows for diagrams. You can record a voice note where saying it is easier than writing it.
4
Hand it in
Export a new PDF, or page images if that is what you have to upload. Your original file is never modified — the export is always a new copy.
Installing Botple Notes
In your browser
Nothing to install. Open it and start — it keeps working with no connection once it has loaded, and you can add it to your home screen the same way as Botple Calc, below.
The Windows app
There is a proper Windows installer if you would rather have Notes as a desktop application. It updates itself, and asks before installing anything.
Windows may warn you before running the installer. That is because it is not signed with a paid code-signing certificate yet — not because anything was found in it. Choose More info, then Run anyway. Only ever install it from this site.
Teacher tools BETA
Open a folder of submissions and mark straight through it, set one completed copy as the answer key, and export every marked script as a single PDF. These are in beta and are labelled as such inside the app.
Botple Calc
A scientific calculator that writes maths the way you would on paper. The screenshots below are from the current build — every callout points at a real element on the real screen.
Using Botple Calc
Real screenshots from the current build — every callout below points at a real element on the real screen, not a mockup.
1Natural display, fractions and roots
Fractions, roots, and exponents show up as real boxed notation — a fraction is numerator over denominator, a root shows the number under the bar. Tap directly inside the highlighted box to move your cursor there, exactly like writing on paper.
1
2
2SHIFT and ALPHA
1 · SHIFT (gold) unlocks a key's second function — its label lights up gold while SHIFT is active. 2 · ALPHA (green) lets you type variable names like X, Y, or A through F.
3CALC
Type a formula using letters as placeholders — for example X+2 — then press the highlighted CALC key. It asks you for each unknown value one at a time and solves the formula for you. Once you answer, that value (STO) is remembered for later calculations too, until you clear it under Settings → Clear Variables.
4Modes
Press MENU to switch modes: Matrix, Vector, Statistics, Base-N, Equation Solver, Inequality Solver, Distributions, Progressions, Table, Spreadsheet, and the function Grapher — thirteen modes in total, all in the same app.
5Other major features
An exact-fraction engine (so 1÷3+1÷6 shows a real 1/2, not just a decimal), a bookmark list of common formulas, calculation history, offline handwriting recognition for entering expressions by drawing them (Write mode), and definite integral / derivative calculators.
Installing Botple apps
Botple apps are installable web apps (PWAs) — no app store required. This works the same way for any Botple app, not just Calc. The steps below are the same ones shown inside Botple Calc's own install guide.
iPhone & iPad
1
Open the app in Safari, tap the Share icon in the toolbar.
2
Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen.
3
Tap Add in the top-right corner to confirm. The app icon now opens full-screen, without Safari's address bar.
Android
1
Open the app in Chrome, tap the ⋮ menu in the top-right corner.
2
Tap Install app (sometimes shown as "Add to Home screen").
3
Tap Install in the confirmation popup. Some devices show this prompt automatically instead — either way leads to the same result.
Desktop
In Chrome or Edge, look for an install icon in the address bar (usually a small monitor-with-arrow icon), or open the browser menu and choose Install app. The app then opens in its own window, separate from your regular browser tabs.
Frequently asked questions
Is Botple free?
Yes. Botple Notes and Botple Calc are both free to use, with no paid tier and no trial that ends.
Are there advertisements?
No. No ad networks and no sponsored content, in either app or anywhere on this website.
Is my worksheet uploaded anywhere?
No. Botple Notes opens your file in your own browser, on your own device. It is never sent to a server, which also means nobody but you has a copy — so export anything that matters before a deadline.
Does Botple collect data?
No analytics or tracking code runs in either app or on this website. Both apps keep your work in your own browser’s storage, never on a server. The only things that ever leave your device are what you type if you choose to submit the feedback form, and a small anonymous check for updates when there is a connection.
Which devices and browsers are supported?
Both apps work in any modern browser — Safari, Chrome, Edge and Firefox, on phones, tablets and desktops. Installing as an app is supported on iOS/iPadOS Safari, Android Chrome, and desktop Chrome/Edge. Botple Notes also has a Windows installer.
Do they work offline?
Yes, once each has loaded a first time — see the section below for exactly what that covers.
When will MindSight be available?
MindSight is still being built and there is no fixed release date. Its own page carries an honest status update.
Who makes Botple?
Botple Education is a small, independent, student-led project — not a company. See About for the full story.
What works offline
Botple Notes
Everything that matters. Once the page has loaded once, opening a worksheet, filling it in, drawing on it and exporting all work with no connection at all — because none of it ever needed a server. Voice-note transcription and saving to Google Drive are the exceptions; both need to be online.
Botple Calc
Core calculator functionality works without a connection once the application resources have been cached. Features that depend on remote services may require an internet connection.
Still need help?
If this page didn't cover it, send us feedback — bug reports and questions both go to the same place.