Using a digital planner on a Samsung Galaxy Tab: apps, the S Pen and what works

A digital planner is a PDF, so it works on a Samsung Galaxy Tab just as it does on an iPad: open it in an app that writes on PDFs and plan with the S Pen. Most of what makes a planner quick, its tabs and linked dates, works the same. A few extras built for iPhone and iPad do not, and it is worth knowing which before you buy.

Which app to use

• ✓Samsung Notes, already on the tablet and free: it imports a PDF and writes on it well with the S Pen. Check that a tap on a tab opens its page before you plan a year in it.
• ✓GoodNotes, now on Android: it opens the same notebooks as the iPad app, though not every iPad feature is there yet, and the free plan limits how large a file you can import.
• ✓Notability, on Android since August 2026, with a free Starter plan and paid plans.
• ✓Noteshelf, Xodo and Flexcil run on Android too, and Penly is built for Android tablets, Galaxy Tab in particular.

The best annotation apps for a digital planner compares them in more detail, free plans included.

The S Pen and the links

A hyperlinked planner jumps to a month when you tap its tab and to a day when you tap its date. In most apps a tap with the pen draws instead, because the app assumes a pen means ink. Switch to the app's reading or read-only mode to navigate, or tap with your finger where the app allows it. How digital planner links work goes through it app by app.

What is iPad-only

• ✓Apple Shortcuts and Apple Reminders links work only on iPhone and iPad. On a Galaxy Tab they do nothing.
• ✓Google Calendar links work anywhere: in our planners the G beside each hour opens that hour in Google Calendar in your browser.
• ✓Everything inside the planner, the tabs, the dates, the index and the templates, works on any tablet.

The shape of the page

Galaxy Tab screens are wider than an iPad's, about 16:10 against 4:3. Our planners are drawn on a 4:3 tablet page, so on a Galaxy Tab held sideways the page fills the height with a margin either side; held upright, a portrait planner fills the width. Nothing is cut off either way.

Planners that suit a Galaxy Tab

Every planner on this site is a standard hyperlinked PDF, so each one works on a Galaxy Tab. The All-in-One Digital Planner builds landscape or portrait for any year, and every other digital planner does the same.