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Moleskine is probably one of the most popular and most famous brand of notebooks available in the market today, and was the notebook of choice of great artists and writers including Oscar Wilde, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and Vincent Van Gogh. While some argue that nothing compares to the feel of the leather-bound notebook in your hands, and being able to jot down your thoughts, ideas and sketches by hand, Moleskine have launched a free iOS based note-taking app for both iPhone and iPad users.

Available for download for free from the iTunes App Store, the app allows you to take notes, sketch drawings, add photos and labels, and share your notes on Facebook and Twitter and more. The app is customizable to suit your personal taste, changing the paper type, font size and more.

When you first launch the app, a short guide on how to use the app is displayed, and you’ll find that sample notes have already been created, showing you the full potential of the app.

The first choice you’ll want to make when you create a new note, after giving the note a name, is the type of paper you’re going to use. There are three choices - plain, squared and ruled.

You can also categorize your notes, creating your own custom categories. Each category is accompanied by a color and icon of your choice. These symbols are visible in the list of notes on your home page, an easy way to differentiate between your various notes.

When it comes to taking notes, while you cannot change the font itself, you can choose between four font sizes from extra small to large.

You also have a selection of 15 font colors, including all the basic colors you might want to use.

When it comes to sketching, you can also choose the thickness of your brush stroke, from extra small to large. And like with the text, you have the same selection of 15 colors.

In addition to text and sketches, you can add images to your note from your photo albums.

And you can also add from a variety icons, or labels, that come with the app.

Once you’ve completed your notes or sketches, there are two things you can do with them. You can share them with other users via email, Facebook or Twitter.

The sharing capabilities of the app are, however, somewhat limited. When sharing via email, the text of the note is automatically pasted into the body of the email and without images, while sketches can’t be emailed at all.  Sharing via Twitter, the first 140 characters of the note will be be automatically pasted for sharing on the site. If you need an app to save drafts of your tweets, the Moleskine app could potentially serve the purpose. Sharing via Facebook was unsuccessful after several attempts, despite successfully connecting the app to a Facebook account.

Aside from the sharing options, you can also geotag your notes, making the app a very useful journal tool for someone who travels a lot.

There is no limit to the number of free note-taking and sketching apps available in the iTunes App Store, so why use the Moleskine app? The interface is sleek and simple, and leaves the focus on what really matters - your writing or drawings. If you’re a die-hard Moleskine fan, the app will definitely appeal to you, and the geotagging feature adds an interesting dimension to the note-taking app.

If we had a wishlist for the iOS note app, it would be for the sharing features to be improved, as well as including a syncing feature for backing up your notes with an online account, or to your computer.

Which free app do you use to take notes on your iPhone or iPad? Let us know in the comments.