# TheBrain: Smart Notes & Links — Turn ideas into knowledge. > Connect ideas, notes, and files into a visual, searchable digital memory. (iPhone/iPad app by TheBrain Technologies LP.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thebrain-smart-notes-and-links/id835873357 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [TheBrain Technologies LP](https://appshunter.io/developer/579909034) - Category: Productivity, Business - Price: Free with in-app purchases - Rating: 4.80/5 from 150 App Store ratings · 158 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 15.0 · 240 MB - Released: 2014-04-02 - Data updated: 2026-08-30 - Monetization: free with in-app purchases - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thebrain-smart-notes-and-links/id835873357/reviews.md ## What is TheBrain? YOUR DIGITAL MEMORY. VISUALIZED. TheBrain is the unique knowledge app that helps you capture everything — ideas, notes, web pages, files, photos — and connect it all the way you naturally think. Stop hunting through folders, tabs, and search bars. Start seeing your knowledge as a living network you can navigate with a tap. Described by the Wall Street Journal as "Software that thinks like you do" and MacLife as "the most compelling mind mapping adaptation we've encountered." Winner of KMWorld's Trendsetting Products award. WHY THEBRAIN? Traditional notes apps trap your ideas in folders, tags, or endless lists. TheBrain lets every piece of information connect to anything else — so the right idea finds you the moment you need it. It's note-taking, mind mapping, file management, and AI rolled into one beautiful experience that works the same on every device. KEY FEATURES CEREBRO — TALK TO YOUR BRAIN WITH AI Our built-in agentic AI assistant. Ask Cerebro anything — and let it create new thoughts and notes, surface exactly what you need, summarize long documents, suggest meaningful links, or just have a conversation about what you know. It can do anything you can do — only faster. DYNAMIC THOUGHT NETWORK Move beyond conventional mind maps and folders. TheBrain's animated visualization shows your ideas, their context, and the relationships between them — at any scale. Tap a thought, and the entire network reorganizes around it. NETWORKED NOTES Rich notes shown in context with automatic backlinks and concept discovery. Hybrid WYSIWYG + Markdown writing, powerful tables, resizable images, math, and folding — all the modern editor essentials. EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE Attach web pages, PDFs, photos, and documents to any thought. Link people, projects, files, and ideas in a single living workspace. POWERFUL SEARCH Find any note, file, web page, or idea in seconds. Every match appears in the context of your thought network, so you instantly see how it relates to everything else you know. SEAMLESS SYNC ACROSS DEVICES Your brain is always with you. Mobile, Mac, Windows, Linux, and web stay in sync — even with large brains. Smart Sync downloads attachments on demand, keeping your brain fast and lightweight on every device. INFINITE SCALE Effortlessly handles hundreds of thousands of items and many gigabytes of data — without slowing down. COLLABORATE AND SHARE Publish your brain online for the world, or sync thoughts privately with your team. Great for shared knowledge bases, project planning, and team research. ==================================== WAYS TO USE THEBRAIN • Build your second brain — a living reflection of how you think, ready when you need it. • Manage everything in your life: projects, people, goals, files, and ideas in one place. • Capture interesting articles, videos, and references so they're activated when you need them. • Organize trips, travel, and major life events with all the right context at hand. • Power your research — go deeper on any concept and see how it connects to everything else. • Turn goals into action by linking them with the resources needed to achieve them. • Build a knowledge base that sparks new ideas and breakthroughs. • Link people, projects, and information for a smarter view of your business. • Create topic brains around your passions, hobbies, and special interests. • Plan personal projects like home renovations, weddings, or major purchases. GET STARTED IN MINUTES Start with a single thought — your name, a project, an idea you want to explore. Add a few connections. Within minutes you'll understand why people have trusted TheBrain for over two decades. For the best experience, install TheBrain on your phone, tablet, and computer. Our iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, and other mobile clients all sync seamlessly — your best thinking is always with you. ## Key features - Award-winning visualization - Networked notes with backlinks - Dynamic mind mapping - Easy idea capture - Cross-device sync - Powerful search - Visual file management ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: Free. **Subscriptions** | Subscription | Price | Period | | --- | --- | --- | | TheBrain Pro Monthly | $17.99 | per month | | TheBrain Pro Annual | $189.99 | per year | ## What do users think of TheBrain? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Seamless navigation - 🔒 Secure cloud sync - 👍 Intuitive interface - 🚀 Powerful features - 👍 Excellent for knowledge management - 👍 Versatile for various use cases - 👍 Impressive functionality - 👍 Fluid and elegant - 👍 Comprehensive data storage **Cons** - 🐛 Crashes and freezes - 🐛 Buggy on iOS 9 - 💰 Expensive subscription - 🐛 Limited functionality on mobile - 🐛 Confusing UI and navigation - 🐛 Syncing issues - 🐛 Lack of offline mode **Commonly reported bugs** - Crashes on iOS 9 - Inability to open brains - Freezing after each action - Login and account issues - Sync problems **Most requested features** - Offline mode - Improved mobile UI and UX - Better integration with other apps - More affordable pricing options - Enhanced search and filtering - Split-screen support on iPad - Handwriting and stylus support ## Recent user reviews (10 of 158) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thebrain-smart-notes-and-links/id835873357/reviews.md ### 5/5 — Best Mind mapping software out there *2026-08-15, version 15.0.613* Been using TheBrain for years and it’s the best app I have on my iPad and iPhone. I collect everything on this. ### 4/5 — Useful software but still buggy *2026-08-01, version 15.0.572* Useful software but still buggy ### 1/5 — The Brain is Dead *2026-04-23, version 14.9.9* Download and tried to create account t to no avail ### 1/5 — Not intuitive *2026-01-08, version 14.9.9* Not intuitive. Not clear at the outset what it is for. Verification of account email didn't arrive after their message telling me to check my email - but using that email address I can log in! ### 1/5 — Complicated, barely any documentation, absurdly priced *2025-10-26, version 14.9.9* All of the above. This thing is a nightmare. It's a shame because on paper feature wise it sounds great. Just priced absurdly and UX is overly complicated. ### 5/5 — The best *2025-09-30, version 14.9.9* This is an extraordinary app, which is unbelievably well thought through and functional. It actually works in a way that is both simple and intuitive enough but also has extraordinary depth and detail. I use it every day and can’t praise it highly enough. ### 5/5 — 10 years later *2025-07-06, version 14.9.8* Life without the Brain ### 1/5 — Too slow, too expensive *2025-05-25, version 14.9.8* The response slows down dramatically for a large number of entries. Around 200 bullet points (and the odd note or attachment) and the speed drops off a lot. Also the time to link a lot of entries is very high. Eg. It would be good to be able to select a group of items and link them to one thought or formatting style. The AI facility is interesting (eg get an instant write up of a subject) so the app may be worthwhile for a small group of thoughts with some linked AI information. But that would be like having a small brain! The cost of £200 per year is ridiculous. ### 5/5 — La meilleure et la plus belle *2025-05-11, version 14.9.7* J'utilisais déjà PersonalBrain sur Mac des années avant son arrivée sur l'Appstore. La version iOS TheBrain me permet d'en profiter encore davantage. Interface magnifique, mouvements fluides et élégants, peut contenir une quantité phénoménale de données, c'est la meilleure application du genre sur l'Appstore. ### 5/5 — A mobile brain .. a long time in the making *2025-04-08, version 14.9.6* By far the best mobile release of this platform. As the intro says this is the original digital brain having been around for decades, great on the desktop but for which the mobile companion as been a very poor cousin …. Up until now that is! Amazing functionality available, generally stable and pretty quick. Sync with desktop is solid and sharing info from other apps etc is much improved and less clunky. I had held off 1* as there were a lot of rough edges and although there are still things that need a little work the pace of change over the last few weeks and genuinely meaningful improvements mean it would be unfair not to go 4* -> 5* as I am sure all is going to iron out and the team are clearly working hard and communicate well re feedback. Overall, Impressed I still am! ## Frequently asked questions about TheBrain ### What does TheBrain app do? TheBrain helps you capture, connect, and visualize all your ideas, web pages, files, and notes across all your devices. It functions as a digital memory, allowing you to see related items and recall information instantly through its unique networked approach. ### What are the key features of TheBrain? Key features include award-winning visualization of your thought network, networked notes with automatic concept discovery, dynamic mind mapping that goes beyond traditional maps, easy idea capture, seamless mobile, cloud, and desktop sync, powerful search capabilities, and visual file management. ### How much does TheBrain cost? The app is free to download and use, with in-app purchases available. This allows users to explore the core functionality before committing to any paid features. ### What devices is TheBrain compatible with? TheBrain offers cross-device synchronization, meaning your digital brain is accessible on desktop, mobile, and web platforms. This ensures your notes and ideas are available wherever you are. ### How can I use TheBrain for organizing my life or work? You can use TheBrain to digitize your mind by creating thoughts for all aspects of your life, manage key projects by getting the big picture and drilling down to details, capture and activate interesting content, organize trips, deepen research on key concepts, and brainstorm to build a complete knowledge base. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 15.0.613 — 2026-08-12 • Standard Markdown, footnotes, and diagrams • YouTube and Vimeo videos play inside notes • Notes reopen where you left off • Cerebro AI handles much larger brain areas • Many more improvements and fixes ### 15.0.587 — 2026-08-01 • Zoomable timeline interface • Callouts in notes • New brain themes UI • Redesigned brains list • Cerebro AI is now your expert tutor on TheBrain • Import from more apps • Faster notes edit and loading • and more... ### 15.0.572 — 2026-07-06 • Better PDF export • Global find and replace • Evernote import • Fixed problems selecting text on iPhone • Various fixes and enhancements ### 15.0.571 — 2026-06-25 • Increased capabilities of the free plan • Better search • Redesigned brain theme chooser • Two finder drag to reposition plex • Pinch to resize plex text • Content area icon indicates when a thought has any notes or attachments ### 15.0.561 — 2026-06-10 - PDF export from notes - Improved localizations - UI improvements - More support for typed markdown syntax - Reports now support sorting and navigating thousands of results - Various fixes and enhancements ## Apps similar to TheBrain | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Inclr: Mindmap Notes Organizer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/inclr-mindmap-notes-organizer/id1060692932) | 3.8 (27) | Free | Productivity | | [AYOA - Mind Mapping](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ayoa-mind-mapping/id770930267) | 4.6 (1,032) | Free | Productivity | | [Tana Outliner](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tana-outliner/id6499428869) | 4.0 (50) | Free | Productivity | | [Escape - Mind Map & Outline](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/escape-mind-map-and-outline/id1361976813) | 4.3 (41) | Free | Productivity | | [Supernotes – Notes & Journal](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/supernotes-notes-and-journal/id1567815218) | 4.8 (112) | Free | Productivity | | [Roam Mobile](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/roam-mobile/id1609277273) | 2.6 (170) | Free | Productivity | ## More apps by TheBrain Technologies LP - [STS Brain](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sts-brain/id944466053) - [Jerry's Brain](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/jerrys-brain/id950398482) - [TheBrain Legacy](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thebrain-legacy/id1363289661) All apps by TheBrain Technologies LP: https://appshunter.io/developer/579909034 ## Related topics [one thing into pieces](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/one-thing-into-pieces) · [fhe smart](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/fhe-smart) · [sondermind for clients](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/sondermind-for-clients) --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-30.*