TextEdit vs Nora
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
TextEdit
A fast and versatile text editor for mobile devices, offering compatibility with various file formats and editors. It provides a distraction-free writing experience with advanced formatting, organization, and sharing features.
- Supports TXT, RTF, Markdown, TeX, and PDF formats
- Cross-device and computer syncing via iCloud/Files
- Distraction-free writing interface
- Customizable keyboard extension for faster typing
- Visual rich text formatting and one-tap options
- Syntax highlighting for Markdown and TeX
- Instant statistics and counters
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TextEdit+ is the text editor your iPhone and iPad were missing. Like TextEdit on the Mac, it opens to a clean page and stays out of your way. Unlike it, it also speaks Markdown and LaTeX, marks up PDFs and puts an AI assistant right inside your document. Jot down a quick TXT, format a rich-text letter, write a README in Markdown or compile a LaTeX paper. One lightweight app, no clutter. ONE EDITOR, EVERY TEXT FORMAT • Create and edit TXT, RTF, RTFD, Markdown and LaTeX files • Open RTF files from macOS TextEdit, WordPad, Word and Scrivener, and keep working on them on your Mac or PC • Open PDFs and mark them up with highlights, notes and text • Work on files right where they live: Files, iCloud Drive or your cloud storage • Organize your documents in folders and subfolders A CLEAN PLACE TO WRITE • Distraction-free editor with Full Screen and Typewriter modes • Keep several documents open in tabs and switch with a tap • Extended keyboard row for cursor moves, selection and the characters you use most • Keyboard shortcuts for hardware keyboards • Read Aloud with your choice of voice and speed • Light and dark appearance, plus custom document colors RICH TEXT WITHOUT THE BLOAT • Fonts, sizes, colors, highlights, bold, italic, underline and strikethrough • Alignment, indents, lists, line and paragraph spacing, superscript and subscript • Insert images, tables and inline equations • Install your own fonts and use them in any document MARKDOWN AND LATEX, DONE PROPERLY • Syntax highlighting for Markdown and TeX • Live Markdown preview: edit, preview or split view side by side • Compile LaTeX right on your device and preview the PDF next to your source • Article, report, book and letter templates, command completion, error diagnostics and a document outline • Multi-file projects with included files and bibliographies AI THAT WORKS IN YOUR DOCUMENT • Turn a prompt into a first draft • Rewrite, shorten, expand, summarize or translate the selected text • Fix grammar, spelling and punctuation, or switch the tone between casual, concise, friendly and professional • Ask the assistant about your own documents and get answers with sources • Prefer to write without AI? Hide every AI feature with one switch TOOLS FOR EDITING • Find and replace across the whole document • Word, character, sentence, paragraph, line and page counts with reading time • Readability scores: Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch–Kincaid Grade, SMOG and Automated Readability Index • Automatic backups, so an edit is never lost • Scan paper documents with the camera EXPORT AND SHARE • Export to PDF, Word (DOCX), RTF, RTFD, Markdown, TXT, TeX and PNG • Print, email or send your work to any app • Send text, links and files to TextEdit+ from other apps with the share sheet • Shortcuts actions to create, open, search and rename documents Built for iPhone, iPad and iPhone Duo, and localized in more than 70 languages. Privacy Policy https://www.noteswriter.com/Kairoos_Privacy_Policy.html Terms of Use https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Nora
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Nora is a bank account for your time. Your balance is minutes. Focusing makes a deposit. Opening a distracting app makes a withdrawal. Run out, and Nora locks those apps until you earn them back. A focus timer with real stakes. Nora requires a subscription (free trial first) or a one-time lifetime unlock. Everything below is included - full pricing under SUBSCRIPTION. HOW IT WORKS 1. Mark the time-wasting apps as Drainers and the good ones as Earners. 2. Lock In to focus. Every minute you focus is deposited into your balance. 3. Open a Drainer and it withdraws from your balance, minute for minute. 4. Reach zero and your Drainers lock. Only focus reopens them. YOUR TIME BANK Your balance stays front and center. Give yourself a daily allowance from 30 minutes to 6 hours, credited each morning. Stay off your Drainers for a Pickup Bonus of up to 60 extra minutes tomorrow. Every deposit and withdrawal lands in a full statement, app by app. LOCK IN Lock In is how you make deposits. Pick a preset - Sprint (15m), Pomodoro (25m), Deep Work (45m), Ultradian (90m) - or set any length. The timer runs even if you close Nora, and your Drainers stay blocked all session. Focus over a calm, moving scene, and add a Boost to multiply what you earn, up to 10x. FOCUS ROOMS Invite up to 7 friends - 8 of you in one live, shared session. Everyone's timer and ghost appear in real time, with hearts to cheer each other on. Leave anytime; the room stays open. TRACK YOUR APPS Choose which apps to track with Apple Screen Time, then label each one. A Drainer withdraws a minute for every minute you use it. An Earner deposits a minute for every minute you spend in it, no cap. THE SHIELD Run low and your Drainers get shielded behind a lock screen. Out of minutes, hold to borrow a few into overdraft and earn them back later. Cap any Drainer's daily minutes, and Late Night Guard blocks every Drainer while you sleep. STATS Net charts by week, month, year, and all time weigh deposits against withdrawals. See your most-drained and most-earned apps, daily pickups, and best focus days. No streaks, no guilt. THE SHOP Your minutes are yours to spend. Unlock over 155 cosmetics: 36 ghost skins, 20 Lock-In scenes, 24 app themes, 56 home-screen icons, and 19 widget backgrounds, from everyday classics to rare collectibles. Boosts cost minutes too - nothing in the Shop costs real money. Redeem codes for secret skins found nowhere else. FRIENDS Add friends with an invite code or your Wallet pass. See who is locked in and how everyone ranks on the daily and weekly leaderboards. Send minutes from your own balance to a friend in need, or gift an exclusive ghost skin - Hearts Nora or Poo Nora, $0.99 each as a one-time in-app purchase. ON EVERY SCREEN A live countdown in the Live Activity and Dynamic Island, home-screen and lock-screen widgets, and an Apple Wallet pass that updates over the air. STAY IN CONTROL Choose the notifications you want. Sign in with Apple keeps your account secure, and cloud backup restores your balance, history, and collection on any new device. SUBSCRIPTION Nora is a paid app with no free tier. Pick one to unlock everything: - Nora Monthly: 3-day free trial, then $3.99/month, auto-renewing. - Nora Yearly: 7-day free trial, then $24.99/year, auto-renewing. Best value. - Nora Lifetime: $59.99 one-time purchase. Yours forever, nothing renews. The only other purchases are the optional $0.99 friend gifts above. Prices in USD; they may vary by region, and your exact price is shown before you buy. Free trials are once per Apple ID. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the current period ends; manage or cancel anytime in Settings. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you buy a subscription. Terms: https://noratime.app/terms Privacy: https://noratime.app/privacy Open your time bank. Start your free trial.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Nora at 16.0 against TextEdit's 26.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. TextEdit sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days and Nora sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
TextEdit ships an update weekly, Nora every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | TextEdit | Nora |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (380 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 17.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 380 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 8 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 461 MB | 45 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kairoos Solutions SL | Kilian Borowsky |
Bugs and requests
TextEdit
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes when opening certain file types
- Formatting issues when copying/pasting text
- Inconsistent behavior across devices
Requested features
3 requests- Allow users to choose iCloud directory
- Offer one-time purchase option instead of subscription
- Restore previous paid versions without AI
Nora
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
TextEdit
- Weekly$1.997 Days
- TextEdit+ Monthly3 Days trial$3.991 Month
- TextEdit+ Annual3 Days trial$14.991 Year
- TextEdit+ Full Unlock$14.99
Nora
- Nora Pro Monthly3 Days trial$3.991 Month
- Nora Pro Yearly7 Days trial$24.991 Year
- Hearts Nora Gift Skin$0.99
- Poo Nora Ghost Skin$0.99
- Nora Pro Lifetime$59.99









