Basic Journal vs Notes Basic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Basic Journal
A fast and simple journal app designed for busy individuals to quickly jot down notes on daily activities. It offers an elegant, chronological display of entries with easy editing and export options.
- Quick note-taking
- Chronological note display
- Summary and detail views
- Edit and delete notes easily
- Recently edited notes highlighted
- iCloud syncing
- Text export option
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Waste less time fiddling with your phone, and spend more time learning, working, or training! If you are an active or busy person, you need to take notes quickly, easily, on whatever device you have with you. This app is a fast and simple journal/diary for your daily activities. This app is ideal for fitness enthusiasts, gym users, dancers who need to make notes on choreography, or anyone who needs fast and simple note-taking. Why this app? Other note-taking apps are complicated and difficult to navigate, and your notes are quickly buried. They are just not practical for quickly noting down or recalling corrections and notes during a class, lecture or workshop. This app keeps all your notes on display in a large, friendly format, in chronological order. • Elegant and simple layout of notes by date. • Summary view for a quick overview. • Detail view to browse all notes at once. • Edit or delete notes quickly from any screen. • Recently edited notes are highlighted. Data storage: • Your notes are synced across all your iOS devices. It doesn't matter if you delete the app or lose your device; your notes are stored with Apple's iCloud (subject to iCloud availability, and it being enabled on your device). • Text export option: you can get all your notes out of the software any time you want, to keep your own backups, share, or use elsewhere. NOTES Accidents happen, so it is recommended that you make regular backups with the export function. You are responsible for maintaining your own backups in case of data loss. It may take a while to sync your existing notes when you first install the app on an extra device: be patient! Make sure iCloud is enabled on your device to use the syncing feature.
Notes Basic
This app allows users to create, edit, and organize plain text notes. It features a simple interface for managing your notes, with options to pin important entries to the top of the list and delete unwanted ones. Changes are automatically saved when you confirm.
- Create and edit plain text notes
- Organize notes in a list
- Pin important notes to the top
- Swipe to delete notes
- Automatic saving of changes
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■ "Note List" Screen The screen displays a list of saved notes. When you edit a note, it will automatically appear at the top of the list. ■ Add a note 1. Tap the button at the bottom right of the "Note List" screen. 2. After editing on the "Add a New Note" screen, tap the button at the bottom right to save. *If you go back with a swipe, changes will not be saved. ■ Edit a note 1. Tap the note you want to edit on the "Note List" screen. 2. After making changes on the "Edit the Note" screen, tap the button at the bottom right to save the changes. *If you go back with a swipe, changes will not be saved. ■ Pin/unpin a note When you pin a note, it will remain at the top of the "Note List" screen. Pinned notes will show a pushpin icon. 1. On the "Note List" screen, swipe to the right on the note you want to pin. 2. An orange pin icon button will appear, so tap it. * To unpin a note, perform the same action. ■ Delete a note 1. On the "Note List" screen, swipe to the left on the note you want to delete. 2. A red trash can icon button will appear, so tap it. 3. A confirmation message will appear, so tap "Delete Note." * Deleted notes cannot be restored.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Basic Journal at 3.3 against Notes Basic's 2.0. Basic Journal also leads on review sentiment (40% vs 0%) and ratings volume (4 vs 1). Notes Basic's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (weekly vs every 2 weeks). On price, ads and device support 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. Basic Journal sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Notes Basic asks for nothing beyond the download.
Basic Journal holds the better App Store score, 3.3 against 2.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 40% of Basic Journal's written reviews are positive against 0% of Notes Basic's.
Basic Journal ships an update every 2 weeks, Notes Basic weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Basic Journal | Notes Basic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.3 (4 ratings) — better | 2.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 40.0% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Ad-supported — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | James Hudson | Yudai Abe |
Customer experience
Basic Journal
Notes Basic
In-app purchases
Basic Journal
- Remove Ads$0.99
Notes Basic
No in-app purchases








