Comparison

Blink vs Readonly

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Blink

Capture thoughts instantly with this minimalist notepad. It prioritizes speed and simplicity, offering a unique layout to view all your notes at a glance. Ideal for quick ideas, to-dos, and reminders without complex organization.

Highlights
  • Lightning-fast entry
  • Clean minimal design
  • Priority markers
  • Hourly reminders
  • Home screen widget
  • Voice dictation
Features
Read full description

+ App Store Today's App Featured + The fastest way to capture your thoughts. One tap, and it's saved. Blink is designed for speed. No folders, no categories, no complicated setup. Just open, type, and done. Your ideas deserve to be captured before they disappear. WHY BLINK? Unlike traditional note apps with endless lists and folders, Blink shows all your notes at a glance in a unique non-listing layout. Find what you need instantly without scrolling through pages. CAPTURE ANYTHING Grocery lists on your way home Quick to-dos that can't wait Brilliant ideas that pop into your head Phone numbers and addresses Meeting notes and reminders KEY FEATURES Lightning-Fast Entry — Open the app and start typing immediately Clean Minimal Design — No clutter, no distractions Priority Markers — Tap to highlight important notes in red Hourly Reminders — Red-marked notes remind you every hour until done Home Screen Widget — Check your notes without opening the app Voice Dictation — Speak your thoughts hands-free SIMPLE BY DESIGN Blink intentionally keeps things minimal. No tags, no notebooks, no learning curve. If you want a powerful note-taking suite, this isn't it. But if you want the fastest way to jot down a thought before it slips away, Blink is exactly what you need. Perfect for quick thinkers, busy professionals, and anyone who values simplicity over complexity.

About

Readonly

Save articles from other apps to read later in a comfortable, distraction-free environment. Organize your saved content with tags, highlight key passages, and add notes for deeper comprehension. Customize the reading experience with various themes and layout adjustments.

Highlights
  • Quickly save articles from other apps
  • Highlight text and add notes
  • Organize articles with tags
  • Customize reading themes and layout
  • Synchronize data via iCloud
  • Export articles in Markdown format
Read full description

"Readonly" is a simple and easy to use read later app. There are not too many complicated features, just to give you a comfortable place to read your saved articles. Featured Functions - Highlight & Notes While reading, use different colors to highlight text, mark key points for easy review later. You can also add notes to the highlights, recording your thoughts and insights, making each reading session more rewarding. - Theme Switching We have carefully prepared some themes suitable for reading, choose your favorite from it, relax your eyes and focus on reading. - iCloud Synchronization Data synchronization to the cloud, no longer worry about data loss. - Tag Management Tag articles, categorize and manage them, keep everything in order. - Layout Adjustment Select fonts, adjust spacing, you can finely control the layout of the article to make reading more comfortable. - Quick Save Quickly save articles in other apps through sharing operations. - Export Articles Export your saved articles in Markdown format. —————————— Contact Us: brkchen@icloud.com

Screenshots

Blink4 screens
Readonly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Readonly at Free against Blink's $2.99. Readonly also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 74%). Blink's advantage is ratings volume (168 vs 15) and iOS requirement (13 vs 16.0). On rating, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Readonly is free to download; Blink costs $2.99 up front. Blink sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Readonly sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for Blink against 4.4 for Readonly. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Blink has 168 ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 74% of Blink's written reviews are positive against 100% of Readonly's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and August 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Blink versus Readonly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBlinkReadonly
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.3 (168 ratings)4.4 (15 ratings) — better
Positive reviews74.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings168 — better15
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPod, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS13 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size22 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEUIHYUNG JUNG龙 陈

Customer experience

Blink

All ratings168 ratings
Positive82.7%
Neutral6.0%
Negative11.3%
Written reviews388 reviews
Positive74.0%
Neutral11.6%
Negative14.4%

Readonly

All ratings15 ratings
Positive86.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative13.3%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Blink

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Dictation not working on some devices
  • Purchased features not persisting
  • Crashing when using backup/restore
  • Widget displaying text incorrectly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add dark mode or customizable colors
  • Implement iCloud or cross-device sync
  • Allow rearranging and reordering of items
  • Add support for iPad and Apple Watch
  • Improve notification scheduling and controls

Readonly

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Blink

One-time1
  • PagesFree
2 purchases

Readonly

One-time2
  • Permanent Purchase(iOS)$2.99
  • 永久购买(macOS)$2.99

Questions

Is Blink free?
Blink costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Readonly free?
Readonly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Blink or Readonly?
Readonly is rated higher. Blink averages 4.3 out of 5 from 168 ratings, while Readonly averages 4.4 from 15 ratings.
Do Blink or Readonly have ads?
Neither Blink nor Readonly shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Blink or Readonly?
Blink ships an update every 3 weeks, and Readonly every 3 weeks. Most recently, Blink was updated on September 24, 2026 and Readonly on August 30, 2026.

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