Gladys vs SideNotes Mobile
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Gladys
This app acts as a drag-and-drop shelf to temporarily store various types of information, like links, text, and images, from any app. It allows for quick saving without switching contexts and offers features like search, annotation, and iCloud syncing. It also supports collaboration and advanced data manipulation for technical users.
- Drag-and-drop item saving
- Search and Spotlight integration
- Home screen/Today widget access
- Item annotation and tagging
- iCloud syncing
- Collaborative editing
- Hex viewer for technical users
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Gladys is a drag-and-drop shelf that holds things you want to set aside, such as links, text snippets, map locations, contacts, images, photos, emails, messages and much more (even if the application that the information came from is removed) It works with any app that supports drag-and-drop, and helps keep you focused by letting you quickly set something aside, without having to consider where it needs to be dropped, or having to constantly switch between apps. • Works with any app that supports drag-and-drop, but also provides an extension for apps that don't yet support it, as well as the ability to paste items to & from the clipboard. • Quickly search for items inside the app or via Spotlight. Access your top items from the home screen / Today widget, your Apple Watch, and even iMessage. • Annotate items with notes, custom titles, and tag items with labels that allow you to easily categorise, browse, and sort your collection. • Take your collection with you on your iPhone, and keep it updated by turning on automatic iCloud syncing. • Invite friends to keep items from your own collection in their own collections, and, if you give permission, even collaboratively annotate and edit them. • Import/export/merge collection archives simply by dragging. • Ideal for bookmarking between apps: For example you can quickly return to dropped email items by selecting 'Open' in their info view, quickly share links between different browsers, or use Siri shortcuts to copy often-used items to and from your clipboard. • Experienced users can get details on dropped items and extract or modify specific data components (e.g. extract the URL of an image link, instead of the whole item, add a new image, or edit the title). • Technical users can inspect binary data using the in-built hex viewer, download items pointed to by web links, and even archive web pages. • Contains no analytics, ratings prompts, or noise.
SideNotes Mobile
Capture thoughts and to-dos on the go with this mobile note-taking app. It offers iCloud sync, Markdown formatting, and customizable themes for a personalized experience. Easily access notes from other applications.
- iCloud Synchronization
- Markdown Formatting
- Task Management
- Customizable Themes
- Note and Folder URLs
- Note Colors
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SideNotes Mobile is a fast notes app for iPhone and iPad. Capture notes, tasks, links, and snippets in seconds, then access them across devices with iCloud sync. Version 1.2 brings a major upgrade: - A new editor with hidden Markdown markup - the same as in SideNotes for macOS - Refreshed iOS 26-style interface (Liquid Glass look) - Note folding - Note & Folder pinning - Simple drag-and-drop reordering - New contextual menu - New formatting options - Add Note action for the iPhone Action Button - New translations: Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, and Spanish - UI polish, bug fixes, and quality improvements Core features: - iCloud sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac - Themes and note colors for personalization - Tasks and checklists for daily work - Folder organization and quick search - Note and folder URLs for fast access from other apps - Text settings for comfortable writing and reading - One-time purchase (paid per major version). No subscription. Note: SideNotes Mobile is a companion app to SideNotes for macOS. SideNotes for macOS is sold separately.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Gladys at Free against SideNotes Mobile's $9.99. Gladys also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.2) and ratings volume (151 vs 29). SideNotes Mobile's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and chart position (#79 vs unranked). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads and iOS requirement 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
Gladys is free to download; SideNotes Mobile costs $9.99 up front. Gladys sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. SideNotes Mobile asks for nothing beyond the download.
Gladys holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Gladys has 151 ratings behind it against 29, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 84% of Gladys's written reviews are positive against 88% of SideNotes Mobile's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Gladys ships an update every 2 months, SideNotes Mobile monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Gladys | SideNotes Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (151 ratings) — better | 4.2 (29 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 83.5% of reviews | 88.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 151 — better | 29 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #79 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 17 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 22 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Pavlos Tsochantaris | Apptorium |
Customer experience
Gladys
SideNotes Mobile
In-app purchases
Gladys
- Smile Tip$0.99
- Blush Tip$1.99
- Hug Tip$4.99
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- Gasp Tip$9.99
- Scream Tip$19.99
SideNotes Mobile
No in-app purchases









