BG Home vs SecureSync Notes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BG Home
Control and automate your smart home devices with custom timers, scenes, and delays. Secure your settings with a parental lock and share access with household members. Integrate with voice assistants for hands-free operation.
- Device automation with timers and scenes
- Parental lock for settings
- Household member sharing
- Voice control via Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri
- Geolocation and weather-based automation
- IFTTT integration
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Automate your devices with timers, scenes, delays and random operation, and protect your settings with the parental lock function whilst sharing control with others in your household. The smart home integrations with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, IFTTT and Siri Shortcuts allow you to operate your BG Smart devices using your voice, and set up automated actions based on geolocation, weather and more for a truly smart solution.
SecureSync Notes
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Secure, encrypted notes that sync between iPhone, iPad and Mac. SecureSync Notes is designed for people who want simple cross-platform notes without subscriptions, advertising, analytics or data collection. Your notes are encrypted before syncing through iCloud, while still remaining searchable, shareable and available offline. Features include: - AES-GCM encryption using a 256-bit key securely stored using Apple Keychain - Encrypted note contents, titles, local cache and synced metadata - Automatic encrypted syncing between iPhone, iPad and Mac - Pinned notes that sync between your devices - Sort notes by Creation Date or Date Modified, oldest or newest first - Optional 6-character alphanumeric App Lock - One shared App Lock PIN across your Mac and iOS devices - Automatic locking on iPhone and iPad when appropriate - Mac App Lock without unwanted automatic locking while you are working - Sync Now controls on both macOS and iOS for manually forcing an immediate sync - Clear sync-status information - Search by both note title and note contents - Share notes using the standard Apple share system - Full offline support - Create, edit and delete notes while offline, then sync when you reconnect - Synced note deletions - Light and Dark Mode support - Pinned notes remain at the top while respecting your chosen sort order - macOS keyboard shortcuts including ⌘N for New Note and ⌘S for Save - macOS remembers your preferred window size - Extensive reliability improvements to note creation, selection and CloudKit syncing - Major security and privacy hardening - Zero advertising - Zero analytics - Zero tracking - Zero data collection - Zero in-app purchases - Zero subscription costs PRIVACY BY DESIGN SecureSync Notes does not contain advertising, analytics SDKs, third-party tracking services or hidden telemetry. Notes are encrypted before being stored in CloudKit. Titles and local cached note data are encrypted too, along with synced pinning and App Lock metadata. The app has undergone an extensive privacy and security review to reduce unnecessary logging, permissions and plaintext data storage. SHARED APP LOCK SecureSync Notes can optionally be protected with a 6-character combination of letters and numbers. Your App Lock configuration is synchronised securely so your Mac, iPhone and iPad use the same PIN rather than maintaining separate passwords. CROSS-DEVICE PINNING Pin an important note on your iPhone and it becomes pinned on your Mac too — and vice versa. Pinned notes remain at the top of your list while the rest of your notes follow your chosen sorting order. SYNC WHEN YOU WANT IT SecureSync Notes normally synchronises automatically through iCloud. You can also use Sync Now at any time on Mac, iPhone or iPad to immediately request the latest notes and synchronised state. The app continues to work without an internet connection. Changes made while offline are queued and synchronised when connectivity returns. ONE PURCHASE. NO SUBSCRIPTION. Buy SecureSync Notes once and use it across supported Mac, iPhone and iPad devices through the same App Store purchase. There are no subscriptions, no recurring charges and no paid feature upgrades. Future updates are included. NOTE ABOUT iCLOUD SYNC iCloud synchronisation is not always instantaneous. Changes normally propagate within a few seconds, but network conditions and iCloud itself can occasionally introduce a short delay. If something has not appeared on another device yet, use Sync Now or allow a few seconds for iCloud to propagate the change. Offline creations, edits and deletions will synchronise after the device reconnects to the internet.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: BG Home at Free against SecureSync Notes's $5.00. BG Home also leads on iOS requirement (11.0 vs 18.0). SecureSync Notes's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). On ads, in-app purchases 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
BG Home is free to download; SecureSync Notes costs $5.00 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
BG Home ships an update every 2 months, SecureSync Notes fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BG Home | SecureSync Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $5.00 |
| Rating | 4.7 (7 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 43.2% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 7 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 228 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Luceco plc | THABO ALEJANDRO B GRIFFITHS |
Bugs and requests
BG Home
Reported bugs
4 issues- Inability to change timer settings
- App crashes
- Connectivity issues
- Incompatibility with newer iOS versions
Requested features
5 requests- Sunrise/sunset timer option
- Power metering
- Improved timer functionality
- Matter protocol support
- Modernized GUI
SecureSync Notes
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
BG Home
No in-app purchases
SecureSync Notes
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is BG Home free?
Is SecureSync Notes free?
Do BG Home or SecureSync Notes have ads?
Which is updated more often, BG Home or SecureSync Notes?
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