Simple Notes vs Notebooks
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Simple Notes
This app offers a clean and efficient way to organize your thoughts and ideas. Easily add images, organize notes into colored folders, and secure your entries with a passcode. Customize the look with various themes and fonts, and back up your data to iCloud.
- Add photos to notes
- Organize with colored folders
- Calendar view for notes
- Passcode and biometric lock
- Customizable themes and fonts
- iCloud backup and sync
- Smart search with tags
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Simple Notes is an easy-to-use notes app that leaves out the extras, so writing, organizing, and finding notes stay simple. Notes go into color-coded folders, and you can find them using the calendar or photo album. No account or setup is required, and the app works offline. Core features are free. Keep everything in one place, from class notes and work memos to a diary or baby journal. [Features] ■ Add Photos to Notes - Attach images to any note - Insert pictures from your photo library, or take a photo on the spot ■ Folder Organization - Create folders to keep your notes organized - Choose from 24 folder colors to tell categories apart at a glance ■ Calendar View - View notes by date using the built-in calendar - Tap any date to see notes for that date — perfect for locating past entries ■ Photo Album - Browse all images added to notes in one place - Tap a photo to jump to its note ■ Home Screen & Lock Screen Widgets - Keep a note on your Home Screen like a sticky note — no need to open the app - Lock Screen widgets let you see a note without unlocking your iPhone - Choose which note to display and its text size *Widgets are part of the Premium Service* ■ Sort Notes & Bullet Lists - Sort by note date, date edited, date created, or title, ascending or descending - Bullet lists make it easy to write shopping and packing lists ■ Passcode Lock - Protect your notes with a passcode - Supports Face ID and Touch ID for quick and secure access ■ Font Styles - Choose from 12 font styles - Choose a playful, elegant, or professional look for your notes ■ Themes and App Icons - Pick from 23 theme colors and matching app icons - Customize the look of the app and even the Home Screen icon ■ Full-Note Image & PDF - Turn an entire note, even a long one with photos, into a single image to share - Export notes as PDFs for work or school ■ Data Backup & Export - Back up your notes to iCloud or export them to your computer - Hand exported notes to AI apps for summaries, or save them to Notion or Google Drive - Export formats: HTML (for Windows), RTFD (for Mac, keeps images), PDF, and TXT *Data export and iCloud backup are part of the Premium Service; notes are also included in your iPhone’s device backup* ■ iCloud Sync - Use iCloud to sync notes across your iPhone and iPad (Premium Service) - Restore your notes on a new device if yours is lost or broken ■ Smart Search - Use the built-in search to quickly find notes - Add text tags like “#Important” to make key notes easier to locate ■ Character Count - Check the character count as you write reports, essays, or fiction - Each note can hold up to 100,000 characters ■ Text Display Settings - Adjust text size, contrast, and line spacing - Ideal if you prefer larger text or need better readability - Dark Mode is supported for nighttime use ■ Remove Ads - The Premium Service hides all ads - Enjoy a clean, distraction-free screen for your notes [Great For] - Students: class and lecture notes with photos, one folder per course — export notes as PDF or text and hand them to AI apps for exam prep - Parents: a baby journal with photos, growth records, and family memos in folders - Work: meeting notes, ideas, and memos in one place — tap the mic on the iOS keyboard to dictate notes, handy for transcripts and meeting minutes - Writers: novels, blog drafts, and reports — live character count and PDF sharing [Good to Know] - Works on iPhone and iPad (iOS/iPadOS 14 or later) - Works offline — create and view notes even in Airplane Mode - No handwriting or audio recording — the focus is simple text-and-photo notes [Help & Contact] - For help, go to “Help / FAQ” in the app settings - If you still have questions, tap “Contact Us” on the help screen - For faster support, contact us through the app rather than leaving an App Store review 【Terms of Service】 https://komorebi-studio.com/tos_en.html 【Privacy Policy】 https://komorebi-studio.com/policyredirect.html
Notebooks
Organize your thoughts and ideas with a digital notebook. Create multiple notebooks, customize covers, and protect them with passwords. Easily search, attach images, and convert notes to PDF.
- Multiple customizable notebooks
- Password protection
- Page titles and bookmarking
- Freehand drawing
- Image attachments
- PDF conversion
- Google Drive backup
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Take notes and even attach your free hand drawing, everything in style and completely without papers! Create multiple notebooks for every subject and avoid messing up your notes. Notebooks is the only application you will ever need for all your note making needs. Designed with flexibility and ease of use in mind, taking notes is now at it simplest with our application. With multiple colors and custom title for each notebook cover, you will enjoy creating a notebook for every subject you want. Notebooks is a must have application for students, business men and for anyone using their phones and tablets for taking notes. Features: 1. Create multiple notebooks. 2. Customizable cover, title, number of pages for every notebook. 3. Password protected. 4. Set a title for every page. 5. Instant search within each notebook. 6. Attach image files. 7. Bookmark a page. 8. Create your own free hand drawing. 9. Easily find your entries. 10. Set theme for each notebook. 11. Convert the entire Notebook to PDF with attachments. (Currently supports English only) 12. Backup/Restore. (***Option available in the menu of the Notebooks screen. Some devices will not have the hardware menu button on the device, in that case 'long press' the 'All Apps' button to get the menu on the app***) 13. Backup to Google Drive FAQs: http://www.droidveda.com/faq/faq_notebooks.html How to use? 1. Use '+' mark in the home screen to create new books. 2. Long tap on any book to edit/delete the book. 3. Use 'Password' option to set/reset the password. 4. On the Page tap on Page Header to set the Title for the page. 5. Make use of different editing options provided at the bottom of the page.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Simple Notes at 88% against Notebooks's 15%. Simple Notes also leads on rating (4.7 vs 1.6) and ratings volume (790 vs 10). Notebooks's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3). 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. Simple Notes sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Notebooks asks for nothing beyond the download.
Simple Notes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 1.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Simple Notes has 790 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 88% of Simple Notes's written reviews are positive against 15% of Notebooks's.
| Parameter | Simple Notes | Notebooks |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (790 ratings) — better | 1.6 (10 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 87.5% of reviews — better | 15.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 790 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | — |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Ad-supported — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 206 MB | 46 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Komorebi Inc. | Droid-Veda LLP |
Customer experience
Simple Notes
Notebooks
Bugs and requests
Simple Notes
Reported bugs
2 issues- No local PC backup and restore feature
- UI looks outdated and childish
Requested features
4 requests- Add ability to pin notes at the top of a folder
- Implement iCloud sync between devices
- Introduce more text formatting options (bold, italics, underline, etc.)
- Allow changing folder colors
Notebooks
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Simple Notes
- Premium (Monthly)$4.991 Month
- Premium (Annual)7 Days trial$14.991 Year
- Premium Service$39.99
Notebooks
No in-app purchases









