Comparison

Sticky Notes vs Simple Widget Note

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

Head to head
About

Sticky Notes

Pin notes and to-do lists directly to your Home and Lock Screens for quick access. Organize tasks, customize backgrounds with colors or photos, and choose from various fonts. Ideal for reminders, class notes, and visualizing goals.

Highlights
  • Pin notes to Home and Lock Screens
  • Organize tasks by category
  • Customize backgrounds with photos
  • Cute font options
  • Character count display
  • Undo/Redo functionality
Features
Read full description

Sticky Notes is a notepad app you can use just like sticky notes. Pin your memos to the Home Screen so you can see them anytime and edit with a single tap. Now with checklists, bullet lists, numbered lists, and headings — organize shopping lists, to-do lists, tasks, and schedules all in one app. We hope you'll give it a try. ■ App highlights - Pin memos to your Home Screen or Lock Screen for instant access anytime - Show a note on the Lock Screen without placing a widget - Manage shopping and packing lists with checklists — tick items right from the widget - Sort memos by purpose to manage to-dos for work or school - Customize the background with colors or photos to make a notepad that's truly yours - Choose cute fonts and freely adjust the text size ■ Organize with lists and headings Keep shopping lists, to-do lists, and packing lists as checklists. Checked items get a strikethrough, so you can see what's left at a glance. - Checklists — tap to tick off, right from your Home Screen widget - Bullet and dash lists — line up tasks and things to buy - Numbered lists — for steps, recipes, anything where order matters - Headings — use Title, Heading, and Subheading to break up longer notes - Everything looks the same on iPhone, iPad, widgets, and Apple Watch ■ Powerful customization - Background of your choice (color, pattern, or photo) - Switch fonts (handwriting-style and cute fonts available) - Adjust text size, line height, and letter spacing - Change text color - Set your own photo as the background ■ Suggested uses - Keep your schedule, to-dos, and tasks in plain sight on the Home Screen - Build a shopping list as a checklist and tick items off at the store - Pack for a trip with a checklist you tick as you go - Lay out steps or recipes as a numbered list - Break long notes into sections with headings ■ Handy memo features - Character count helps you gauge length for social posts or assists with writing - Undo or redo your latest input with a single tap - Copy the memo's contents with one tap - Share memos to other apps or run various actions from the share sheet ■ Show a Note Large on Your Lock Screen Notes you only need to check for a while — like a shopping list or a packing list — are handy to show on the Lock Screen. Just glance at the screen; there’s no need to unlock. Unlike a widget, you don’t have to set aside space in advance. Show the note from the menu when you need it, and end it once you’re done. - Switch by situation: a shopping list while you shop, a packing list while you travel - You can show several notes at the same time - When you edit the note, the Lock Screen updates too - For notes you want to keep visible all the time, a Lock Screen widget is a better fit ■ Fully optimized for iPad - The note screen is optimized for the iPad's larger display - Full support for window resizing. Side by side with another app or scaled down, the layout adapts to the width automatically - Works with Split View, Slide Over, Stage Manager, and windowed apps - Use the whole screen in portrait or landscape - Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets work on iPad too - Keep a note open next to whatever you're reading or looking up ■ Widget types - Memo widget - Memo list widget - Lock Screen-only widget - Apple Watch widget ■ Get more with Premium Upgrade to Premium to keep the simple feel and unlock even handier extras. Benefit 1. All ads removed Benefit 2. Set your own photos as memo backgrounds (use wallpapers from your favorite anime or manga, family photos, anything you love) Benefit 3. The memo list widget becomes available *The one-time Pro plan supports Family Sharing, so when one family member buys it, everyone in the family can use Premium features. ■ Subscription Please review the following for subscription terms: - Privacy Policy: https://rands-app.com/privacy-policy-en/ - Terms of Use: https://rands-app.com/terms-en/

About

Simple Widget Note

Features
Read full description

With Simple Widget Note you can display notes on your Home Screen or our Lock Screen, even in the Lock Screen title bar. Just add the appropriate widget to your Home Screen or Lock Screen, tap on it, enter your note and press submit. You can export the contents of your widget not to other Apps with the ShareLink control. Shortcuts integration: You can append a text to your Widget Note with the Shortcuts App.

Screenshots

Sticky Notes4 screens
Simple Widget Note3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Simple Widget Note at none against Sticky Notes's 7. Simple Widget Note also leads on ads (none vs shown). Sticky Notes's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months). On price, device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Sticky Notes sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Simple Widget Note asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sticky Notes ships an update weekly, Simple Widget Note every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Sticky Notes versus Simple Widget Note: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSticky NotesSimple Widget Note
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (501 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews60.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings501 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size221 MB0 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShota YamashitaJENS-HILMAR WALTER BRADT

Bugs and requests

Sticky Notes

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Newly created notes not showing up on home screen
  • Duplicated notes with same content
  • Inability to change default font and background settings
  • Disappearing notes after app updates

Requested features

5 requests
  • Allow text formatting (bold, italic, underline)
  • Add checklist/to-do list functionality
  • Implement iCloud sync and cross-device support
  • Provide option to remove app branding from widget
  • Add ability to set reminders/alarms for notes

Simple Widget Note

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Sticky Notes

Subscriptions3
  • Ad Hiding$1.991 Month
  • Monthly Plan$2.491 Month
  • Yearly Plan$12.991 Year
One-time4
  • Tip$1.00
  • Generous Tip$5.00
  • Greatest Tip$10.00
Show 1 more
  • Lifetime Plan$19.99
None

Simple Widget Note

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sticky Notes free?
Sticky Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Simple Widget Note free?
Simple Widget Note is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Sticky Notes or Simple Widget Note have ads?
Sticky Notes shows ads; Simple Widget Note does not.
Which is updated more often, Sticky Notes or Simple Widget Note?
Sticky Notes ships an update weekly, and Simple Widget Note every 3 months. Most recently, Sticky Notes was updated on September 28, 2026 and Simple Widget Note on September 30, 2026.

Other comparisons