LinHand vs Pencil
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
LinHand
Capture ideas with a fluid writing experience, organize them with outlines, and quickly find information through text search. Share your notes in various formats, including native data for seamless collaboration.
- Fluent writing with various brushes and colors
- Create outlines for easy navigation
- Quick text search within notes
- Export to PDF, PNG, and native format
- Add pictures and text to notes
- iCloud automatic data storage
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With LinHand, you can take notes, share notes, and add pictures and text to them at any time. 【1】Fluent writing Writing with LinHand is as smooth and precise as writing in a real notepad. There are a variety of brushes and colors to choose from. [2] Create an outline Add a directory to the file, easy to find and jump to the page. 【3】Quick search text Perform a global search of text to quickly find key annotations. 【4】Support exporting files in various formats Supports exporting files in PDF, PNG, .LinHand formats. Use .LinHand format files to easily share LinHand native data with other users. LinHand uses iCloud to automatically store data, please turn on iCloud to store data in the phone's system settings. Payment will be charged to your iTunes account upon confirmation of your order. Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Accounts will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You may manage your subscription and turn off auto-renewal by visiting your Account Settings after purchase. Terms of use: https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/530890491 Privacy Policy: https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/141347640
Pencil
Create beautiful notes, sketch ideas, and annotate PDFs with advanced ink tools and AI assistance. Convert handwriting to text, scan documents, and organize files seamlessly across cloud services. Enjoy a realistic ink-on-paper feel with stylus support.
- Advanced ink tools for writing and sketching
- AI Assistant for summarization and translation
- Handwritten notes to editable text conversion
- Document scanning with automatic frame recognition
- Cloud service integration for file management
- Full-text search for PDFs
- PDF reader with highlighting and read aloud
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Pencil brings handwriting, sketching, PDF annotation and watercolor painting to iPad and iPhone. Designed especially for Apple Pencil on iPad, it also works with other compatible styluses and your finger. Take notes in class, mark up a document, plan your week or paint an idea while it is still fresh. • Write and sketch your way. Use Apple Pencil on iPad, or write and draw with a compatible stylus or your finger on iPad and iPhone. Start a PDF note from a paper template, choose your ink colors and add typed text, images and shapes. Use lined or grid backgrounds to give your notes structure. • Make your PDFs useful. Highlight passages, add comments, write in the margins and insert your signature. Search inside a document, bookmark important pages and rearrange, duplicate or rotate pages as your work develops. • Keep the conversation with your notes. Record audio directly in a PDF note and play it back alongside the page. Revisit a lecture, meeting or explanation without separating the recording from your written notes. • Type when words come first. Create formatted Text Notes with fonts, colors, lists, checklists, tables and images. Turn a quick thought into a clear set of notes, a plan or a longer draft, then export it as a PDF to share. • Explore watercolor painting. Open a dedicated painting workspace, choose your paper and experiment with brushes, mixed colors and washes. Paint from a reference photo, try guided practice lessons and export your painting as an image or PDF. • Bring paper into your notebook. Scan documents with the camera, import files through the Files app and add photos to your work. Keep notes, PDFs and paintings organized in folders, ready to return to when you need them. • Get help from AI. Ask questions about your documents, summarize a passage, explain an unfamiliar concept or translate selected text. Use AI Chat to work through an idea alongside your notes. Privacy Policy: https://www.noteswriter.com/Kairoos_Privacy_Policy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Pencil at 4.0 against LinHand's 3.0. LinHand's advantage is review sentiment (50% vs 25%) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 26.0). On price, ratings volume, 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
Both are free to download. LinHand sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per year and Pencil sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Pencil holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 4 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of LinHand's written reviews are positive against 25% of Pencil's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
| Parameter | LinHand | Pencil |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (2 ratings) | 4.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better | 25.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 4 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Every 8 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 465 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 侠光 邢 | Kairoos Solutions SL |
Customer experience
LinHand
Pencil
In-app purchases
LinHand
- Yearly subscription$2.991 Year
- upgrade Pro$4.99
Pencil
- Unlock All and AI Assistant3 Days trial$2.991 Month
- GoodPencil Upgrade$3.99









