Comparison

J vs UrNotes

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

Head to head
About

J

This app helps you organize thoughts, sketch ideas, and manage tasks with a beautiful, intuitive interface. It offers rich text editing, smart organization, and flexible views for a personalized experience. Keep your data private with local storage and no cloud sync.

Highlights
  • Text and drawing notes
  • Rich text editing
  • Smart organization (pinning, color-coding)
  • Trash and recovery system
  • Flexible display views
  • Calendar and map integration
  • Reminders and instant search
Features
Read full description

Notes that stay on your iPhone. Write them, sketch them, lock them behind Face ID, and put them on your Home Screen. No account, no cloud, no ads, no in-app purchases and nothing to subscribe to. WRITE IT, OR DRAW IT Type a note, or sketch one with pen, marker and pencil — Apple Pencil or your finger, with adjustable width and color. Start a drawing over a photo from your library or straight from the camera. Undo and redo sit under the keyboard while you write. Check items off inside the text: a checklist line is part of the note rather than a separate list, and the box responds wherever you tap it. EVERYTHING WHERE YOU LEFT IT • Pin the notes that matter to the top • Color-code them, tag them, and filter by a tag in one tap • Search titles, bodies and tags at once • Compact, standard or detailed rows, remembered between launches • Deleted notes wait 30 days in the trash, and can be opened before you decide • On iPad the list and the note sit side by side, through rotation and Split View alike REMINDERS THAT ARRIVE Set a date and time on any note and it comes back as a notification — as a banner even when the app is already open, and tapping it opens that note rather than the list. If iOS will not schedule it, the app says so instead of losing it quietly. Notes with reminders also line up in a calendar view, by the day they are due. NOTES THAT REMEMBER WHERE THEY WERE A note keeps the place it was written, and the map shows them all — notes made in the same spot share a pin. Useful for a trip, a viewing, a walk around a site, or anywhere the location is half of what you wrote down. LOCKED IS LOCKED • Lock any note behind Face ID or Touch ID • The notes file is unreadable while the device is locked • An unlocked note is covered before iOS takes its app-switcher snapshot • A locked note's reminder reaches the Lock Screen without its title or its text • Search does not look inside a locked note ON YOUR HOME SCREEN AND LOCK SCREEN Small, medium and large Home Screen widgets show your most recent notes, pinned first — and tapping one opens that note, not the list. All three Lock Screen shapes are there too: the newest note as a line, as a title with a line of text, or just how many notes there are. A locked note shows its padlock and nothing else, in every size. Ask Siri to create a note, or put it in a Shortcut. BUILT FOR EVERYONE Every icon-only control is labeled for VoiceOver, and a note's row is announced as one thing rather than as the seven pieces it is drawn from. A checklist line says whether it is checked. Text follows your Dynamic Type size, including the checkbox and the area you tap to check it. The unlock button shows the method your device actually offers. YOURS, AND ONLY YOURS • No ads • No in-app purchases, no subscription • No account, no sign-in, no cloud, no data collected • Works completely offline • Back up and restore everything as a single file • English and Czech • iPhone and iPad Just your notes. Nothing else.

About

UrNotes

Features
Read full description

Ever wanted the need to Lock your notes as a timestamp of your thought? Ever wanted to make a contract with a friend? Ever wanted to send notes in a group on how the day has been. (In future Update) We got it all, in the same app.

Screenshots

J4 screens
UrNotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

J and UrNotes are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

J ships an update fortnightly, UrNotes every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 12, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
J versus UrNotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJUrNotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRobert LibsanskySAHAJ SOTI

In-app purchases

None

J

No in-app purchases

None

UrNotes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is J free?
J is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is UrNotes free?
UrNotes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do J or UrNotes have ads?
Neither J nor UrNotes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, J or UrNotes?
J ships an update fortnightly, and UrNotes every 10 days. Most recently, J was updated on September 18, 2026 and UrNotes on September 12, 2026.

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