Comparison

Growing Guide vs Sidenote

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

Head to head
About

Growing Guide

Features
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The Growing Guide To Herbs is a simple-to-use guide to growing all sorts of herbs. You can learn all sorts of things about herbs such as: - Optimal growing temperatures - Germination depth - Germination times - Plant spacing - Plant maturity time - Plant maturity size - When to harvest ...and most importantly, how to grow them! Growing Guide To Herbs includes the Herbs of: - Dill - Peppermint - Spearmint - Common Mint - Lavender - Rosemary - Catnip - Oregano - Cilantro / Coriander ...and many more! (Even more to come in future updates too!) When the app is downloaded, all information is available offline, so you can use it even without an internet connection! What are you waiting for? Start growing your own herbs now! NOTE: The information in this application does not solely belong to the creator or developer. This information came from credible sources like burpee.com, almanac.com and others, but may not be 100% accurate.

About

Sidenote

Features
Read full description

Some thoughts don't need a folder, a title, or a five-step workflow. They just need to be written down before they disappear. Sidenote is a quiet capture app for the in-between moments - the reminder you think of on a walk, the sentence that arrives in the shower, the idea you don't want to lose before you reach your desk. Open the app, start typing, tap Done. Your thought drops into a simple stream, timestamped and waiting whenever you scroll back. No accounts. No sync. No noise. Everything stays on your iPhone. CAPTURE WITHOUT FRICTION Sidenote opens ready to write. A single prompt, a clean canvas, and nothing else competing for your attention. When you're done, your thought settles into your stream with a subtle, satisfying motion - then the screen is clear again for whatever comes next. Drafts are saved automatically, so if you're interrupted mid-thought, nothing is lost. YOUR THOUGHT STREAM Scroll down to revisit earlier sidenotes, grouped by day with timestamps. Search when you need to find something specific. Edit a note, share it, or remove it with a long press. Export your entire stream as plain text whenever you want a copy outside the app. Removed sidenotes stay on your device for 30 days, so you can restore them if you change your mind. GO LIVE Pin any sidenote to your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island with Go Live. Keep a reminder, a phrase, or an idea in sight for up to eight hours - without opening the app again. Choose a default or clear appearance to match how you want it to look on your Lock Screen. HOME SCREEN WIDGET Add a Sidenote widget to see your latest thought at a glance. Tap it to jump straight back into your stream. MAKE IT YOURS โ€ข Light, Dark, or System appearance โ€ข Font choices: System, New York, Georgia, or Mono โ€ข Adjustable text size across the app, widget, and Live Activity โ€ข Thoughtful haptics and animations (respects Reduce Motion) Sidenote is designed to feel calm, fast, and personal - like jotting something in the margin of your day. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Sidenote keeps your thoughts on this iPhone. There is no account to create, no server to sync to, and no data leaving your device. Your sidenotes belong to you. Built for people who think in fragments, capture in bursts, and want a place that stays out of the way until they need it. Start typing.

Screenshots

Growing Guide4 screens
Sidenote4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Sidenote at none against Growing Guide's shown. Sidenote also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 2 months). Growing Guide's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Growing Guide ships an update every 2 months, Sidenote every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
Growing Guide versus Sidenote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGrowing GuideSidenote
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 8 days โ€” better
AdsYesNo โ€” better
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPod โ€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 โ€” better18.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size21 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKoewen HoffmanAlexander James Walters

In-app purchases

None

Growing Guide

No in-app purchases

None

Sidenote

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Growing Guide free?
Growing Guide is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sidenote free?
Sidenote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Growing Guide or Sidenote have ads?
Growing Guide shows ads; Sidenote does not.
Which is updated more often, Growing Guide or Sidenote?
Growing Guide ships an update every 2 months, and Sidenote every 8 days. Most recently, Growing Guide was updated on October 27, 2026 and Sidenote on October 31, 2026.

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