Simplenote vs EarnTime
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Simplenote
Capture ideas, create to-do lists, and jot down thoughts effortlessly. Organize your notes with tags and pins, and find them instantly with search. Your content syncs across all devices for free, ensuring it's always accessible.
- Simple note-taking experience
- Cross-device syncing
- Collaboration and sharing
- Organization with tags
- Instant search
- To-do list creation
- Passcode lock
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Simplenote is an easy way to take notes, create to-do lists, capture ideas, and more. Open it, jot down some thoughts, and you're done. As your collection grows, stay organized with tags and pins, and find what you need with instant search. Since Simplenote will sync across your devices for free, your notes are with you at all times. - A simple, note taking experience - Sync everything across all your devices - Collaborate and share - Stay organized with tags - Log in with your email or WordPress.com account SYNC WITH CONFIDENCE - Automatically sync seamlessly across any computer, phone or tablet. - Back up and sync everything as you take notes, so you never lose your content. COLLABORATE AND SHARE - Collaborate and work together -- share ideas with a colleague, or write a grocery list with your roommate. - Choose whether to publish your content to the web, and share a link with whoever you want. - Publish directly to a WordPress site by connecting your WordPress.com account. - Quickly and easily share with third-party apps. ORGANIZE AND SEARCH - Stay organized with tags, and use them for quick searching and sorting. - Instantly find what you’re looking for with keyword highlighting. - Use markdown to add formatting. - Create to-do lists. - Choose the sorting order of your notes and tags. - Pin the notes that you use the most. - Edit tags directly by renaming and reordering. - Protect your content with a passcode lock. -- Privacy Policy: https://automattic.com/privacy/ Terms of Service: https://simplenote.com/terms/ California Users Privacy Notice: https://wp.me/Pe4R-d/#california-consumer-privacy-act-ccpa -- Visit simplenote.com to download Simplenote for your other devices.
EarnTime
This app intelligently blocks distracting applications by requiring users to earn screen time through physical activity. It offers workout immunity and allows unused time to roll over, promoting a healthier balance between digital habits and physical well-being.
- Earn screen time through physical activity
- Workout immunity for active sessions
- Intelligent app shielding
- Screen-off audio doesn't count against time
- Rest day grace period and reserves
- Apple Watch and iOS widgets
- 100% on-device privacy
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Tired of doomscrolling? Earn your screen time through real movement. Intelligent app blocking that only counts true visual screen time: free background audio, workout immunity, and rest day reserves—with zero subscriptions and 100% on-device privacy. Most screen time blockers treat you like a child, forcing rigid locks that punish you for listening to music or working out. EarnTime is different. It seamlessly aligns your physical health with your digital habits: close your Apple Watch rings, earn minutes, and spend them without guilt. SMART SCREEN TIME: ONLY REAL USAGE COUNTS • Free Screen-Off Audio: Listening to YouTube, Spotify, or podcasts with your screen locked in your pocket? It won't cost you a single second. We detect display state and only count time when your eyes are actually on the screen. • Workout Immunity: Out for a run, cycling, or lifting at the gym? Monitored apps stay completely unlocked during active Apple Watch workout sessions. Never get locked out of your workout playlist or training log. • Exercise Adds Time: Each synced Exercise ring minute earns one minute of unlocked app allowance. Active movement above your daily baseline earns an extra bonus. • Keep Room for Rest: Real life happens. You start each day with a 30-minute grace period, backed by a 60-minute weekly reserve (up to 120 minutes) for rest days and recovery. • Intelligent Shielding: When your daily allowance and reserve run out, selected distracting apps are gently shielded until you get moving again. A GLANCE ON YOUR WRIST & HOME SCREEN • Apple Watch Companion: Check your live remaining allowance, reserve, and status directly from your wrist. • iOS Widgets: Beautiful Lock Screen and Home Screen widgets keep your balance visible at all times. • History & Marks: Track your weekly progress, celebrate streaks without punitive broken-streak penalties, and collect editorial weekly covers. WHY EARNTIME IS DIFFERENT • No Subscriptions: Free to start with 1 monitored app. Unlock up to 10 apps with a single, tiny $1.99 one-time purchase. Future core updates included forever. • 100% Private & Local: No accounts, no ads, no trackers, and no remote servers. Everything runs strictly on your device via Apple’s native Screen Time and HealthKit APIs. • Guilt-Free Balance: We don't believe in digital starvation. Unused daily time rolls over into your reserve, turning your screen time into a healthy, earned reward. COMPATIBILITY & NOTES Requires an iPhone with iOS 17.4 or later and Apple Watch Exercise ring data in Apple Health. Health read access and individual Screen Time authorization are required. The Apple Watch companion app requires watchOS 10.0 or later. Balance updates after exercise data syncs via HealthKit. Sync and callback frequency are managed by iOS.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: EarnTime at every 2 days against Simplenote's fortnightly. EarnTime also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and review sentiment (100% vs 86%). Simplenote's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and ratings volume (4.3K vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Simplenote sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month and EarnTime sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
EarnTime holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Simplenote has 4.3K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of Simplenote's written reviews are positive against 100% of EarnTime's.
Simplenote ships an update fortnightly, EarnTime every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Simplenote | EarnTime |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (4.3K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 86.2% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4.3K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Automattic | Hangfang Zhang |
Customer experience
Simplenote
EarnTime
Bugs and requests
Simplenote
Reported bugs
3 issues- Notes sometimes disappear or get duplicated
- App crashes or freezes on certain devices
- Syncing problems between mobile and desktop
Requested features
5 requests- Add bold, italic, and other formatting options
- Implement folder-based organization
- Improve syncing reliability across devices
- Allow adding images, files, and other attachments
- Enhance search capabilities for long notes
EarnTime
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Simplenote
- Simplenote Sustainer Monthly$19.991 Month
- Simplenote Sustainer Yearly$199.991 Year
EarnTime
- EarnTime Full$1.99









