FastCalc vs Perenne Note. Digital Notebook
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
FastCalc
This calculator app offers a streamlined experience with large, easy-to-use keys and an innovative gesture-based interface. It displays your ongoing expression and results in real-time, eliminating the need for an equals button. Advanced features include percentage calculations and customizable constants.
- Large, practical keys
- Permanent expression display
- Automatic real-time results
- Gesture-based input
- Customizable constants
- Advanced percentage mode
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FastCalc is a calculator recognized for its efficiency and ease of use. It stands out thanks to: • its large keys, which allow for fast and accurate input, • the permanent display of the expression entered by the user, • the automatic display of the result while typing: no “=” key required! FastCalc is thus suitable both for everyday calculations and for more advanced use. BASICS OF USE The interface of FastCalc is innovative and minimalist, entirely based on simple gestures: • Select a side symbol on a key: slide your finger in its direction. • Delete the last entered elements: make a small swipe to the left on the display. • Clear the entire expression: swipe quickly to the left across the whole display. • Store a result in a memory: tap the result and choose the desired memory. FEATURES • Large, practical, and easy-to-read keys. • Customizable constants. • Advanced mode for percentage calculations. • Permanent display of the current expression and temporary memories. • Automatic storage of the previous result (ANS) each time an expression is cleared. • Integrated help videos and user guide (in ⓘ). SETTINGS • Enable interface sounds and adjust their volume. • Enable advanced mode. • Choose the number of displayed decimals and the thousands separators. • Customize the colors of the keypad and the expression.
Perenne Note. Digital Notebook
A minimalist digital notebook designed for iPad and iPhone, offering a realistic writing and sketching experience with Apple Pencil. Organize notes, sketches, and lists with customizable notebooks and real-time syncing.
- Realistic pen and pencil tools
- Customizable notebooks and paper styles
- iPhone companion app with iCloud sync
- Quick notes with rich text and checklists
- Reminders and calendar integration
- Desk feature for floating elements
- PDF and PNG export options
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People don't dream of better note apps. They dream of mental clarity. Perenne Note is a minimalist note-taking app for iPad and Apple Pencil — now with a free companion app for iPhone. It doesn't try to replace your entire workflow. It's a digital notebook: the kind you'd toss in your bag, open at a café, and fill with notes, sketches, and lists. No infinite canvas. No AI features. No productivity theater. Just paper, a pen, and your ideas. DESIGNED FOR APPLE PENCIL Three tools: a pen for clean handwriting, a pencil that feels like real graphite, a highlighter for emphasis. Powered by Perenne Engine, our custom Metal rendering pipeline built from scratch: real scanned graphite textures, paper grain that reacts to your strokes, tilt and pressure captured in every line, rendered live at full Retina resolution. Adjustable width, opacity and line style, an eyedropper for any color, and a reading mode so your palm never leaves marks. NOTEBOOKS THAT FEEL REAL Custom 3D covers — 10 colors, 5 textures, or your own photo. Blank, ruled, grid or dotted paper, or design your own with the Pattern Editor: rules, grids, planners, calendars. Up to 100 pages per notebook, landscape spreads or portrait scrolling, colored bookmarks. NOW ON YOUR IPHONE Your notebooks, in your pocket. Flip through your pages exactly as you wrote them, search everything, capture ideas on the go. Free, and synced privately through iCloud. QUICK NOTES Ideas don't wait for your iPad. Jot notes with rich text, checklists, tables and photos — on iPhone or iPad. Organize them with folders and tags, assign them to a notebook, then place them on the page when you're back with your Pencil. REMINDERS AND CALENDAR Circle anything with the lasso and set a reminder. The notification arrives with your own handwriting attached — tap it and land exactly on that page. One-time or recurring, with optional events in your Calendar. THE DESK Drag sticky notes, photos, and text boxes off the page onto the desk around your notebook — they stay visible while you work, like a real desk around a physical notebook. Write on stickies, draw on photos, format text freely. Everything moves, scales, and rotates — on the page or on the desk. EXPORT AND SHARE Export any page or full notebook as PDF or PNG — ready for printing, archiving, or sharing. SYNC ACROSS DEVICES Notebooks and notes sync automatically with iCloud between your iPad and iPhone, with a visible sync indicator. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No accounts, no tracking. Your notes stay on your device and sync securely through Apple's private iCloud. MADE FOR YOU Toolbar at the top or bottom, controls on your dominant hand's side, gesture undo and redo. Available in 14 languages. Ready for iOS 27 and iPadOS 27. CREATIVE STATS Track pages filled, strokes drawn, and your daily streak — with an animated Year Wrapped at the end of the year. TRY IT FREE Start with one notebook and 6 pages to explore every feature. Unlock more notebooks with a one-time purchase or go unlimited with a subscription. Perenne Note. Just a notebook. Privacy Policy: https://perenne.app/privacy-policy Terms of Use (EULA): https://perenne.app/terms-of-service
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Perenne Note. Digital Notebook at Free against FastCalc's $1.99. Perenne Note. Digital Notebook also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 5 months) and iOS requirement (17.6 vs 26.0). FastCalc's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 3.8) and review sentiment (80% vs 50%). On ratings volume, 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
Perenne Note. Digital Notebook is free to download; FastCalc costs $1.99 up front. FastCalc sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Perenne Note. Digital Notebook sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
FastCalc holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 5 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of FastCalc's written reviews are positive against 50% of Perenne Note. Digital Notebook's.
FastCalc ships an update every 5 months, Perenne Note. Digital Notebook weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | FastCalc | Perenne Note. Digital Notebook |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (4 ratings) — better | 3.8 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 5 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 48 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Andre Ponzo | Nicholas Compagnoni |
Customer experience
FastCalc
Perenne Note. Digital Notebook
In-app purchases
FastCalc
- Red Rivella$1.99
- Homemade hot chocolate$6.99
- Bircher muesli$12.99
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- Moitié-moitié fondue$34.99
Perenne Note. Digital Notebook
- Monthly$2.991 Month
- Annual$22.991 Year
- Single Notebook$3.99
- Notebook Bundle$8.99
Questions
Is FastCalc free?
Is Perenne Note. Digital Notebook free?
Which has better reviews, FastCalc or Perenne Note. Digital Notebook?
Do FastCalc or Perenne Note. Digital Notebook have ads?
Which is updated more often, FastCalc or Perenne Note. Digital Notebook?
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