Notability vs Phone Slides
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Notability
Capture, organize, and enhance your ideas with handwritten notes, document annotation, and audio recording. This app streamlines learning and work by making your notes searchable, shareable, and interactive.
- Handwritten notes and sketching
- PDF and document annotation
- Audio recording synced to notes
- Handwriting recognition
- AI-powered summaries and takeaways
- Customizable organization with folders
- Cross-device sync
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From your first lecture to your next big meeting, Notability helps you think, learn, and work better. Take handwritten notes, annotate documents, record audio, and stay organized in one place so your ideas are always clear, searchable, and ready when you need them. NEW: NOTABILITY CLASSIC IS BACK Prefer to pay one time for Notability? Our Classic plan is a one-time purchase with no subscription required. FREE DIGITAL NOTES FOR WORK & SCHOOL • Write, type, or sketch with digital ink, highlighters, and text tools. • Mark up anything: PDFs, textbooks, lecture slides, images, and more. • Combine handwriting, typed text, images, diagrams, and sketches on the same page. • Stay organized with customizable folders and subjects that grow with you. FOR PROFESSIONALS: WORK SMARTER AND SAVE TIME • Mark up documents, capture meetings, organize ideas, and present with confidence. • Import and handwrite on any document: PDFs, DOCs, presentations, reports, and more. • Fill out forms in the office or on a job site. • Combine handwriting, text, photos and documents in one place. • Record calls and meetings to transcribe voice in real-time. Audio is synced to your notes so nothing is missed. • Receive automated meeting notes, takeaways, and summaries. • Search handwriting, transcripts, text, and PDFs to quickly revisit decisions and action items. • Present notes, documents, and ideas in full screen, with a laser pointer to guide attention. • View and edit two notes side-by-side to stay focused and productive. • Share a PDF of your note in one tap. FOR STUDENTS: STUDY SMARTER AND ACE EXAMS • Take handwritten notes digitally or annotate lecture slides or your textbooks. • Record lectures and get instant audio transcripts and real-time summaries in your notes. • Audio recordings are synced to the exact moment you write in a note — perfect for lectures. • Import lecture slides, textbook PDFs, and assignments into organized folders and subjects. • Search across handwriting, typed notes, and transcripts to instantly find content from classes. • Study content from your note with personalized quizzes and flashcards to practice with active recall. • Chat with your notes to review concepts, clarify ideas, and prepare for exams. WORK YOUR WAY • Seamlessly switch between handwriting and typing. • Import files instantly and keep everything connected. • Share notes easily to collaborate or get feedback when needed. • Access your notes across iPad, iPhone, Mac, and the web. • Create beautiful notes using templates from the Notability Gallery. UPGRADE TO A NOTABILITY SUBSCRIPTION Notability is free to use. With an upgraded subscription, you can receive: • Unlimited note-taking • AI-powered productivity and study tools • Handwriting recognition and math conversion • Live Audio transcripts • Auto-backup and iCloud sync Download for free on iPad, iPhone, Mac, and web. Privacy Policy: notability.com/privacy Terms of Service: notability.com/terms
Phone Slides
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Phone Slides lets you control live presentations from your phone and display them on any screen through a web browser. No cables, no dongles, no laptop at the podium. BUILD YOUR PRESENTATION Add scripture verses, text slides, images, audio, video, PDFs, Google Slides, and PowerPoint files — all from your phone WHY PHONESLIDES? No laptop required Present entirely from your phone with no restrictions Simple link sharing Open your presentation on any screen using a browser Built for real environments Designed for churches, classrooms and live speaking All in one Create and present without switching tools Focused and distraction free No clutter, just what you need PRESENT LIVE Start a session and share a short link. Open it on a projector, TV, or any browser — that's your display. Tap items on your phone and they appear on screen instantly. SCRIPTURE LOOKUP Browse and display Bible verses in multiple versions including KJV and NIV. Search by book, chapter, and verse. PRIVATE SPEAKER NOTES Add notes only you can see. They never appear on the display — perfect for sermon outlines, talking points, and reminders. CUSTOM THEMES Choose from dark or light themes, background colors, animated gradients, custom background images, and multiple font sizes to match your setting. WORKS EVERYWHERE Your audience doesn't need to install anything. The display runs in any modern web browser — laptops, tablets, smart TVs, phones, or projectors with a connected computer. Now you can add photos to your designed slides and arrange them with image-left, image-right, image-top, or full-screen layouts. Start fast with new image-ready templates, and present to any screen knowing the big display matches your phone preview exactly. BUILT FOR • Churches & ministries — scripture, sermon points, and worship content • Business meetings — pitch decks, team briefings, and quarterly reviews • Classrooms — lectures, research presentations, and discussion prompts • Events & conferences — keynotes, schedules, and speaker slides Phone Slides requires a subscription for full access.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Notability at Free against Phone Slides's $5.99. Notability also leads on chart position (#102 vs unranked). Phone Slides's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.0). On update cadence, 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
Notability is free to download; Phone Slides costs $5.99 up front. Notability sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Phone Slides sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $6.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Notability ships an update weekly, Phone Slides fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 15, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Notability | Phone Slides |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $5.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (459K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 36.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 459K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Best chart rank | #102 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 457 MB | 69 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ginger Labs | Zit Technology Services Limited |
Bugs and requests
Notability
Reported bugs
4 issues- Notes disappearing or getting corrupted
- Frequent crashes and performance issues
- Palm rejection problems after updates
- Inconsistent behavior when importing files
Requested features
5 requests- Improved folder/hierarchy organization
- More shape recognition and drawing tools
- Side-by-side viewing of multiple notes
- Ability to edit/rename audio recordings
- Better integration with other apps and services
Phone Slides
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Notability
- Notability Lite$5.991 Month
- Notability Plus$7.991 Month
- Notability Plus$12.993 Months
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- Notability Lite$14.991 Year
- Notability Plus1 Year trial2 variants$19.991 Year
- Notability Plus7 Days trial$19.991 Year
- Notability Plus$19.991 Year
- Notability Pro$19.991 Month
- Notability Pro3 Days trial$99.991 Year
Phone Slides
- One year subscription$6.991 Year









