Mental Note for iPad ๛ vs FileCentral
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mental Note for iPad ๛
This app transforms your iPad into a versatile digital notepad. Seamlessly combine text, drawings, pictures, and voice recordings on a single page. Capture ideas in any format and share them easily.
- Combine text, pictures, audio, and drawings
- Freehand sketching with multiple colors
- Organize notes with tags
- Password protect private notes
- Export notes in PDF, text, and other formats
- Share notes via email and cloud services
Read full descriptionHide full description
"...a true notepad experience that may help you make a clean break from the pencil-and-paper era." -New York Times. Users describe Mental Note as "the only notepad app... that's actually better than, and as simple as, a pen and paper." It's "the future of note taking", and "a big sketchpad... [to] free-associate and put stuff down in any format". Mental Note for iPad brings the future closer with an even bigger sketchpad for you to capture your ideas on. Turn your iPad into a digital notepad. Combine pictures, voice recordings, drawings and text - all on the same page, in any order you choose. An idea... a flash - a moment of genius. When a thought hits, and you have to remember it, why limit how you record it? The more context and sensory details you can capture, the clearer the idea can be put down. Use pictures, audio, sketching and text together on the same page... a digital page that can be shared with anyone. Mental Note allows you to capture ideas as they happen: use pictures, dictate, add text, sketch on anything. Ideas clarified. Creativity captured. FEATURES - Draw with your finger using multiple colours and widths on top of pictures, text, or anywhere else on the page. Zoom in to sketch fine details. - Choose a picture from your album and add it to the page. - Add audio to the page by recording with the built-in microphone. Continue to edit your note while recording. - Organize your notes using tags. - Password protect your private notes and flag your important ones. - Attach Calendar events to your notes. - Undo, redo anything in the note by shaking the device. - Delete note sections using the toolbar button or by swiping any note section. - Move a note section by swiping and then dragging it to its new location. - Length of a note is limited only by device memory. - Export in a variety of formats including PDF, text, Mental Note format, and more. Send using email, iCloud, Dropbox, and more. * Send a note in Mental Note format so the note may be imported into another person's Mental Note app. * Using email, export a complete note directly from Mental Note as either a PDF document or a picture (each audio recording is attached to the email as a separate file). You can also email just the text from your note. - Export your notes and backups to your iCloud and/or Dropbox account. - Share a note with your friends using most installed apps. - Map the location a note was created at (if location services are enabled). - Change the size and font of the text in your notes. - Change the color and background of your notes. - Numerous other configuration options. THIS VERSION IS OPTIMIZED FOR iPad. FOR iPhone, PLEASE SEE Mental Note - the digital notepad. Read more: www.zymbiotic.com X @zymbiotic facebook.com/zymbiotic
FileCentral
Consolidate all your files from various cloud services, apps, and computers into a single, manageable location. Seamlessly transfer documents, photos, and clipboard content between devices wirelessly or via Bluetooth, even without a network connection.
- Unified cloud storage management
- Cross-device file transfer (WiFi/Bluetooth)
- Clipboard and content sharing
- File viewing, printing, and emailing
- Password and Touch ID security
- Text file creation and editing
Read full descriptionHide full description
The ONE Place to Manage Files - Access, Print, Email and Transfer files from Cloud Servers, Other Apps & Devices and your Mac or PC. Transfer your clipboard, images, copied text and files to another iPad, iPhone, Mac or PC with one tap - even without a network. Via WiFi or Bluetooth Manage ALL of your Files in One Place • Combine all of your Cloud Servers together to Transfer Files between them and other devices • iCloud & iCloud Drive, DropBox, Evernote, FTP, Google Drive, OneDrive, ShareFile, SugarSync, WebDAV & More • Share and fetch files from your Mac or PC • Send or fetch files from Other Apps to store centrally • Move files into folders and use the powerful search function to find them again • View, Print, Email and Zip Files • Rename, duplicate and change the file type • Play Video and Audio files • Secure your files with an App Password or Finger Touch ID • Password protect folders • Create and edit text files to store notes and ideas, then share with others, print or copy/paste • Sync your local files with another device via iCloud - seamlessly and automatically Transfer Files and Content to other devices • Add a new printer to your Mac from the available list ("Send to Device @ WePrint") and print any document to your iPhone or iPad as a PDF file • Use the built in Bluetooth or WiFi transfer features to quickly and simply send files to another iPad, iPhone, Mac or PC • Bluetooth transfer is as simple as opening FileCentral - no pairing required • Copy text or an image from a Web Page and send to another device with a single tap • Send a phone number, address, photo or other content quickly to a friend • Copy a web page address and with just one tap, send it to your colleague Share and Transfer your Photos and Image Files • Save your Album Photos as files • Move Image Files to your Photo Album • Move Photos & Image Files to and from your Cloud server, Mac/PC or another iPad/iPhone • Print Photos • Select multiple photos to send via email Add even More Power - Expand to Convert and Edit PDFs and Print to ALL Printers, not just AirPrint
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: FileCentral at Free against Mental Note for iPad ๛'s $4.99. FileCentral also leads on rating (4.8 vs 2.7) and review sentiment (88% vs 52%). On update cadence, ads 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
FileCentral is free to download; Mental Note for iPad ๛ costs $4.99 up front. Mental Note for iPad ๛ sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. FileCentral asks for nothing beyond the download.
FileCentral holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 27 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 52% of Mental Note for iPad ๛'s written reviews are positive against 88% of FileCentral's.
Mental Note for iPad ๛ ships an update every 5 months, FileCentral every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mental Note for iPad ๛ | FileCentral |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 2.7 (6 ratings) | 4.8 (27 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 51.7% of reviews | 87.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 6 | 27 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPad | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 17 MB | 35 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Zymbiotic Technologies | EuroSmartz Ltd |
Customer experience
Mental Note for iPad ๛
FileCentral
In-app purchases
Mental Note for iPad ๛
- Paper Customization feature$2.99
- Straight Line Drawing feature$3.99
- Dark Mode Override feature$3.99
FileCentral
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Mental Note for iPad ๛ free?
Is FileCentral free?
Which has better reviews, Mental Note for iPad ๛ or FileCentral?
Do Mental Note for iPad ๛ or FileCentral have ads?
Which is updated more often, Mental Note for iPad ๛ or FileCentral?
Other comparisons















