Comparison

Note Taker HD vs Auto Mute By Location

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

Head to head
About

Note Taker HD

This app allows for versatile handwritten note-taking and PDF annotation on iPad and iPhone. It offers features like zoomed ink, shapes, typed text, and image insertion, with flexible organization and sharing options.

Highlights
  • Zoomed ink for detailed writing
  • PDF annotation capabilities
  • Insert photos and shapes
  • Typed text blocks
  • Organize with folders and tags
  • Export as PDF
Features
Read full description

Zoomed ink, PDF markup, photos, shapes, typed text, folders and tagging, extensive AirPlay control, and much more. The latest upgrade of one of the first note taking apps designed specifically for the Apple iPad and now also available for the Apple iPhone, Note Taker HD has long been known as a powerful and stable application for writing and organizing handwritten notes and diagrams. Note Taker HD can also be used to annotate PDF files. It can shrink your writing so you can easily fit a lot of text on a page. You can read the reduced-size "ink" as if you had written those letters with a very fine pen. It gives you solid functionality and control to produce the pages you need. Documents are flexibly organized by tags, date/time last modified, favorites, and more, with a scrolling list of thumbnail images of part of each page to help you find them later. You can email one or more pages as a single PDF file, "Open In" other apps, or, if your device supports it, print. Note Taker HD lets you create pages by writing on the screen with your finger or an iPad/iPhone-compatible stylus. You can either write directly on the page for large drawings, or have the "ink" you write shrunk down. You can write in large letters on the screen rather than trying to make tiny motions like a pencil. You just keep writing and Note Taker HD automatically adds new writing next to the old. To quickly correct mistakes, it has multi-level undo and redo buttons as well as an eraser -- just drag your finger over the page to erase the "ink" under it. You can zoom in and out on a page using the pinch gesture while viewing or editing. The Zoomed Editing window lets you see both a zoomed-out overview and a zoomed-in close-up writing area at the same time. You can use "Open In" in other apps send PDF files to Note Taker HD for annotation. Other features include: - Pages organized into documents and folders - Typed blocks of text with optional borders - 60+ highly customizable shapes - Insert and crop images from Photo Albums, Pasteboard, or the iPad/iPhone camera - Custom backgrounds from images or PDF pages - Free templates and clip art on the support web site - VGA/HDMI/AirPlay support with zoom, pan, and a moveable pointer - Wrist guard to avoid inadvertent touches - Layout variations better suited to some left-handed users - Optional fields in output footers like in a word processor - Extensive built-in help - Smooth and crisp ink on screen and in PDF output - Share editable copies of your documents with others - Backup to a single file for off-iPad/iPhone storage - Password protected folders - Support for the iOS Data Protection API - Support for languages written right-to-left - Full-screen preview mode - Automatic advance and auto-return in zoomed editing - Copy/Cut/Paste between pages, rotate/resize ink Note Taker HD was designed and programmed by Dan Bricklin, the same person who over 40 years ago came up with VisiCalc, the pioneering electronic spreadsheet that made working with numbers on a personal computer so easy. To see it in action, click on the Support link here or go directly to www.notetakerhd.com.

About

Auto Mute By Location

Automatically silence your phone when you arrive at specific locations like cinemas or libraries. The app intelligently unmutes your device when you leave, ensuring you don't miss important calls. It uses efficient region monitoring with minimal battery impact.

Highlights
  • Automatic muting by location
  • Automatic unmuting by location
  • Customizable location operations
  • Low battery usage
  • Location notifications
  • Enable/disable saved locations
Features
Read full description

AutoMute allows you to automatically mute,un-mute your iPhone,iPad on selected locations. Automatically mute your phone at cinema, at the library and any other locations that you want to silence your phone. Don't forget to un-mute your phone when you leave those locations and miss important calls. AutoMute will automatically un-mute your iPhone,iPad when you leave those locations. Uses minimum battery power. Uses iDevice region monitoring with low battery usage. Important: ********** W-FI should be enabled in order to get accurate location. ********** Instructions: - Click on edit to create new location - Enter location name - Select the location from the map. You can select a location by using your existing contacts or search for a location. - Select the operation when entering the location. The default is to mute the device. You can also set the volume to minimum or maximum. - Select the operation when exiting the location. The default is to un-mute the device. You can also set the volume to minimum or maximum. - Enable Notify if you want to receive a notification on your device when the operation is executed. The default is to enable notification. - Enable/Disable the saved location. When disabled the location is not used. Now to test the exit operation you need to exit the location. To test the enter operation you need to exit the location and enter it. You can also test your Enter operation by using your current location. We are doing our best to deliver great applications. If you encounter a problem or you have a question regarding AutoMute please feel free to contact us at support@novniv.com We will assist you ASAP!

Screenshots

Note Taker HD4 screens
Auto Mute By Location1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Note Taker HD at 84% against Auto Mute By Location's 57%. Note Taker HD also leads on rating (4.0 vs 3.7) and chart position (#187 vs unranked). Auto Mute By Location's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 4 months) and price ($2.99 vs $4.99). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Note Taker HD costs $4.99 and Auto Mute By Location $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Note Taker HD holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 140 and 73 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Note Taker HD's written reviews are positive against 57% of Auto Mute By Location's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Note Taker HD ships an update every 4 months, Auto Mute By Location every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Note Taker HD versus Auto Mute By Location: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNote Taker HDAuto Mute By Location
Price$4.99$2.99 — better
Rating4.0 (140 ratings) — better3.7 (73 ratings)
Positive reviews83.7% of reviews — better57.4% of reviews
Number of ratings140 — better73
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#187 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSoftware GardenNiv Gutherz

Customer experience

Note Taker HD

All ratings140 ratings
Positive73.6%
Neutral7.1%
Negative19.3%
Written reviews595 reviews
Positive83.7%
Neutral6.1%
Negative10.3%

Auto Mute By Location

All ratings73 ratings
Positive63.0%
Neutral13.7%
Negative23.3%
Written reviews68 reviews
Positive57.4%
Neutral8.8%
Negative33.8%

User reviews

Note Taker HD

From 140 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fantastic app, great for engineering and customer communication
  • 👍 Text and sketching on the same page
  • 👍 Typed notes are more legible than handwritten
  • 👍 Typed text remains as editable text objects
  • 👍 Zoom window for precise drawing

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes when exporting PDFs
  • 🐛 Crashes when adding photos
  • 🐛 Crashes and loses data
  • 🐛 Exporting to email not working well
  • 🔍 Interface not very intuitive, steep learning curve

Auto Mute By Location

From 73 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Useful and practical
  • 📍 Mutes phone at specific locations
  • 🚀 Works automatically
  • 💡 Genius idea, should be built-in
  • ✅ Simple and effective

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Fails to unmute
  • 🐛 Stops working
  • 🐛 Unreliable
  • 🔋 Drains battery
  • 🐛 Clunky and disaster

Bugs and requests

Note Taker HD

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes when exporting PDFs
  • Crashes when adding photos
  • Crashes and loses data
  • Exporting to email not working well

Requested features

9 requests
  • Evernote integration
  • Ability to scroll between pages
  • Ability to underline, bold or italicize typed text
  • Ability to group objects together
  • Voice recording and clip function
Show 4 more
  • Dropbox/iCloud sync and backup
  • Ability to convert handwriting to text
  • Folders and sub-folders for better organization
  • Ability to rotate objects

Auto Mute By Location

Reported bugs

30 issues
  • Unable to reset volume back to normal
  • Misses calls, reminders, etc.
  • Does not unmute when leaving location
  • Mutes and unmutes sporadically
  • Cannot select address on map when editing location
Show 25 more
  • Does not unmute
  • Phone rings at work when programmed to automute
  • App requires background app refresh not in list
  • Phone does not ring after leaving muted location, only vibrates
  • App doesn't mute consistently
  • App doesn't turn sound back on
  • Doesn't silence alarms
  • App doesn't work
  • Customer support email does not work
  • Lag when leaving a location before phone switches back to ring
  • Annoying notices appear after update
  • App doesn't work properly
  • App stops working
  • App is broken
  • App is unreliable
  • App drains battery
  • App randomly does not mute
  • App has unreliable edge detection
  • App will not unmute
  • App requires contacts access
  • App doesn't work in low power mode
  • App ignores Vibrate on Silent setting
  • Blank yellow screen
  • App doesn't unmute
  • App doesn't silence alarms

Requested features

8 requests
  • Option to edit names
  • Scheduled days and times option
  • Better looking interface
  • Visual indication of status
  • Option to guarantee/lock current state
Show 3 more
  • Set volume for a specific amount of time
  • Time range option
  • Share location information database

In-app purchases

None

Note Taker HD

No in-app purchases

None

Auto Mute By Location

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Note Taker HD free?
Note Taker HD costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Auto Mute By Location free?
Auto Mute By Location costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Note Taker HD or Auto Mute By Location?
Note Taker HD is rated higher. Note Taker HD averages 4.0 out of 5 from 140 ratings, while Auto Mute By Location averages 3.7 from 73 ratings.
Do Note Taker HD or Auto Mute By Location have ads?
Neither Note Taker HD nor Auto Mute By Location shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Note Taker HD or Auto Mute By Location?
Note Taker HD ships an update every 4 months, and Auto Mute By Location every 2 months. Most recently, Note Taker HD was updated on October 15, 2026 and Auto Mute By Location on October 12, 2026.

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