Handwritten notes vs Note Always
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Handwritten notes
This app allows for quick and smooth handwritten note-taking with simple tools. You can choose from four colors, adjust line thickness, and easily erase or clear your notes. Save your creations as images.
- Smooth multi-finger writing
- Four color options
- Adjustable line thickness
- Erase and clear functions
- Save notes as images
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Handwritten notes appeared in the paid version! I lost my ads. Operation will be smoother than ever before. Handwritten notes is a simple handwritten notes. You can also write with multiple fingers. You can write very smoothly. ********************************************** Feature Very simple! ! You can quickly and notes by hand! * Basic functions **************************** ● color is simple, four black, red, blue and green. (If you press the button "Switch", color selection button will appear.) ● In the slide, the thickness of the line can be adjusted. ● When you press the button "Show", you can erase the line wrote. (Adjustable in thickness delete slides) ● When you press the "CL" button, you can remove the bulk. ● When you press the "Save button", you can save the image.
Note Always
A dedicated notebook app optimized for Apple Pencil, offering a smooth writing experience and intuitive editing tools. Effortlessly organize thoughts, draft ideas, and modify content without switching tools.
- Outstanding writing feel
- Circle, grab, and move content
- Intuitive modification (erase, undo)
- Diagram creation
- Photo editing
- Drag and drop to other apps
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“Write smoothly. Correct intuitively.” Note Always is a dedicated notebook app for Apple Pencil. - Outstanding feel The fastest response. Realistic, smooth renderings of blurring and blotching. Because this app is just for the Apple Pencil, we were able to achieve this outstanding feel. - Circle, grab and move All it takes is enclosing the part you wish to move in a circle and move the hand icon. Color, width, and the size are also adjustable. - Smooth modification Erase with your finger, undo by tapping with two fingers, and “circle and move”. Without switching tools, perform “erase, undo, and modify” intuitively. Draft your thoughts. Sort out and elaborate drafts. In order to support the repeated process of think, write, and re-write, the product is made to pursue the pleasant ease of write and stress-free modification. Perfect for sorting ideas, drafting presentation or manuscript, self-brainstorming. For research, travel journaling, and schedule management. Main Features Stickies Intuitive stickies “writing with a pen and move with your finger” Free sorting is the most suitable for sorting out ideas and thoughts. Diagrammatization Straight line, square and circle can be modified beautifully without losing the handwritten style. Tip of the pen can be pushed in strongly, too. Edit photos Clipping and applying a retrospective filter, Shading gridlines. Casually making it look slightly stylish. Drag & drop Enclose and push with your finger to drop into another app as is! Easy linkage even with a part of a page in a notebook. Other features include zooming, Split View, rearranging pages, exporting to PDF, and saving on the iCloud. Note Always was created specifically for the Apple Pencil. You can use the app without one, but your writing will be much less smooth and responsive. We ask for your understanding.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Handwritten notes at $0.99 against Note Always's $14.99. Handwritten notes also leads on device support (3 vs 1). Note Always's advantage is rating (3.9 vs 1.0) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 39 months). On review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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
Handwritten notes costs $0.99 and Note Always $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Note Always holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Note Always has 27 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 75% of Handwritten notes's written reviews are positive against 68% of Note Always's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Handwritten notes ships an update every 39 months, Note Always every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Handwritten notes | Note Always |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 — better | $14.99 |
| Rating | 1.0 (1 ratings) | 3.9 (27 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better | 68.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 27 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 39 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 36 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kiyoshi Koike | Always Sunny Ltd. |
Customer experience
Handwritten notes
Note Always
In-app purchases
Handwritten notes
No in-app purchases
Note Always
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Handwritten notes free?
Is Note Always free?
Which has better reviews, Handwritten notes or Note Always?
Do Handwritten notes or Note Always have ads?
Which is updated more often, Handwritten notes or Note Always?
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