n+otes vs Basic Journal
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
n+otes
Capture thoughts and ideas instantly with a simple interface. Secure your notes with a private lock feature. Optional subscription removes ads and supports development.
- Quick note-taking
- Private note lock
- Ad-free experience (subscription)
- Easy to use interface
Read full descriptionHide full description
Great for those quick notes! Just tap the + button and start typing! Subscribe for the Ad-free Experience: To support further development and maintenance of the app, we have a small subscription so you can use the app without advertising: A monthly, 3-monthly or yearly purchase will be applied to your iTunes account on confirmation. Subscriptions will automatically renew unless canceled within 24-hours before the end of the current period. You can cancel anytime with your iTunes account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered will be forfeited if you cancel a subscription. Terms: http://rieu.co.nz/terms.html Privacy Policy: http://rieu.co.nz/privacy.html
Basic Journal
A fast and simple journal app designed for busy individuals to quickly jot down notes on daily activities. It offers an elegant, chronological display of entries with easy editing and export options.
- Quick note-taking
- Chronological note display
- Summary and detail views
- Edit and delete notes easily
- Recently edited notes highlighted
- iCloud syncing
- Text export option
Read full descriptionHide full description
Waste less time fiddling with your phone, and spend more time learning, working, or training! If you are an active or busy person, you need to take notes quickly, easily, on whatever device you have with you. This app is a fast and simple journal/diary for your daily activities. This app is ideal for fitness enthusiasts, gym users, dancers who need to make notes on choreography, or anyone who needs fast and simple note-taking. Why this app? Other note-taking apps are complicated and difficult to navigate, and your notes are quickly buried. They are just not practical for quickly noting down or recalling corrections and notes during a class, lecture or workshop. This app keeps all your notes on display in a large, friendly format, in chronological order. • Elegant and simple layout of notes by date. • Summary view for a quick overview. • Detail view to browse all notes at once. • Edit or delete notes quickly from any screen. • Recently edited notes are highlighted. Data storage: • Your notes are synced across all your iOS devices. It doesn't matter if you delete the app or lose your device; your notes are stored with Apple's iCloud (subject to iCloud availability, and it being enabled on your device). • Text export option: you can get all your notes out of the software any time you want, to keep your own backups, share, or use elsewhere. NOTES Accidents happen, so it is recommended that you make regular backups with the export function. You are responsible for maintaining your own backups in case of data loss. It may take a while to sync your existing notes when you first install the app on an extra device: be patient! Make sure iCloud is enabled on your device to use the syncing feature.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: n+otes at 4.7 against Basic Journal's 3.3. n+otes also leads on ratings volume (45K vs 4) and review sentiment (64% vs 40%). Basic Journal's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 13.0). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. n+otes sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.49 per month and Basic Journal sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
n+otes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: n+otes has 45K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of n+otes's written reviews are positive against 40% of Basic Journal's.
n+otes ships an update fortnightly, Basic Journal every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | n+otes | Basic Journal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (45K ratings) — better | 3.3 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 64.2% of reviews — better | 40.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 45K — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | RIEU Limited | James Hudson |
Customer experience
n+otes
Basic Journal
Bugs and requests
n+otes
Reported bugs
4 issues- Notes disappearing or getting lost
- Inability to delete notes on Apple Watch
- Scrolling issues and text freezing at the bottom
- Inconsistent behavior after updates
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to sync notes across devices
- More font and formatting options
- Folder or category organization
- Voice-to-text functionality
- Ability to insert images and attachments
Basic Journal
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
n+otes
- Ad-free Experience (Monthly)$0.491 Month
- Ad-free Experience (3 Months)$0.993 Months
- Ad-free Experience (1 Year)$3.991 Year
- Remove Ads$19.99
Basic Journal
- Remove Ads$0.99









