Minimalist Notes vs Emphasized
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Minimalist Notes
This app offers a streamlined writing experience, acting as a digital notebook for capturing ideas, journaling, or quick notes. It focuses on a minimalist interface and efficient capture methods, with advanced search and iCloud sync.
- Quick idea capture
- Continuous writing flow
- Advanced search with tags
- iCloud sync
- Offline functionality
- Voice dictation
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Bloom is a simple, elegant notes app built for one thing: writing. No folders, no menus to dig through, no learning curve. Open the app and write. Personal notebook, journal, or quick scratchpad — it all lives in one continuous flow. Just like a good old paper notebook. Inspired by the GTD method (Getting Things Done), Bloom helps you get everything out of your head, so you forget nothing and stay focused on what matters. ► CAPTURE IDEAS THE MOMENT THEY HIT The best ideas show up anywhere, anytime. Bloom is built to catch every one: - Write from the Lock Screen, Control Center, or the Action Button - Create a note in a single tap with Home Screen widgets - Save text from any app with the share extension - No time to type? Speak, and Bloom transcribes. Everything is processed locally, on your iPhone. ► EVERYTHING IN ONE NOTEBOOK Advanced search lets you combine tags and text. Find what you're looking for in seconds — no nested folders to manage. ► MADE FOR DAILY WRITING Minimalist interface, dark mode, automatic link detection — Bloom gets out of the way so writing stays front and center. Perfect for journaling, morning pages, or simply clearing your head. ► YOUR NOTES, EVERYWHERE iCloud sync between iPhone and iPad, works offline, no account required. Your data stays in your iCloud. ► BLOOM PRO Tags, private notes, iPad sync, voice dictation, and every future Pro feature. Download Bloom and start writing today. --- Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Emphasized
Effortlessly capture and organize important text from any webpage. Save, edit, and export your highlights as a PDF without needing an account. Boost your research and study sessions with this intuitive tool.
- Highlight text on webpages
- Multiple color options
- Auto-save highlights locally
- Organize by webpage
- Export highlights to PDF
- Undo/delete highlights
- Character and word selection modes
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Whether you're cramming for a test, diving deep into research, or just collecting great quotes, this highlighter's got your back. Highlight text on any webpage—no sign-in, no fuss. Everything's saved automatically on your device and neatly grouped by page or tag, so you can always pick up where you left off. Change colors, tweak and tag highlights, and export them all when you're ready to share or review. Highlighting • Highlight text on webpages • Use multiple colors • Change the color of existing highlights • Delete highlights you no longer need • Split or merge existing highlights • Easily undo highlighted text with a single tap Tags • Create tags with custom colors to categorize your highlights • Assign or change tags on any existing highlights • Select an active tag to automatically apply it while highlighting Selection Modes • Characters: grab just the letters you want • Words: select full words even if selecting mid-word • None: disable highlighting while keeping existing highlights visible Auto-Save • Highlights are saved locally on your device • Automatically restored when you revisit the same webpage • No account or sign-in required Organized View • Browse highlights by webpage • Browse all highlights by tag across every website • Quickly find and review your saved content Exporting • Export highlights as a clean, shareable PDF • Export as plain text or JSON • Share directly via the system share sheet Other Features • Reposition the toolbar if it gets in the way • Boost productivity with keyboard shortcuts for highlighting and switching tags (requires physical keyboard) • See your active highlight settings, all keyboard shortcuts, and support links in the Settings page Works on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Minimalist Notes at Free against Emphasized's $2.99. Minimalist Notes also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 4 months). Emphasized's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (4 vs 1). On ads and iOS requirement 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
Minimalist Notes is free to download; Emphasized costs $2.99 up front. Minimalist Notes sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $14.99 per year. Emphasized asks for nothing beyond the download.
Minimalist Notes holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 4 respectively.
Minimalist Notes ships an update every 5 days, Emphasized every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 9, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Minimalist Notes | Emphasized |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $2.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.0 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 4 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 44 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Alexandre Bantz | Algirdas Gridziuska |
In-app purchases
Minimalist Notes
- Bloom Pro7 Days trial$14.991 Year
Emphasized
No in-app purchases









