Noteshelf vs Focus Fast
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Noteshelf
Capture, organize, and enhance your notes with natural handwriting, AI summarization, and PDF annotation. Ideal for students and professionals, it offers a seamless writing experience with extensive customization and secure cloud syncing.
- Natural handwriting with lifelike pens
- AI summarization and explanation
- PDF and document annotation
- Audio recording alongside notes
- 200+ digital planner templates
- Handwriting to text conversion
- Secure cloud sync and backup
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Write. Plan. Study. Work. Create. Noteshelf 3 brings natural handwriting, powerful AI, PDF annotation, audio recording and planning together in one beautiful app for iPad, iPhone and Mac. Free to start. FOR STUDENTS • Take lecture and class notes with lifelike pens, pencils and highlighters • Annotate textbooks, worksheets, slides and PDFs • Record audio while you write, so you never miss a word • Use Noteshelf AI to summarize and explain what you've learned FOR PROFESSIONALS • Capture meeting notes and record important discussions • Mark up contracts, reports and presentations • Present your notes on an external display with a laser pointer • Export and share notes as PDFs or images in one tap FOR PLANNERS & JOURNALERS • 200+ templates for digital planners, journals, diaries and trackers • Plan your days, track goals and keep a personal journal • Decorate pages with stickers, photos and custom covers WRITE NATURALLY • A smooth, natural handwriting experience built for Apple Pencil • Write, type, draw and sketch on the same page • Turn handwriting into text and search your notes in 65 languages • Choose lined, dotted or grid paper in any color WORK WITH PDFs & DOCUMENTS • Import and annotate PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint files and images • Highlight, mark up, write and draw directly on your documents • Scan paper documents with the built-in scanner NOTESHELF AI • Summarize handwritten pages in seconds • Explain difficult terms and concepts • Translate text into other languages • Generate notes on any topic RECORD & REMEMBER • Record lectures, meetings and ideas alongside your handwritten notes STAY ORGANIZED & SECURE • Folders, subfolders, tags, bookmarks and a table of contents • Link notebooks together to connect ideas • Lock notes with a password, Face ID or Touch ID • Sync across iPad, iPhone and Mac with iCloud • Automatic backup to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or WebDAV YOUR NOTES, YOUR WAY • Custom notebook covers and a toolbar you can rearrange • Presentation mode, dark mode and flexible page layouts FREE TO START Create up to 3 notebooks with core pens and paper for free. Upgrade to Noteshelf Premium for unlimited notebooks, all templates, handwriting recognition, auto-backup and 100 monthly AI credits. Write beautifully. Work smarter. Stay organized. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula
Focus Fast
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Focus Fast – Boost Focus and Productivity with Sound + Science If your mind feels scattered or you struggle to concentrate, Focus Fast helps you sharpen your attention and power through tasks with ease. This energizing audio experience is designed to stimulate BETA brainwaves and guide your brain into a focused, productive state — using subtle, science-backed sound techniques. Our dynamic tracks use binaural beats tuned to support the BETA brainwave state, the frequency linked to alertness and mental clarity. Features: ◑ Clear, minimalist audio to enhance concentration ◑ Binaural beats to guide brain activity into focus mode ◑ Loop option for continuous playback ◑ Adjustable session timer (5–120 minutes) with smooth fade-out ◑ No ads, no distractions — just pure focus Stay sharp. Work faster. Get more done.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Noteshelf at Free against Focus Fast's $1.99. Noteshelf also leads on device support (4 vs 2). Focus Fast's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 17) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On ads 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
Noteshelf is free to download; Focus Fast costs $1.99 up front. Noteshelf sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Focus Fast asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Noteshelf | Focus Fast |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $1.99 |
| Rating | 4.5 (7.2K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 57.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 7.2K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 549 MB | 86 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Fluid Touch Pte. Ltd. | INFINITE STATE, LLC |
Bugs and requests
Noteshelf
Reported bugs
5 issues- Notebooks failing to open or sync correctly
- Handwriting recognition not working as expected
- Imported PDFs losing formatting or functionality
- Unexpected loss of data or notes
- Compatibility issues with older devices or operating systems
Requested features
6 requests- Add ability to create folders within notebooks
- Improve page organization and navigation
- Implement a more intuitive color picker and pen customization
- Introduce a history/undo feature for linked pages
- Add support for custom stickers and templates
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- Optimize performance and reduce loading times
Focus Fast
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Noteshelf
- Noteshelf 3 Weekly Premium$4.997 Days
- Noteshelf 3 Weekly Premium3 Days trial$4.997 Days
- Noteshelf 3 Weekly Premium$7.997 Days
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- Noteshelf3 Weekly Premium3 Days trial$7.997 Days
- Noteshelf3 Monthly Premium$9.991 Month
- Noteshelf3 Monthly Premium$19.991 Month
- Noteshelf 3 Yearly Premium3 Days trial$19.991 Year
- Noteshelf3 Yearly Premium3 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Noteshelf3 Yearly Premium$39.991 Year
- Noteshelf 3 Yearly Premium3 Days trial$39.991 Year
- Noteshelf Premium Yearly$49.991 Year
- Noteshelf3 Yearly Premium3 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Noteshelf 3 Yearly Premium1 Month trial$69.991 Year
- Noteshelf3 Yearly Premium$79.991 Year
- Premium3 Days trial$99.991 Year
- Premium for Noteshelf 2 users$9.99
- Noteshelf 3 Premium - Lifetime$14.99
Focus Fast
No in-app purchases









