Comparison

NextNote vs plain.phone

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

Head to head
About

NextNote

Features
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Capture the thought now. Keep shaping it later. NextNote brings quick capture, rich-text editing, voice input, organization, and AI writing tools into one continuous note-taking workflow. Use it for passing ideas, meeting notes, study material, checklists, journals, project plans, or long-form drafts that need room to grow. CAPTURE FROM HOME Open NextNote and start typing without choosing a complicated format first. When typing is not convenient, capture the moment with voice, photos, or video. A quick capture is not a disconnected message or disposable draft. Once saved, it becomes a document you can keep editing, search later, organize, reuse, and share. Move from one sentence to a complete piece of writing without starting over in another tool. NextNote works well for: β€’ Quick notes, memos, and everyday ideas β€’ Meeting notes and work documentation β€’ Class notes, research material, and study guides β€’ Journals, reading notes, and writing drafts β€’ To-do lists, checklists, and project planning β€’ Voice thoughts, photo references, and video clips A FLEXIBLE EDITOR FOR REAL WRITING Create a simple note or develop a longer document in the same editor. Structure your work with headings, paragraphs, rich-text formatting, numbered and bulleted lists, checklists, quotes, and links. Add images, audio, video, drawings, and other content blocks when words alone are not enough. Start rough and refine over time. Save useful structures as templates for recurring meeting notes, weekly plans, study reviews, journals, or content production. Your capture and writing tools stay together, so organizing an idea does not require moving it across several apps. VOICE AND MULTIMEDIA NOTES Use voice when you need to record an idea faster than you can type, then continue working with the text. Keep images, recordings, videos, and drawings beside the written context in one document. This makes it easier to preserve source material, visual references, and the process behind your work. You can also send text, links, images, or files to NextNote from the system share sheet, then place the imported material in a new or existing document. AI WRITING HELP, ONE SWIPE AWAY AI tools live inside the writing flow instead of in a separate chat. Select text and swipe left to use focused actions in the current document: β€’ Polish wording and improve clarity β€’ Expand a short thought into a fuller passage β€’ Highlight keywords and important points β€’ Find and add a relevant visual Each action starts from text you deliberately select, so you can keep your intent and decide what to change. There is no need to copy a passage into another app or interrupt your writing session. SEARCH, ARCHIVE, AND REUSE Search document titles and body text to find an earlier note quickly. Move work you do not need right now into archive folders to keep Home focused. Deleted documents go to Trash first and can be recovered during the retention period. Turn structures you use repeatedly into templates. As your collection grows, search, folders, archives, Trash, and templates give you practical ways to manage personal notes, work records, study material, and creative projects. LOCAL NOTES AND ICLOUD Keep using local notes and core editing tools while offline. Online services are used only when a related feature needs them. On supported Apple devices, you can use iCloud according to your settings to store and sync content, then continue writing across iPhone, iPad, and compatible devices. SHARE, EXPORT, AND PUBLISH When your work is ready to leave the notebook, share it from the document. Send material to other apps, or deliberately publish a document as a web page. You can also prepare adapted versions for different content platforms when that fits your workflow. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

plain.phone

Transform your iPhone into a minimalist "dumb phone" by replacing colorful app icons with simple text links. This app helps reduce screen time and reclaim focus with a distraction-free interface. It offers a one-time purchase for a lifetime of focus.

Highlights
  • Text-only widgets
  • Replace app icons with text links
  • Instant setup
  • Distraction-free interface
  • Digital detox focused
  • One-time purchase
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plain.phone turns your iPhone into a minimalist "dumb phone" in seconds. Replace addictive, colorful icons with clean text links. Reduce screen time. Reclaim your focus. The "Plain" Promise: Most minimalist apps charge you $20/year just to hide your icons. We think that’s ridiculous. - No Subscriptions. - No Hidden Fees. - Pay Once, Own Forever. Features: - Text-Only Widgets: Remove the dopamine-triggering icons from your home screen. - Instant Setup: Add your favorite apps as simple text links. - Complete Focus: A distraction-free interface designed for a digital detox. - Total Privacy: We don’t track you. We don’t want your data. Why plain.phone? You don’t need a monthly bill to live a simpler life. You just need a better home screen. Stop the scroll. Buy once. Stay focused.

Screenshots

NextNote4 screens
plain.phone4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: NextNote at every 5 days against plain.phone's every 2 months. plain.phone's advantage is price ($0.99 vs $5.99). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

NextNote costs $5.99 and plain.phone $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NextNote ships an update every 5 days, plain.phone every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 5 level
NextNote versus plain.phone: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNextNoteplain.phone
Price$5.99$0.99 β€” better
Update frequencyEvery 5 days β€” betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetizationβ€”Paid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod β€” betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size80 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer劲灿 ι™ˆMaverik Labs Ltd

In-app purchases

None

NextNote

No in-app purchases

None

plain.phone

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is NextNote free?
NextNote costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is plain.phone free?
plain.phone costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do NextNote or plain.phone have ads?
Neither NextNote nor plain.phone shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NextNote or plain.phone?
NextNote ships an update every 5 days, and plain.phone every 2 months. Most recently, NextNote was updated on October 24, 2026 and plain.phone on October 25, 2026.

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