Comparison

Emphasized vs Sediment

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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.

About

Sediment

Features
Read full description

You found something worth remembering. A line from a book. A phrase in a new language. A thought you don't want to lose. Sediment keeps it visible - quietly rotating your fragments on your Lock Screen throughout the day. No flashcards. No quizzes. No notifications. Just your own words, surfacing when you glance at your phone. How it works: - Save fragments - quotes, vocabulary, notes, affirmations — anything worth remembering - Organize them into layers (e.g. "Spanish", "Stoic Quotes", "Exam Notes") - Sediment displays them as a Live Activity on your Lock Screen or Widget on your Home Screen, rotating on the rhythm you set - A passive spaced repetition algorithm decides what to show. Over time, fragments settle through three depths - Surface, Sinking, and Bedrock - so the words you know best surface more rarely. Once a week, on Foundation Day, your deepest fragments rise back to the top. Designed to disappear: Sediment follows the principles of Calm Technology. There are no nagging push notifications, no sounds, no badges. Nothing demands your attention. Your fragments simply appear and fade — like geological layers settling over time. Features: - Continuous Lock Screen Live Activity with progress bar and countdown - no schedules, no time windows - Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets - Strata: fragments settle through three depths over time, so the ones you know best surface more rarely - Foundation Day: a weekly day when your deepest fragments rise back to the top - Smart rotation powered by passive spaced repetition - Customizable rhythm: set how often your fragments rotate - Favorite fragments to boost their visibility and protect them from sinking - Quick Note: blazing-fast note taking directly from the Lock Screen - Full-text search across all fragments - JSON export and import - End-to-end encryption (AES-GCM) - your data stays yours - iCloud sync across all your devices - No account required. No servers. No tracking. Sediment Pro unlocks unlimited fragments. The free tier includes up to 10 fragments — enough to get started. Remembering starts with seeing. Sediment makes sure you do. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://sedimentnotes.app/privacy-policy/ Imprint: https://sedimentnotes.app/imprint/

Screenshots

Emphasized4 screens
Sediment4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Sediment at Free against Emphasized's $2.99. Sediment also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months). Emphasized's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3). On ads, device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Sediment is free to download; Emphasized costs $2.99 up front. Sediment sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Emphasized asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Emphasized ships an update every 4 months, Sediment monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Emphasized versus Sediment: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEmphasizedSediment
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.6 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlgirdas GridziuskaTobias Reisner

In-app purchases

None

Emphasized

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Sediment

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Yearly$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Sediment Pro Lifetime$39.99

Questions

Is Emphasized free?
Emphasized costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sediment free?
Sediment is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Emphasized or Sediment have ads?
Neither Emphasized nor Sediment shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Emphasized or Sediment?
Emphasized ships an update every 4 months, and Sediment monthly. Most recently, Emphasized was updated on October 7, 2026 and Sediment on September 29, 2026.

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