Comparison

Reflect vs Slips

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

Head to head
About

Reflect

Features
Read full description

Reflect: Creative Sparks is a prompt deck for breaking creative blocks — inspired by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt's Oblique Strategies. Oblique Strategies began in 1975 as a physical deck of cards created by musician Brian Eno and artist Peter Schmidt. Each card offered a lateral instruction designed to interrupt habitual thinking and open new paths forward. Reflect is an independent digital work made in celebration of that idea. Each prompt is short, unexpected, and oblique by design. It won't tell you what to do. It will shift the angle of your attention so you can find your own way forward. Tap for a new card. Long-press to let them cycle on their own. On Apple TV, Reflect runs as ambient text — slow TV, but words. Leave it on in the background while you work. A prompt drifts past every few minutes. Some will land. Some won't. That's the point. On Apple Watch, a tap and a haptic click deliver a card to your wrist whenever you need a nudge. On devices with Apple Intelligence, Reflect generates fresh prompts on-device using Apple's Foundation Models — silently, privately, with no network connection required. No accounts. No subscriptions. No analytics. Nothing leaves your device. The prompt is the entire product. Reflect is not affiliated with or endorsed by Brian Eno or Peter Schmidt. It is an independent work made with deep respect for what they created.

About

Slips

This app offers a streamlined note-taking experience with a maximum of five customizable notes. Personalize each note with icons and colors, and sync them seamlessly across all your Apple devices. It provides rich text formatting and quick access options.

Highlights
  • Five customizable notes
  • iCloud synchronization
  • Rich text formatting
  • Home/Lock Screen widgets
  • Share sheet integration
  • Mac app support
Features
Read full description

Slips — Five notes, made yours Five slips. That's all. Slips is a notes app built on a simple idea: five fixed notes are enough for the things you actually return to, and few enough that you always know where everything is. No folders to organize, no archive to dig through, no blank-page guilt. Pick a slip and write. MADE YOURS Name each slip, choose an icon from hundreds of symbols, and give it a color. Groceries, Books, Trips, Meds, Faith, Projects, whatever your five are. Reorder them any time. ALWAYS IN SYNC Your slips live in your own private iCloud and stay current on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Edit on one device, and it's on the others. Nothing is collected, nothing is tracked, and there are no accounts to create. BACKED UP, JUST IN CASE Every device quietly saves a daily backup of your slips, keeping the last three. Restoring takes one tap, and a safety copy is made first, so even a restore can be undone. You can also export your slips to a file and keep it anywhere. RICH WHERE IT COUNTS Bold, italic, underline, highlight, headers, bulleted and numbered lists, tap-to-check checklists, dividers, and links that turn into preview cards. FAST WAYS IN Add to a slip from any app with the share sheet. Automate with Siri and Shortcuts. Put a slip on your Home Screen or Lock Screen with widgets, or capture instantly from Control Center. AT HOME ON THE MAC A real Mac app: your slips in the sidebar, formatting in the menu bar, Cmd+1 through Cmd+5 to switch slips, an optional menu bar icon, and sharing straight from Safari. SIMPLE PRICING Try a single Slip for free forever. Slips Plus unlocks all five. One purchase covers iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and is shareable with your family. Slips Plus subscriptions renew automatically until canceled in your App Store account settings, at least 24 hours before the current period ends. Lifetime is a one-time purchase. Privacy policy: https://mattlangford.com/slips-privacy Terms of use: Apple's standard EULA Support: https://mattlangford.com/slips-support

Screenshots

Reflect1 screens
Slips4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Reflect at none against Slips's 3. Reflect also leads on iOS requirement (18.2 vs 26.0). Slips's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 6 months). On price, ads and device support 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

Both are free to download. Slips sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Reflect asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Reflect ships an update every 6 months, Slips weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Reflect versus Slips: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReflectSlips
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS18.2 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB22 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMark FriedlanderMatthew Langford

In-app purchases

None

Reflect

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Slips

Subscriptions2
  • Slips Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Slips Yearly$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Slips Lifetime$49.99

Questions

Is Reflect free?
Reflect is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Slips free?
Slips is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Reflect or Slips have ads?
Neither Reflect nor Slips shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Reflect or Slips?
Reflect ships an update every 6 months, and Slips weekly. Most recently, Reflect was updated on September 21, 2026 and Slips on September 19, 2026.

Other comparisons