Comparison

Reflect vs Notedown

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ€” 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 โ€” 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 โ€” 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 โ€” 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

Notedown

Features
Read full description

Notedown is a featherweight markdown notes app for people who just want to write. No accounts, no sync, no clutter โ€” every note is saved as a plain .md text file on your device and never leaves it. WRITE IN MARKDOWN Use familiar markdown to structure your thoughts: headings, bold and italic, bulleted lists, checkboxes, quotes, code, and links. A one-tap formatting toolbar inserts the syntax for you, so you never have to remember it. EDIT OR PREVIEW Flip between a distraction-free editor and a clean rendered preview with a single tap. See exactly how your note looks, then jump back to writing. FULLY OFFLINE, FULLY YOURS Your notes are stored as standard markdown files in the app's own folder on your device. There is no cloud, no login, and nothing to set up. What you write stays with you. FIND ANYTHING FAST Search across all of your notes instantly. The list keeps your most recently edited notes at the top. SHARE WHEN YOU WANT Export any note as markdown text through the standard share sheet. SIMPLE BY DESIGN - Light and dark themes - English and Japanese - Portrait, one-handed friendly layout - Free to use (contains ads) Notedown is the calm, lightweight alternative to heavy note apps โ€” just markdown, and nothing in your way.

Screenshots

Reflect1 screens
Notedown4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Notedown at every 4 days against Reflect's every 6 months. Reflect's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Reflect ships an update every 6 months, Notedown every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
Reflect versus Notedown: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReflectNotedown
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 4 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch โ€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.217.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size2 MB24 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMark FriedlanderYuki Okawa

In-app purchases

None

Reflect

No in-app purchases

None

Notedown

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Reflect free?
Reflect is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Notedown free?
Notedown is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Reflect or Notedown have ads?
Neither Reflect nor Notedown shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Reflect or Notedown?
Reflect ships an update every 6 months, and Notedown every 4 days. Most recently, Reflect was updated on November 5, 2026 and Notedown on October 9, 2026.

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