Clean Links vs SecureSync Notes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Clean Links
This app scans QR codes and URLs to reveal hidden destinations and remove tracking parameters. It protects users from phishing and advertiser tracking, offering a private and free way to control digital privacy.
- QR code scanning
- URL link cleaning
- Phishing protection
- QR code generation
- iOS integration
- Cross-device link sharing
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That link a friend just sent you probably has a dozen tracking parameters glued to the end of it. Clean Links strips them off. It also opens up QR codes so you can read where they actually go before you commit to tapping. The app does a handful of things, and does them without an account, a subscription, or an ad: QR reader that shows you the destination URL first. Quishing scams work because nobody can read a QR code with their eyes, so you scan and hope. This one puts the real address on screen and waits. Link cleaner. Paste anything, get back the same link minus the utm tags, click IDs, and referral junk. Works on links from hundreds of shopping sites, social networks and search engines. Send to Mac. Push a cleaned link from your iPhone straight into the browser on your Mac. If the Mac is asleep or offline the link waits for it. Unshorten. Feed it a bit.ly or t.co address and it follows the chain to whatever sits at the end. Useful when a shortened link turns up from someone you don't know, which is how most phishing starts. Tracker blocker covering 71+ services, running as a parameter remover across everything you paste. QR generator for making your own codes out of links you trust. Safari extension that cleans every link on a page in one tap. Shortcuts, a Control Center widget, and a share sheet action, if you want the whole thing automated. Nothing leaves your device. There's no analytics SDK in here, no crash reporter phoning home, no account to create. Privacy isn't a feature we bolted on; there was never any data to collect. ■ Send Links to Your Mac Share a cleaned link from your iPhone or iPad and it lands in your Mac's browser. Links queue up if the Mac is offline. You can also fire Shortcuts on your Macs from an iOS device. You'll need Clean Links on both machines, iCloud turned on, and the same Apple account. ■ Coming from Hyperduck? Clean Links does the same handoff, adds tracker stripping on the way out, handles more than one Mac, and costs nothing. ■ Link Sharing FAQ ‣ Why not AirDrop? AirDrop needs both devices awake and nearby. This doesn't, and it drops the link straight into a background tab. ‣ Why not iCloud Tabs? Because iCloud Tabs only works in Safari, and the tabs are easy to lose. These open in whatever browser you actually use. ‣ Why not Reading List? Reading List is where links go to be forgotten. Yours open immediately. ‣ Why not Handoff? Handoff wants the devices in the same room. Clean Links supports Handoff anyway, for when they are. ‣ More than one Mac? Send to all of them. Any Mac signed into the same Apple account with the app installed will get it. ‣ Want to skip a particular Mac? Turn off receiving in that Mac's settings. ■ Spotted a tracker we don't catch yet? There's a link in Settings to tell us. We'll add them.
SecureSync Notes
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Secure cross-platform Synced (between iOS and Mac) Encrypted Notes! Features include: - Encrypted using the AES-GCM (256-bit key) standard, securely stored in iCloud Keychain, with not even Apple able to decrypt your notes. - Shareable notes - Searchable notes not just by title but by note contents! - Sync automatically between iOS devices and Macs* - Sync indicator - Fully working offline mode which then syncs when back online - Zero data collection whatsoever - Zero in-app purchases - Zero subscription costs - Editable and Deletable notes even whilst offline - The most newly updated note auto-scrolls the view to the top - Beautifully hand-picked light and dark mode appearances - On iOS, save a note by tapping the back button Buy the Mac version and get the iOS version for free (and vice versa!). Buy this once, and get all future updates and lifetime usage! *Note on syncing: - This App (for iOS and Mac) has a sync-speed limitation of a few seconds, which is typical of apps using iCloud to sync, especially considering encryption and decryption. If you have any trouble syncing, simply wait up to 10 seconds and syncs will propagate It takes a while for offline edits, creations, and deletions to sync once back online, but is all working exactly as expected on both iOS and MacOS. Requires iOS 18.0 and MacOS 15.0 or newer.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Clean Links at Free against SecureSync Notes's $4.00. On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases 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
Clean Links is free to download; SecureSync Notes costs $4.00 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Clean Links ships an update every 2 weeks, SecureSync Notes every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Clean Links | SecureSync Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $4.00 |
| Rating | 4.9 (68 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 94.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 68 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 72 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Numen Technologies Limited | THABO ALEJANDRO B GRIFFITHS |
In-app purchases
Clean Links
No in-app purchases
SecureSync Notes
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Clean Links free?
Is SecureSync Notes free?
Do Clean Links or SecureSync Notes have ads?
Which is updated more often, Clean Links or SecureSync Notes?
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