Inkiostro vs QR
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Inkiostro
A distraction-free Markdown editor for Apple devices. Organize files with color labels and tags, and write efficiently with a comprehensive toolbar and live preview. Syncs automatically via iCloud Drive.
- Color Labels for files and folders
- Custom tags for organization
- Complete Markdown toolbar
- Live preview with multiple themes
- Focus and Typewriter modes
- Native iCloud Drive sync
- External folder support
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Inkiostro is a Markdown editor for people who write — notes, documentation, theses, novels. Plain text files that stay yours, a preview that looks like a finished page, and exports ready to hand over. Write in Markdown, or in the visual editor and never see a symbol. Buy once, no subscription. No account, no tracking. WRITE, SEE, FINISH • Two ways to write: the Markdown editor shows the symbols, the visual editor formats as you type, like a word processor. Either way the file stays plain Markdown. (Visual editor: Pro, free for 7 days) • A complete Markdown toolbar: headings, lists, tables and code blocks, one tap away. • A side-by-side preview that comes back exactly where you left it. • LaTeX formulas typeset by KaTeX, and Mermaid diagrams drawn as you type. • 27 preview styles, 11 of them free: GitHub, Sepia, Nord, Solarized and more. With Pro, Manuscript, Book, Report, Academic and others set the page like print. • Focus and Typewriter modes, a live word count and a daily writing goal. FROM DRAFT TO BOOK • PDF with selectable text, formulas and diagrams included. Free, with a small credit line in the footer. • A professional ePub: real chapters, a cover, ISBN, series, footnotes that open over the page, and the accessibility declaration Europe requires. The export sheet tells you what a store would reject — before you send it. (Pro) • A book made of many files: one chapter per file, in a folder, in the order you choose. Arranging it is free; exporting it as a single ePub is Pro. • Self-contained HTML, and page setup for PDF: paper, margins, headers and page numbers. (Pro) NEVER LOSE A WORD • Version history: Inkiostro saves versions as you write. Search them, compare them line by line, and bring back a single word or a whole draft. (Pro) • Backups of your whole library: a dated zip archive with your version history inside, offered when one is due, while the app is open, in a folder you pick. Open it in the Files app and your Markdown files are right there. (Pro) YOUR FILES, YOUR RULES • Unlimited documents, as plain .md files you can open anywhere. • Folders, color labels and tags, with search that filters by tag. • iCloud Drive sync between iPhone, iPad and Mac, with no setup. • External folders: work directly inside any folder on your device or in iCloud Drive. (Pro) INKIOSTRO PRO — ONE PURCHASE, EVERY DEVICE One purchase unlocks Pro on iPhone, iPad and Mac, forever. Try it free for 7 days. • The visual editor • Version history with search, comparison and a year of versions • Backups of your library • Professional ePub, HTML, and books made of many files • PDF page setup • Focus and Typewriter modes • External folders • 24 app themes, the Pro preview styles and any font installed on your device MADE FOR • Writers: novels and essays in plain text, out as a real ebook • Students and researchers: notes and theses with proper formulas • Developers: READMEs, documentation and technical notes with diagrams • Anyone tired of paying every month for a text editor • Anyone new to Markdown: the visual editor works like a word processor PRIVACY Your documents stay in your iCloud Drive or on your device. No servers of ours, ever. Inkiostro collects only anonymous, aggregated usage statistics — never personal data, never the content of your documents — and you can turn them off in Settings.
QR
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QR-log Bridge transfers files between screens and Apple devices through animated QR streams. It is designed for situations where no shared network, cloud service, cable, AirDrop, or removable storage is available. Receive a QR stream live with the camera or reconstruct a transfer from a recorded video. Choose a file or photo on your iPhone or iPad and present it as a fullscreen QR stream for another compatible receiver. ## Receive Files - Scan animated 1x1 and 2x2 QR streams. - Reconstruct missing data using recovery information embedded in compatible streams. - Decode recorded QR streams from Photos, Files, or locally captured videos. - Automatically record and process compatible high-speed streams. - Use longer automatic recording windows for compatible V9 streams, up to two minutes. - Verify completed payloads and restore their original filenames. - Monitor transfer progress and live capture quality. ## Send Files - Choose one local file or photo. - Generate V6 or high-throughput V9 streams directly on the device. - Adjust V9 recovery overhead from 10% to 50%. - Select stream timing from 20 to 60 FPS or use the 50 ms, 30 FPS, and 60 FPS presets. - Present the generated stream in fullscreen without creating an intermediate upload or cloud copy. ## Local By Design Encoding, camera analysis, reconstruction, and integrity verification run locally. No account or external server is required. Received files and captured videos remain in the app's local storage until you share or delete them. QR-log Bridge is intended for technical file transfer. Successful performance depends on the display, camera, lighting, distance, selected stream speed, and payload size.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: QR at none against Inkiostro's 1. Inkiostro's advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs fortnightly) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). 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
Both are free to download. Inkiostro sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. QR asks for nothing beyond the download.
Inkiostro ships an update every 6 days, QR fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Inkiostro | QR |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.2 (5 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 60.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 21 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Carlo Di Giuseppe | Roland Emrich |
In-app purchases
Inkiostro
- Inkiostro Pro$19.99
QR
No in-app purchases









