Comparison

Yomu vs School Notes

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

Head to head
About

Yomu

Features
Read full description

Yomu turns reading Japanese from guesswork into confident understanding. Read real articles, books, and manga excerpts with adaptive furigana, instant offline dictionary, and optional power features—no subscriptions. WHAT MAKES YOMU DIFFERENT • Adaptive Furigana: Match readings to your JLPT level. Hide kanji you know, show help where you need it. • Instant Offline Dictionary: Tap any word for clear definitions—works without a connection. • Difficulty Preview: See an automatic difficulty estimate before you start reading. • Focused Reader: Clean, distraction-free layout for staying in the flow. POWER FEATURES (ONE-TIME PURCHASE) • Camera & OCR Import: Scan printed Japanese and read it with tappable text. • Vocabulary Builder: Save words as you read; export to CSV for Anki. • Reading Stats: Track volume, streaks, and vocabulary growth. SHARE & IMPORT ANYWHERE • Send text from Safari and other apps via the Share menu—no copy-paste. • Keep all your Japanese texts organized in one library and available offline. PRIVACY & PEACE OF MIND • No ads, no subscriptions, no tracking of what you read. • Your library, vocabulary, and stats stay on your device. Privacy policy: https://yomuapp.kulman.sk/privacy

About

School Notes

This app offers a versatile note-taking experience for students and educators. It supports handwriting with Apple Pencil, PDF annotation, and typed text notes, all organized within color-coded classes. Notes can be synced via iCloud and exported in various formats.

Highlights
  • Handwrite with Apple Pencil
  • Annotate PDFs
  • Type text notes
  • Color-coded class organization
  • iCloud sync
  • Export notes as PDF or image
  • Batch export
Features
Read full description

School Notes was born in the classroom. As a teacher, I needed a simple, reliable way for staff and students in my district to take notes, annotate handouts, and stay organized — without the complexity (or cost) of apps that try to do everything. I built SchoolNotes to solve that problem, and now I'm sharing it with educators and students everywhere. Three ways to take notes, one place to keep them: • Handwrite with Apple Pencil — A full drawing canvas with multi-page support, zoom, and all the tools you'd expect from PencilKit. Great for math, science diagrams, or just jotting things down. • Annotate PDFs — Import worksheets, handouts, or articles and draw right on top of them. Grab PDFs from Files, Safari, or any app using the built-in Share Extension. • Type text notes — For outlines, study guides, or anything that's faster on a keyboard. Stay organized with Classes: Create color-coded classes that match your schedule. Assign notes to one or more classes, drag to reorder, and find what you need fast with search and flexible sorting. Switch between list and grid views to browse your notes the way you prefer. Sync across your iPads with iCloud: Turn on iCloud sync and your notes follow you between devices. Works with personal Apple IDs — and if your school uses managed Apple IDs, SchoolNotes works great offline too. Share your work: Export any note as a PDF or image. Need everything at once? Batch-export your entire notebook with a single tap. Features at a glance: ◦ Apple Pencil drawing with full tool picker ◦ Multi-page drawing notes ◦ PDF import and annotation ◦ Text notes ◦ Color-coded class organization ◦ Assign notes to multiple classes ◦ Favorites for quick access ◦ Search across all notes ◦ Sort by date modified, date created, or title ◦ List and grid views ◦ Export as PDF or image ◦ Batch export all notes ◦ Share Extension for quick PDF import ◦ Optional iCloud sync ◦ No account required — your data stays on your device ◦ No ads. No subscriptions. Just notes. School Notes is free to use with all features included. If you find it helpful, there's an optional tip jar in Settings to support continued development. I'd love to hear how you're using School Notes in your classroom. Feedback and feature requests are always welcome!

Screenshots

Yomu4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: School Notes at every 2 days against Yomu's fortnightly. On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Yomu sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and School Notes sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Yomu ships an update fortnightly, School Notes every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Yomu versus School Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterYomuSchool Notes
PriceFreeFree
Rating—1.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPad
Requires iOS18.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size128 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperIgor KulmanBrian Foutty

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Yomu

One-time1
  • Premium$9.99
4 purchases

School Notes

One-time4
  • Small Cup of Coffee$0.99
  • Medium Cup of Coffee$1.99
  • Large Cup of Coffee$3.99
Show 1 more
  • Bag of Coffee$19.99

Questions

Is Yomu free?
Yomu is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is School Notes free?
School Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Yomu or School Notes have ads?
Neither Yomu nor School Notes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Yomu or School Notes?
Yomu ships an update fortnightly, and School Notes every 2 days. Most recently, Yomu was updated on October 25, 2026 and School Notes on October 28, 2026.

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