Useless Notes vs PrivyPDF
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Useless Notes
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Useless Notes is a creative note-taking app that lets you capture ideas in an infinite, freeform canvas environment. Instead of traditional lists, you can add text notes, links with previews as colorful cards that can be positioned and scattered anywhere on the canvas. The app embraces a playful, casual approach to organizing thoughts—cards appear at random positions and angles, giving your notes a natural, organic feel. You can delete notes with a fun burning animation, filter by different types of content, and search through your notes when you need to find something specific. It's perfect for anyone who wants a more visual and less structured way to capture thoughts, ideas, and inspiration without the constraints of traditional note-taking apps.
PrivyPDF
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PrivyPDF lets you chat with your PDF documents using your own AI—powered by Ollama on your local network. Your data stays on your device and your LAN. FEATURES • Chat with the current PDF: ask questions and get answers grounded in the document • Local AI via Ollama: set your server URL and choose Chat, Embedding, and OCR models in Settings • Parse & Index: extract text and optional embeddings; trigger automatically on import (when Ollama is configured) or manually from Library or Chat • Remove documents: long-press a PDF in Library to remove it • Export answers to Markdown, JSON, or Word (RTF) • Library: import, open, and manage multiple PDFs • First-time setup: prompt to configure Ollama Base URL and models SETTINGS • Ollama Base URL, request timeout • Chat, Embedding, and OCR model pickers (refresh from Ollama) • Model temperature slider • Use Embeddings toggle for semantic retrieval • Retrieval options: TopK, history turns, chunk size Requires an Ollama server on your network (e.g. http://192.168.x.x:11434). or LM Studio on your network (e.g. http://192.168.x.x:1234/v1) No cloud; all processing is local or on your LAN.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Useless Notes at none against PrivyPDF's 1. Useless Notes also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. PrivyPDF sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Useless Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.
Useless Notes ships an update every 5 days, PrivyPDF every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Useless Notes | PrivyPDF |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 55 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Bogdan Stefanovic | GUOYU WANG |
In-app purchases
Useless Notes
No in-app purchases
PrivyPDF
- PrivyPDF Pro$9.99









