Comparison

Useless Notes vs Mena

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

Head to head
About

Useless Notes

Features
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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 thoughtsβ€”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.

About

Mena

Features
Read full description

Private visual notes for iPad. Build mind maps on an infinite canvas, study with FSRS flashcards, and sync through your private iCloud storage β€” no account required. Mena is an infinite canvas and visual second brain for iPad. Sketch ideas, build mind maps, embed media, and turn any board into spaced-repetition flashcards you actually review β€” no account required. INFINITE CANVAS Pan, zoom, and draw with no page limits. Pastel sticky notes, shapes and connectors for mind maps and flowcharts, frames, tables, and 19 polygon shapes. Apple Pencil support with Draw to Shape β€” sketch a rough shape and Mena snaps it perfect. EVERY KIND OF CONTENT Drop anything onto your board: sticky notes, rich text and Markdown, code blocks with syntax highlighting, images, PDFs with full page navigation, video, audio files, and live maps. Record voice memos directly on the canvas β€” ink drawn during recording is seekable by playback time. Web embeds and URL preview cards keep sources right where you need them. PAPER TEMPLATES Note pages come in blank, lined, dotted, and grid. Change one page or every blank page at once, and choose auto, light, or dark paper independently of your system theme. The same page renders identically in the reader, sidebar, overview grid, library thumbnail, and exported PDF. STUDY WITH FSRS Turn any deck board into spaced-repetition flashcards. Mena uses FSRS β€” the most accurate scheduling algorithm available β€” to surface cards exactly when you need them. Again / Hard / Good / Easy grading with interval preview. Cloze deletion with one tap. Auto-generate flashcards from your notes on-device, no network needed. STUDY DASHBOARD Track your streak, retention rate, and 14-day due forecast. See today's review count at a glance. ANKI COMPATIBLE Import any .apkg file directly. Mena imports your cards, scheduling data, embedded images, and cloze deletions. Export any deck back as .apkg and study it in Anki on any device. SLIDES & PRESENTATION Draw a frame around anything and it becomes a slide. Open the filmstrip panel, jump to any slide, present full-screen, or export the whole deck as a crisp PDF. 6 BOARD TYPES Board β€” infinite whiteboard. Note β€” vertical scroll page. Journal β€” one auto-created page per day. Atlas β€” a spatial map of all your boards. Collection β€” a live saved query across all boards. Deck β€” FSRS study deck with review session. HOME SCREEN WIDGETS 4 widget types for home screen and lock screen: New Board (one-tap creation), Board Preview (live thumbnail of any board), Today's Study (due count, streak, retention), and Deck (per-deck stats). All fully configurable. SHARE FROM ANYWHERE A share extension catches text, links, images, PDFs, and videos from any other app β€” tap Share β†’ Mena, pick a board, done. PRIVATE iCLOUD SYNC Every board, element, and attachment syncs across your Apple devices through your private iCloud CloudKit database. No Mena account. No third-party cloud server stores your Mena content. Flashcard generation runs on-device. Optional web embeds and Unsplash search connect only when you choose to use them. Mena fits how your brain actually works β€” capture, connect, and remember. FREE & PRO Free covers 3 boards, 3 notes, 3 documents and 5 decks; journals and system boards are never limited. Mena Pro lifts every limit β€” Pro Monthly and Pro Yearly renew automatically, Pro Lifetime is a one-time purchase. Prices appear in the app before you buy, and you can restore purchases at any time. Privacy Policy: https://apps.cihat.dev/mena/privacy-policy/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Useless Notes4 screens
Mena4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Useless Notes at none against Mena's 3. On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Mena sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Useless Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Useless Notes ships an update every 5 days, Mena every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference Β· 5 level
Useless Notes versus Mena: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUseless NotesMena
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysEvery 3 days β€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.618.6
Further details β€” not scored
Size55 MB48 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperBogdan StefanovicCihat Salik

In-app purchases

None

Useless Notes

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Mena

Subscriptions2
  • Mena Pro - Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Mena Pro - Yearly$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Mena Pro - Lifetime$79.99

Questions

Is Useless Notes free?
Useless Notes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Mena free?
Mena is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Useless Notes or Mena have ads?
Neither Useless Notes nor Mena shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Useless Notes or Mena?
Useless Notes ships an update every 5 days, and Mena every 3 days. Most recently, Useless Notes was updated on September 23, 2026 and Mena on September 28, 2026.

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