Comparison

Hyphen vs Nocturnum

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

Head to head
About

Hyphen

This minimalist app allows for quick capture of daily thoughts, tasks, and moments. It organizes entries by day and provides a visual timeline of your year, highlighting days with more activity. Notes are automatically timestamped and can be entered via typing or voice.

Highlights
  • Quick entry via typing or voice
  • Automatic timestamping
  • Visual year-in-a-glance timeline
  • Smart grouping of related notes
  • Secure cross-device syncing
  • Private and inaccessible by developer
Features
Read full description

Hyphen is a quiet place for the details you would otherwise lose. Write a sentence, list, quotation, decision, observation, or full page. Every note belongs to its day, so you can move naturally through time and return by date, month, year, Chronicle, or search. WRITE WITHOUT FRICTION Capture a quick thought in place. Expand into the full editor when the thought becomes something larger. MARKDOWN MADE FOR IPHONE Use headings, emphasis, lists, checklists, quotations, links, and code without hunting through the iOS keyboard for punctuation. SEE YOUR DAYS TAKE SHAPE Move naturally between Day, Month, and Year, and view time as a quiet record of activity. Hyphen shows continuity without turning your writing into a streak game. FIND WHAT YOU WROTE Search your writing, browse Chronicle, and move directly back to the day where a thought belongs.

About

Nocturnum

Capture ideas quickly and organize them with Markdown formatting. This app provides a focused writing environment that remains fast and efficient as your note collection grows. Easily sort, search, and access your thoughts for seamless productivity.

Highlights
  • Quick idea capture
  • Markdown formatting
  • Workspace and notebook organization
  • Fast search functionality
  • JSON and Markdown export
  • Inbox for temporary notes
Features
Read full description

Nocturnum helps you capture ideas quickly, shape them with Markdown, and keep your notes easy to find. It gives you a calm writing space that stays fast as your library grows. From quick thoughts to deep project docs, everything stays clear and organized. Use Nocturnum as your daily note workspace on iPhone and iPad. You can write, sort, search, and return to the right context without losing momentum. **Capture Without Friction** Create notes from anywhere in the app and start writing immediately. Inbox keeps fast captures safe until you are ready to organize them. **Organize by Context** Group notes into workspaces, notebooks, and sub-notebooks that match how you think. Reorder key lists so active projects stay at the top. **Write Clearly in Markdown** Use headings, lists, checklists, links, and code blocks to keep ideas structured. Rich formatting stays readable while editing and reviewing. **Find What Matters Fast** Search across titles and note content to jump directly to the detail you need. Built-in views like Recent and Favorites help you resume work in seconds. **Keep Ownership of Your Data** Export full JSON backups when you need a complete snapshot of your library. Export markdown files for portable archives and import backups when restoring. Download Nocturnum today and build a notes system you can trust every day.

Screenshots

Hyphen4 screens
Nocturnum4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Hyphen at none against Nocturnum's 1. Hyphen also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 4 weeks) and ratings volume (7 vs 1). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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. Nocturnum sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Hyphen asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Hyphen against 5.0 for Nocturnum. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hyphen has 7 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hyphen ships an update every 2 days, Nocturnum every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Hyphen versus Nocturnum: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHyphenNocturnum
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (7 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings7 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 4 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCHRISTOPH J WHITELAMFishington Studios

Customer experience

Hyphen

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Nocturnum

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Hyphen

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Nocturnum

One-time1
  • Upgrade to Pro$4.99

Questions

Is Hyphen free?
Hyphen is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Nocturnum free?
Nocturnum is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Hyphen or Nocturnum?
Hyphen and Nocturnum are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 7 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Hyphen or Nocturnum have ads?
Neither Hyphen nor Nocturnum shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hyphen or Nocturnum?
Hyphen ships an update every 2 days, and Nocturnum every 4 weeks. Most recently, Hyphen was updated on September 21, 2026 and Nocturnum on October 2, 2026.

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