Comparison

Retro Notes vs Scenario Line

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

Head to head
About

Retro Notes

Features
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Retro Notes turns everyday note-taking into something you actually enjoy. Beautifully designed with vintage-inspired themes, it combines the simplicity of classic journals with the power of a modern organizer โ€” all on your iPhone and iPad. WRITE FREELY, ORGANIZE EFFORTLESSLY Create notes with rich text blocks, checklists, and tags. Organize everything into folders and nested subfolders. On iPad, use full notebooks for long-form journaling and creative projects. Pin your favorites for quick access, and find anything instantly with powerful global search across all your notes, folders, tasks, and blocks. A BLOCK FOR EVERYTHING Retro Notes goes beyond plain text. Each note is built from blocks you mix and match: โ€ข Text โ€” Write with customizable per-note fonts. Choose from 15 beautiful typefaces including Typewriter, Georgia, Baskerville, Futura, and more. โ€ข Tasks โ€” Interactive checklists to track your to-dos right inside your notes. โ€ข Photos & Videos โ€” Capture memories with images and video clips. Trim videos before adding them. โ€ข Voice Memos โ€” Record audio notes when typing isn't an option. โ€ข Locations โ€” Pin places to your notes with interactive maps. โ€ข URLs โ€” Save and preview web links with one tap. โ€ข Scanner โ€” Scan documents directly into your notes using your camera. โ€ข PDF โ€” Attach and view documents natively. โ€ข Countdown โ€” Set visual countdown timers for events, deadlines, and milestones. โ€ข Music โ€” Search and embed your favorite tracks from a massive catalog. โ€ข Movies โ€” Log films with posters, ratings, runtime, and director info. โ€ข Books โ€” Track your reading with covers, authors, and page counts. โ€ข Flights โ€” Look up real flights with route maps, terminals, aircraft details, and live status. IMPORT FROM ANYWHERE Use the Share Extension to send text, links, images, and checklists from Browser, Mail, Messages, or any app directly into Retro Notes. Content is automatically parsed into the right blocks โ€” URLs become link blocks, bullet points become tasks, and images get their own photo blocks. No copy-pasting needed. RETRO THEMES THAT FEEL JUST RIGHT Customize your experience with handcrafted themes that give your notes real personality. Switch between classic, dark, and colorful palettes โ€” every element from the toolbar to the blocks adapts to your chosen theme. WIDGET SUPPORT Pin your most important note to a home screen widget for instant access. See your content at a glance without even opening the app. TIME CAPSULE Seal a note and lock it until a future date โ€” a week, a month, or a year from now. When the time comes, it unlocks automatically. Write letters to your future self, save birthday messages, or preserve memories for later. PRIVACY FIRST Your notes stay on your device. Retro Notes uses no cloud accounts, no sign-ups, and no tracking. What you write is yours alone. BUILT FOR iPHONE AND iPAD Fully optimized for both platforms. On iPad, take advantage of larger screens with the notebook editor for long-form writing, side-by-side organization, and an expanded block canvas. AVAILABLE IN 7 LANGUAGES Use Retro Notes in English, German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Turkish, or Simplified Chinese. The entire interface adapts to your language preference. Privacy Policy: https://retro-notes-privacy-ege-aybek-dev.netlify.app/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Scenario Line

Features
Read full description

Scenario Line is an editor for creating and managing branching scenarios. It can be used for a wide variety of projects that involve branching narratives, including visual novels, gamebooks, and tabletop RPG scenarios.

Screenshots

Retro Notes4 screens
Scenario Line2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Retro Notes at none against Scenario Line's shown. Scenario Line's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Retro Notes sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days and Scenario Line sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Retro Notes ships an update every 8 days, Scenario Line fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
Retro Notes versus Scenario Line: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRetro NotesScenario Line
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 8 days โ€” betterFortnightly
AdsNo โ€” betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS18.015.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size19 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEGE AYBEKRikuu Sono

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Retro Notes

Subscriptions4
  • Weekly$0.997 Days
  • Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Monthly$4.991 Month
Show 1 more
  • Annual$39.991 Year
1 purchases

Scenario Line

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$3.99

Questions

Is Retro Notes free?
Retro Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Scenario Line free?
Scenario Line is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Retro Notes or Scenario Line have ads?
Scenario Line shows ads; Retro Notes does not.
Which is updated more often, Retro Notes or Scenario Line?
Retro Notes ships an update every 8 days, and Scenario Line fortnightly. Most recently, Retro Notes was updated on October 19, 2026 and Scenario Line on October 13, 2026.

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