Fleeting Thoughts vs masterfile
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Fleeting Thoughts
Capture thoughts privately with voice, text, scans, videos, and files in a unified timeline. Your data stays on your device or chosen cloud storage, with no accounts or tracking. Edit, tag, and export your notes easily.
- Unified timeline for voice, text, scans, video, and files
- On-device transcription and Apple Intelligence cleanup
- Private data storage (device, iCloud, or Files app)
- Video trimming, reframing, and image cropping
- Document scanning with text extraction
- Tagging and filtering for organization
- Markdown or JSON export options
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Fleeting Thoughts is a private capture pipeline for the agentic era. Save ideas, notes, links, screenshots, scans, PDFs and voice thoughts the moment they appear, as plain files you control, ready for the notes apps, workflows and AI agents you choose. Use it when you want a fast private place to save something now and organize it later. Start with a quick voice note, paste text, share in a link, scan a page, import a file, or capture from Apple Watch. Everything lands in one clean timeline you control. - YOUR DATA, YOUR CHOICE Every thought is saved as a plain, readable file, on your iPhone or in a folder you choose. Use those files with your notes app, your own database, your local agents or the AI assistant you prefer, or keep them just for yourself. Nothing requires an agent or a subscription, and your data stays yours whatever you use next. - CAPTURE FAST Tap the mic to record, type a note, paste from the clipboard, scan a page, import a photo or file, or share content into Fleeting Thoughts from other apps. - BUILT FOR THE MOMENT The app is designed for quick capture first. Save the thought, hear the confirmation, and move on. You can clean it up later. - TAGS THAT STAY SIMPLE Use lightweight tags to keep ideas, links, health notes, project thoughts, and other captures separated without turning capture into a filing task. - MEDIA THAT STAYS USEFUL Keep original images, scans, screenshots, videos, audio, and PDFs attached to the thought that created them. Preview, copy, share, export, trim, crop, or remove extra attachments when needed. - PDF READER COMPANION Open saved PDFs in a focused reader, resume where you left off, bookmark a page, save a page as an image, clip selected text, and add page notes back into the original thought. - APPLE WATCH CAPTURE Capture from your wrist when your phone is not in your hand. Watch recordings keep going while you use other apps, then arrive in your iPhone timeline, transcribed. - SEARCH AND EXPORT Search your timeline, copy individual thoughts, export selected groups, and use iPhone Spotlight to find saved thoughts from outside the app. - LOCAL-FIRST BY DEFAULT No account required. No tracking. Your captures stay private and local unless you choose to share or export them. You can also choose a folder for readable saved files. - ONE PURCHASE, EVERY PLATFORM Universal Purchase includes iPhone, Apple Watch, and Mac. Each app is designed for its own device: iPhone for capture on the go, Apple Watch for wrist capture, and Mac for desktop dictation. Fleeting Thoughts is for people who think faster than they can organize: builders, writers, researchers, students, and anyone who needs to save useful things before they disappear.
masterfile
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masterfile is five everyday tools in one quiet place. Scratch, Vault, Budget, Notes+, and Kanban. Built for people who'd rather think than juggle apps and for those ready to start tracking. — Scratch — Type anything. As you write, a chip appears suggesting where the line belongs, tap it to promote. Credentials go to Vault, money goes to Budget, ideas go to Notes+, tasks go to Kanban. One note keeps your mind clear, the modules keep your day organized. — Vault — Logins, cards, and credential keys, locked behind your device's authentication and stored only on your device. No account, no sync, no tracking. Real device-level encryption underneath as masterfile just makes it pleasant to use. — Budget — Multi-currency budgeting that actually understands how Filipinos, especially freelancers and remote workers earn. ₱, $, ¥, €, and 20+ more currencies tracked in parallel. Net worth stacked by currency, category-level budgets, calendar view, and a calm pie chart of where the month went. — Notes+ — Plain notes for the quick stuff, rich notes when you need them. Folders, tags, internal linking, checklists, bookmarks, document-scanning, camera, attachments. Reading mode opens each note like a printed page you set yourself. Highlights, links, and headings all preserved where you put them. — Kanban — Every project, sorted into columns. Priority flags, due dates, color labels, archived cards, and an aging indicator that quietly tells you which cards have been waiting too long. — Widgets, Notifications, the rest — 19 home-screen widgets across all five modules. Credit card due dates, budget thresholds, friendly nudges. Soft prompts to keep you tracking, organizing, and checking in. Every alert opt-in, every one off by default. — How masterfile stays calm — No account. No tracking. No ads. masterfile lives on your device, owned by you. One purchase unlocks every module, every widget, every alert. Yours forever, no subscription, no renewal. Launch special — one-time unlock at the launch price, until July 31. Regular pricing returns on August 1.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: masterfile at Free against Fleeting Thoughts's $9.99. masterfile also leads on iOS requirement (18.6 vs 26.0). Fleeting Thoughts's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and device support (4 vs 2). On update cadence 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
masterfile is free to download; Fleeting Thoughts costs $9.99 up front. masterfile sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Fleeting Thoughts asks for nothing beyond the download.
Fleeting Thoughts ships an update every 5 days, masterfile weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Fleeting Thoughts | masterfile |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (5 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 18.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dylan Russell | Louis Cada |
In-app purchases
Fleeting Thoughts
No in-app purchases
masterfile
- masterfile unlock$2.99









