Comparison

Lucid vs Volocal

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

Head to head
About

Lucid

Organize your thoughts with a minimalist, gesture-driven note-taking app. Connect and nest ideas fluidly with block-based editing. Bookmark sections and navigate easily with intuitive gestures.

Highlights
  • Minimalist and intuitive design
  • Fluid, block-based editing
  • Gesture-driven navigation
  • Bookmark any section
  • Spacebar caret navigation
Features
Read full description

■ Beautifully minimal Intuitive & clean design that keeps you in the flow. A note-taking app that gets out of your way. ■ Connect ideas Organize thoughts as they form. Freely move and nest ideas with fluid, block-based editing. ■ Gesture driven • Swipe right to focus on any subsection • Swipe left to collapse a section • Navigate through parent blocks by swiping from the edge • Pull down to add a block at the top or tap empty space to add at the bottom ■ Other features • Bookmark any section, not just top-level notes • Easily move the caret between blocks by holding the spacebar (not possible in other outliners) ■ Roadmap Lucid is in early development and many more features are coming soon: • External links • Bidirectional linking • Desktop app & iCloud sync • More themes and customization options For the philosophy and reasoning behind the app, visit https://thelucidnotes.com/

About

Volocal

This AI assistant runs entirely on your device, offering private, real-time voice conversations without needing an internet connection. It supports interrupting the AI mid-sentence and requires no subscriptions or API keys.

Highlights
  • Fully on-device AI processing
  • Real-time voice conversations
  • Interruptible AI responses
  • No internet connection required
  • No subscriptions or API keys
  • Open source
Features
Read full description

Talk to an AI assistant that runs entirely on your iPhone. No cloud servers, no API keys, no subscriptions -- just real-time voice conversations powered by on-device intelligence. FULLY PRIVATE, FULLY LOCAL Every word you say stays on your device. Volocal runs three specialized AI models directly on your iPhone's hardware -- nothing is ever sent to the internet. After downloading the models on first launch, you never need a network connection again. REAL-TIME VOICE CONVERSATIONS Speak naturally and hear responses streamed back in real-time. Volocal uses a three-stage pipeline -- Speech-to-Text, Language Model, and Text-to-Speech -- all running simultaneously on different chips inside your phone for smooth, low-latency conversations. INTERRUPT ANYTIME Change your mind mid-sentence? Just start talking. Volocal supports barge-in with hardware echo cancellation, so the microphone stays active even while the assistant is speaking. No need to wait for it to finish. NO SUBSCRIPTIONS, NO API KEYS Volocal is completely free and open source. There are no in-app purchases, no subscriptions, and no hidden costs. Download the models once (~2.3 GB, Wi-Fi recommended) and you're set. HOW IT WORKS Volocal splits the workload across your iPhone's specialized processors: - Speech recognition (Parakeet EOU) runs on the Neural Engine - Language model (Qwen3.5-2B) runs on the GPU via Metal - Text-to-speech (PocketTTS) runs on the Neural Engine This separation means all three models can run at the same time without competing for resources, keeping conversations fluid and responsive. LIGHTWEIGHT Total runtime memory usage is approximately 1.2 GB, well within the limits of modern iPhones. REQUIREMENTS - iOS 17 or later - Physical device only (Neural Engine is not available in the Simulator) - ~2.3 GB of storage for model downloads on first launch Volocal is MIT licensed and open source. Built by Fikri Karim.

Screenshots

Lucid4 screens
Volocal2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Lucid at 5.0 against Volocal's 3.0. On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Lucid holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 3 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Lucid versus Volocal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLucidVolocal
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (5 ratings) — better3.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings5 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB13 MB
Age rating4+12+
Developerillia chabanFikri Karim

In-app purchases

None

Lucid

No in-app purchases

None

Volocal

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lucid free?
Lucid is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Volocal free?
Volocal is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Lucid or Volocal?
Lucid is rated higher. Lucid averages 5.0 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while Volocal averages 3.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Lucid or Volocal have ads?
Neither Lucid nor Volocal shows ads.

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