Amber vs Marginalias
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Amber
A Markdown notes app designed for efficient writing and a clear reading experience. Organize notes in folders, search your library, and sync across Apple devices. Includes built-in tutorials for easy onboarding.
- Markdown styling as you type
- Folder organization
- Fast writing and calm reading view
- Search across library
- Photo attachments
- iCloud syncing across devices
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Your writing should stay yours—and remain easy to open with other tools. Amber is a Markdown document app that stores regular .md files in iCloud Drive. You can see the originals in the Files app on iPhone and iPad or in Finder on Mac, so your work never depends on a proprietary document format. Natural to write, clear to read Markdown markers appear when you need them, while headings, lists, quotes, links, images, checkboxes, and code blocks stay easy to read. Reading Mode lets you select and copy without worrying about accidental edits. Editing Mode gets you straight back to writing. Tables you can edit in place Amber turns Markdown tables into clear, editable grids. Change cells, add or remove rows and columns, choose header rows or columns, and adjust alignment without leaving the document. The source remains regular Markdown. Stay oriented in long documents Jump to any section with the heading navigator, or fold a heading to see only the shape of your document. Find within the current file, search your entire library, use line numbers, and move back or forward between documents. Keep a growing library organized Recent Documents, Favorites, and folders keep important files close. Choose a destination before creating a document or folder, then rename, move, delete, and restore items with a familiar flow on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Recover from accidental changes Amber can keep earlier contents in version history on the current device. Preview an older version, compare it with the current document, and restore the one you need. History is stored separately on each device rather than in iCloud, and its storage limit is under your control. Continue across iPhone, iPad, and Mac Your documents sync through iCloud Drive. Capture a thought on iPhone, shape a longer draft on iPad, and work with the original files in Finder on Mac. No separate Amber account is required. Amber includes an interface and built-in guides in Korean, English, Japanese, and Russian. Terms of Use and EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://drfranken.net/apps/amber/privacyPolicy_en.html
Marginalias
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Keep the quote with its source Evidence Board collects exact passages across your documents, with topics and notes. Verify each clip against the local source and share a focused Markdown evidence sheet. • Open a document → Clip evidence. Enter an exact passage of at least three characters and choose its occurrence. • Save a topic and note with the clip. Open Evidence Board from the library to find and review clips. • Open a clip to verify its quote and source hash, edit notes, or share the visible board. Exact case-sensitive matching shows up to 32 occurrences. A source hash identifies the local text version; it is not proof of authorship or truth. Up to 256 clips and 1 MiB are retained. Unavailable or changed sources are reported. Marginalias is a private reading companion for your own documents. Import text-based PDFs, plain text, or Markdown notes, then use on-device intelligence to summarize, ask questions, and pull out useful structure without sending your content to a developer server. Build a local library of documents, open the source text whenever you need it, and keep AI output close to the material it came from. Marginalias is designed for focused review, research, note cleanup, study, and document triage. Features: - Import text-based PDFs, plain text, and Markdown - Keep a searchable local document library - Generate concise document summaries - Ask questions grounded in document excerpts - Inspect exact evidence excerpts, character ranges, and PDF pages behind generated claims - See the retrieved context used for each answer - Extract key points, action items, outlines, and glossary terms - Copy and share generated output - Use light, dark, or system appearance - Review a bundled sample document before importing your own files Privacy: Marginalias does not require an account, does not include analytics or advertising SDKs, and does not collect your documents or AI output. Documents and generated output stay on your device. Device note: AI features use Apple on-device intelligence. If Apple Intelligence is unavailable or not enabled, importing and reading documents still work and the app explains the requirement.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Amber at fortnightly against Marginalias's every 5 weeks. Amber also leads on price ($2.99 vs $3.99) and iOS requirement (17.4 vs 26.0). On ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
Amber costs $2.99 and Marginalias $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Amber ships an update fortnightly, Marginalias every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Amber | Marginalias |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.4 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | DONGWOOK LEE | Robert Corbin |
In-app purchases
Amber
No in-app purchases
Marginalias
No in-app purchases









