Comparison

NoteSam vs Screen Time Control

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

Head to head
About

NoteSam

Features
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NoteSam β€” Handwritten Notes for iPad Built by a mathematician who needed a handwriting notebook that actually kept up with the Apple Pencil. Couldn't find one. Wrote it. Private by design. Your notes live on your device. Sync goes only where you point it β€” iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, WebDAV, S3, SFTP. No third-party tracking SDKs, no ad networks, no behavioral profiling. WRITING β€’ Native PencilKit engine tuned for low-latency Apple Pencil β€’ Vector strokes β€” infinite zoom, no pixelation β€’ Pressure + tilt sensitivity β€’ Palm rejection that just works READING & ANNOTATION β€’ PDF import β€” annotate textbooks, contracts, lecture notes β€’ EPUB reader with text-anchored highlights that survive font-size changes β€’ Voice memos attached to the page ORGANIZATION β€’ Unlimited folders and notebooks β€’ Template marketplace β€” grid, dot, music, planner, more β€’ OCR search across handwritten notes PRIVACY End-to-end encryption (AES-256-GCM + Argon2id). Your cloud provider sees ciphertext only. Product analytics is limited to anonymous conversion events (sign-up, purchase). Your handwriting, your PDFs, your voice memos β€” those never leave your device unless you sync them yourself. OFFLINE-FIRST Everything works without a network connection. Sync is additive. Free tier: unlimited notebooks, PDF + EPUB import, all core drawing tools. Pro unlocks the template marketplace and multi-provider sync. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Custom Terms: https://notesam.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://notesam.app/privacy

About

Screen Time Control

Features
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Luvia β€” App Blocker & Focus Take back control of your screen time. Luvia blocks the apps pulling you away from what matters β€” automatically, on your schedule, or whenever you need to focus right now. 5 hours. That's how long most people spend on their phone each day. Luvia helps you spend it differently. Set up schedules once. Let Luvia do the rest. Your apps get blocked automatically β€” during deep work, mornings, dinner, or whenever you choose. No willpower required. SCHEDULED BLOCKS Block any app on a recurring schedule. Choose the days, set the time window, and Luvia enforces it automatically β€” even when the app is closed. Pick from 8 ready-made presets: Deep work, Morning window, Night lock, Lunch break, Wind down, Dinner table, Study block, Weekend time. Or build your own. QUICK FOCUS Need to focus right now? Start a Quick Focus session in seconds. Choose a duration β€” 15 min, 25 min, 1 hour, or go indefinite β€” and your apps are blocked instantly. ALLOWLIST Some apps should always be accessible. Add them to your always-allowed list and they'll stay unblocked no matter what schedule is running. FOCUS SCORE See how well you stick to your schedules. Your daily Focus % shows exactly how much blocked-app time slipped through β€” and how many times you unblocked. SCREEN TIME GOAL Set a daily screen time goal. Track your progress throughout the day and see how close you are to hitting it. UNBLOCK (FOR EMERGENCIES) Life happens. Pause blocking for up to 15 minutes when you genuinely need it. The session picks back up automatically when time is up. PRIVATE & SECURE Luvia uses Apple's Screen Time API. All blocking runs entirely on your device. Your data never leaves your phone. Stop scrolling. Start focusing. Download Luvia β€” and take your time back. https://solidgrove.ai/privacy https://solidgrove.ai/terms

Screenshots

NoteSam3 screens
Screen Time Control4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Screen Time Control at none against NoteSam's 2. Screen Time Control also leads on ads (none vs shown). NoteSam's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. NoteSam sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Screen Time Control asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NoteSam ships an update every 5 days, Screen Time Control every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 10, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences Β· 3 level
NoteSam versus Screen Time Control: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNoteSamScreen Time Control
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 days β€” betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsYesNo β€” better
In-app purchasesYesNo β€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPad β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 β€” better18.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size15 MB54 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCryptosam LLCSolid Grove

In-app purchases

2 purchases

NoteSam

Subscriptions2
  • NoteSam Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
  • NoteSam Pro Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
None

Screen Time Control

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is NoteSam free?
NoteSam is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Screen Time Control free?
Screen Time Control is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do NoteSam or Screen Time Control have ads?
NoteSam shows ads; Screen Time Control does not.
Which is updated more often, NoteSam or Screen Time Control?
NoteSam ships an update every 5 days, and Screen Time Control every 2 weeks. Most recently, NoteSam was updated on September 10, 2026 and Screen Time Control on September 17, 2026.

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