Verbatum vs Podium Notes

A sermon is two tasks in one: structuring your argument and speaking it at the pulpit. Most tools do one or the other. Verbatum does both — a mind-map editor for shaping the sermon, and a Speech view that strips every distraction once you walk to the pulpit. THOUGHTS MODE Outline your sermon as a mind map. Every heading is a branch; every sentence is a leaf. Reorder by drag, fold sections away, see the whole argument at a glance. Reading-time estimates show next to every branch, with a running total against your target so you know how long the sermon will be before you walk up. SPEECH MODE Plain prose, large type, generous line height. A quiet timer, an unobtrusive ruler, and a progress runner that lets you see — without reading the clock — how much sermon is left. No menu bars, no editing controls, no notifications. Nothing between you and the words. YOUR FILES, YOUR FUTURE Sermons are saved as plain Markdown files on disk. No accounts, no lock-in, no proprietary format. Open them in any editor; carry them on a USB stick; sync through iCloud Drive if you want to. Your archive outlives any app. PRIVACY Verbatum has no backend, no telemetry, no analytics. Your sermons never leave your device unless you put them somewhere yourself. REQUIREMENTS macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later. iPadOS 17 or later.

Podium Notes keeps your words in front of you — and now reads them back to you. Built for anyone who speaks from prepared text: preachers, lecturers, best men, keynote speakers, students rehearsing a presentation. PRESENT - Large, readable text with adjustable size and typeface - A highlight band that tracks where you are, sized to suit you - Set your speaking pace and see how long your talk runs - Themes for bright stages and dark rooms LISTEN — new in 2.0 - Hear your talk read aloud in a natural voice - Works entirely offline: the voice runs on your device and nothing is uploaded - Scrub to any point in your text and playback starts there - Picks up where you left off, even after closing the app - Plays through CarPlay, headphones and Bluetooth, with lock screen controls VOICE FOLLOW - Turn on the microphone and the text scrolls as you speak - Speech recognition runs on your device GETTING YOUR TEXT IN - Share from Notes, Mail, Pages, or any app with a share sheet - Import plain text and PDF files - Type or paste directly PRIVATE BY DESIGN - No account, no sign-up - Your notes stay on your device and in your own iCloud - The speech voice ships inside the app, so nothing you write is ever sent anywhere Works on iPhone, iPad and Mac.