Comparison

markru vs Simple Notes Widget

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

Head to head
About

markru

Features
Read full description

Markdown notes are easy to write β€” and easy to forget. markru is built for what comes after writing: shelving, binding, and rereading your own notes like books. (Some features β€” tag suggestions, summaries β€” use Apple Intelligence on supported devices.) YOUR NOTES, SHELVED LIKE BOOKS Promote finished notes from drafts to your bookshelf. Browse by shelf, search, and sort by what you read last. BIND NOTES INTO ONE READABLE BOOK Combine related notes into a bound book. Reorder pages, add new ones, and read them as a single piece β€” or unbind anytime. WRITE IN CLEAN MARKDOWN A focused editor with live preview and a formatting bar for headings, lists, checklists, tables, code, and more. Some writing helpers β€” tag suggestions, formatting, and summaries β€” are partly powered by Apple Intelligence, right on your device. Note: These AI-assisted features require a supported device and OS version. Where Apple Intelligence isn't available, they simply fall back to manual entry β€” everything else in the app still works, and no note content is ever sent to an external server. CAPTURE IDEAS IN SECONDS Quick Capture works like a paper memo: jot it down, the title can come later. Import .md and .txt files, or send text from any app with the share sheet. KEEP YOUR SHELVES IN ORDER See your note, shelf, and book counts at a glance. Clean up, compress, or bind notes as your library grows. PICK UP RIGHT WHERE YOU LEFT OFF markru remembers your reading progress in every bound book, so returning to your notes feels like reopening one. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account required. Your notes live as plain Markdown files on your device or in iCloud Documents β€” never on our servers. Write lightly. Reread deeply.

About

Simple Notes Widget

Features
Read full description

Simple Notes Widget is the fastest way to keep your lists where you can see them β€” on your home screen, your desktop, and every device you own. WIDGET FIRST Put a page of notes right on your iPhone or iPad home screen, or your Mac desktop. Check things off directly in the widget β€” no need to open the app β€” and flip between pages with the widget's arrows. PAGES, NOT PILES Organize notes into simple pages: Groceries, To-Do, Trip, Ideas. Reorder with a drag. Rename or add pages anytime. CHECK IT OFF Tap the circle to mark a note done and it gets a clean strikethrough. Completed notes can sink to the bottom automatically. REMINDERS THAT REPEAT Give any note a reminder β€” one-time, or repeating daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. Tapping the notification opens the note. PRIORITIES Flag notes low, normal, or high priority with a colored dot. EVERYWHERE WITH ICLOUD Your notes sync automatically between iPhone, iPad, and Mac through your private iCloud account. No sign-ups, no accounts β€” and your notes are never visible to us. SAFETY NET Deleted notes wait in Recently Deleted for 30 days, so an accidental swipe never costs you a list. Simple Notes Widget is free, with no ads and no tracking.

Screenshots

markru4 screens
Simple Notes Widget4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: markru at weekly against Simple Notes Widget's monthly. Simple Notes Widget's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

markru ships an update weekly, Simple Notes Widget monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 10, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 4 level
markru versus Simple Notes Widget: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParametermarkruSimple Notes Widget
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyWeekly β€” betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac β€” better
Requires iOS26.017.0 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size9 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerkazunobu tsujinoQvyshift LLC

In-app purchases

None

markru

No in-app purchases

None

Simple Notes Widget

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is markru free?
markru is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Simple Notes Widget free?
Simple Notes Widget is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do markru or Simple Notes Widget have ads?
Neither markru nor Simple Notes Widget shows ads.
Which is updated more often, markru or Simple Notes Widget?
markru ships an update weekly, and Simple Notes Widget monthly. Most recently, markru was updated on September 10, 2026 and Simple Notes Widget on September 22, 2026.

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