Comparison

HW Journal vs Memon for Mobile

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

Head to head
About

HW Journal

Features
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Work plans, personal errands, and the thoughts that pop up in between. Your whole day, in a notebook that is yours alone. HW Journal is a notebook app for people who love to write by hand. Write and expand ideas on iPad; check tomorrow and wrap up the day on iPhone. Two devices, one notebook. ■ What you didn't finish comes back to you Circle something, or underline it, with the Carry-over Pen, and it moves to the top of tomorrow's page at its original size. It stays every day until you erase it, so even if you forget you wrote it down, it finds you. Each morning, Today's Summary gathers carried-over items, events, and to-dos in one place. ■ A big A3 page to write freely (new in 2.0) The memo area is one full A3 sheet. In portrait you see the A4 half; slide right to reach the rest. Whatever the device or orientation, what you wrote looks the same. ■ Photos and stickers Place photos, rotate them, resize them. Lift the subject out of a photo and stick it on the page as a sticker. ■ Sticky notes Small handwritten notes you can put anywhere on the screen. ■ Daily records beside the date Show medication, blood pressure, weight, steps, and trash-day reminders next to the date. Turn off whatever you don't use, one by one. Health records are stored only on your device, never in iCloud. Connecting to Health is optional and off by default. ■ A small touch for other pens If you use a pen other than Apple Pencil, double-tap the page with a finger to switch between pen and eraser (turn it on in Settings). You can also trigger the switch from the Shortcuts app. ■ And more - Day view, week view, and month calendar, linked with Apple Calendar and Reminders - Five-year diary and Day Diary, protected by Face ID or passcode - Extra pages with blank, ruled, or grid backgrounds, plus PDF markup - Holiday colors, and Japanese rokuyo, holiday names, and weather - Touch mode lets you use the app with just your finger - Most display items can be switched on or off in Settings - You can go back to the previous layout (1.x): Settings > Display & Layout > Screen Layout ■ Pricing The app itself is free. The Supporters Pack (one-time purchase) unlocks more pages, backgrounds, search, passcode lock, and more. Tips are also available. ■ Note If you use both iPad and iPhone, update both to 2.0 before using.

About

Memon for Mobile

Features
Read full description

Memon is a three-pane, email-style note management app with rich text editing. A macOS version is also available — using both together is highly recommended. Key Features [Note Management] · Hierarchical tree organization with groups and notes · Color-coded display by importance level (star rating) · Tag assignment and list view · Icon customization for groups and notes (18 standard categories, 12 colors, custom images) · Note sorting (by updated date, created date, title, importance, or tag) · Move notes to another group (desktop: drag & drop; mobile: long-press to enter selection mode, then use checkboxes to select multiple notes) · Resizable list column widths (drag column headers to adjust) [Rich Text Editing] · Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough · Text color and background color · Headings (H1–H3) · Bullet lists, numbered lists, and checklists · Per-note background color · Image support (insert, resize, copy, move, delete) · Zoom in/out (desktop: Ctrl + mouse wheel) [Tables] · Add, delete, resize, and move rows and columns · Resize and align the entire table · Cell formatting (bold, italic, underline, text color, background color, horizontal/vertical alignment) · Cell copy & paste (TSV-compatible with Excel and Numbers) [Search] · Full-text search across all notes · In-editor text search · Search selected text on Google [Cloud Integration] · Save and load via iCloud Drive (macOS / iOS) · Save and load via Google Drive (all platforms) · Save and load via OneDrive (all platforms) · Your local note file is the single source of truth, automatically synced to the cloud on every save [Import / Export] · Import XML note files from the original Windows version of Memon · Bulk import text files from a selected folder · Export selected notes as text, PDF, or rich text (RTF) files · Export groups as text, PDF, or RTF files in a folder hierarchy [Other] · Password protection with AES encryption · Print (launched from the editor toolbar — printer selection, margins, header/footer, and preview) · Sticky note display (open a note as a floating window on the desktop) · Home screen widgets · Font and background color customization · In-app update checker

Screenshots

HW Journal4 screens
Memon for Mobile4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Memon for Mobile at none against HW Journal's 3. Memon for Mobile also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.4). On price, update cadence, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. HW Journal sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Memon for Mobile asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HW Journal ships an update every 4 days, Memon for Mobile every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 4 level
HW Journal versus Memon for Mobile: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHW JournalMemon for Mobile
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 6 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.415.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB59 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKAZUTO IIDAYusuke Fukasawa

In-app purchases

3 purchases

HW Journal

One-time3
  • Tip Small$1.99
  • Tip (Large)$3.99
  • HW Journal PRO$6.99
None

Memon for Mobile

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HW Journal free?
HW Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Memon for Mobile free?
Memon for Mobile is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do HW Journal or Memon for Mobile have ads?
Neither HW Journal nor Memon for Mobile shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HW Journal or Memon for Mobile?
HW Journal ships an update every 4 days, and Memon for Mobile every 6 days. Most recently, HW Journal was updated on October 25, 2026 and Memon for Mobile on October 24, 2026.

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