WatchPen vs Branchnote

Capture short handwritten notes directly on your Apple Watch. Each note syncs to your iPhone automatically through your private iCloud — no typing, no third-party accounts, no setup beyond signing into iCloud. WatchPen is built for moments where reaching for your phone is too slow. Lift your wrist, jot a thought with your finger, and the note is waiting on your iPhone moments later. Share any note as a PNG straight from the iPhone viewer. Features - Handwriting capture on Apple Watch - Automatic iCloud sync to the paired iPhone - Lightweight iPhone viewer - One-tap share as PNG - No accounts, no tracking, no analytics Your notes live in your own iCloud private database. Nothing is collected or shared.

Branchnote is a notes app organized around branches — named containers, one per topic, with every note living in exactly one of them. Branches can hold sub-branches, as many levels deep as you like. Every branch is its own feed. Type at the top to add a note, and pin one to keep it at the top of the branch. No account needed. Open the app and start writing. ORGANIZE BY TOPIC Make a branch for work, recipes, reading, half-formed ideas — whatever you actually keep notes about. Add sub-branches to any branch, like Recipes/Desserts/Cookies. Move a note, or a whole branch with everything in it, whenever something ends up in the wrong place. WRITE IN MARKDOWN Headings, bold, italics, and links that render as cards. Bullet, numbered, and checkbox lists, nested up to four levels, with checkboxes you can tick right in the note. Formatting renders as you type, and a toolbar above the keyboard applies any of it without having to remember the syntax. FIND ANYTHING Full-text search across every note, ranked by relevance, with matching excerpts pulled out and your search terms highlighted in the results. LOCK IT Set a passcode and Branchnote locks every time you return to it. Unlock with your passcode, or with biometrics if your device supports it. Your notes stay covered in the app switcher. BACK IT UP Copy your notes into a single file and save it wherever you like, then restore it whenever you need to.