Comparison

YES NOTE vs Retrace

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

Head to head
About

YES NOTE

Features
Read full description

YES NOTE — A quiet sheet of paper, devoted to one thing: writing down your thoughts. No judgment, no rush. Write slowly, write true. ——————— We already have too many apps waving the "productivity" flag. YES NOTE goes the other way: it lets you sit down, write one line, and then do nothing. No schedules, no reminders, no complex formatting, no "daily completion rate", no achievements to unlock. It is just a sheet of paper. If you've ever read a line you desperately wanted to keep, if you simply want to set down a mood, a quote, or a thought that appeared out of nowhere — this was made for you. CORE FEATURES ———— · Titles are optional — the list shows the first line of your note · Tag every note your own way, and filter by tag from the bar up top · Long-press a note to turn it into one of 17 beautifully designed cards: beige book page, dawn gradient, movie poster, starry night, lamp-lit reading, classical book… each typeset in the LXGW WenKai typeface · Pin the notes that matter · Long-press for copy, share card, and delete · Quick tag filtering at the top of the list WHY THE TYPEFACE MATTERS —————— The whole app is set in the open-source LXGW WenKai typeface, born for long-form reading. When your thoughts are held by this type, even an ordinary sentence carries the quiet of paper. WHAT IT DOESN'T DO ————— · No account required, no user system · Notes stay on your device and sync only through your private iCloud · No third-party analytics, ads or tracking SDKs · Never touches contacts, location, microphone or other sensitive permissions · Never tries to turn note-taking into a streak All notes are stored locally on your device and synced only through your private iCloud. Export a backup before deleting the app. WHO IT'S FOR ———— · People who want one simple place to write things down · People who care about typography and visual quietness · People who often send a passage to a friend and want it to look like a piece of work · People tired of being hurried by their tools COMPATIBILITY ———— iOS 18.0 or later · iPhone, iPad & Mac · English and Chinese

About

Retrace

Features
Read full description

Retrace is a minimal notes app with a single promise: nothing you write is ever lost. Write freely. After every two seconds of quiet, Rewind quietly snapshots your note. You can scrub through those snapshots like a film reel — see what your idea looked like an hour ago, last night, a week ago. — TIME MACHINE FOR YOUR NOTES — · Automatic, silent snapshots. No thinking required. · Drag the filmstrip to revisit any past version. · Tap "restore" — the current state is saved as another version. So you can never lose anything by going back. · Mark important moments manually with one tap. — A FOCUSED EDITOR — · No menus. No formatting bar. Just space to think. · Inline checklists — tap the checkbox to mark done. · Attach images. · Auto-save after 2 seconds of idle. — TAKE IT WITH YOU — · iCloud sync across all your devices, end to end through your own Apple account. · Home Screen widget for quick capture and today's notes. · Siri shortcuts: "open my last note," "quick capture." · One-tap export to Markdown, PDF, or a beautiful long-image Time Album. — YOURS, ALWAYS — · No accounts. No tracking. No ads. · Your data lives only on your device and in your own iCloud. · Available in 8 languages: English, 简体中文, 繁體中文, 日本語, 한국어, Español, Français, Deutsch. · Made by one person, for one person. Retrace is built around a single feeling: the relief of knowing nothing you write will be lost. Once you trust that, you start writing more bravely. Try it for a week.

Screenshots

YES NOTE4 screens
Retrace4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: YES NOTE at 3 against Retrace's 1. On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard1 real difference · 5 level
YES NOTE versus Retrace: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterYES NOTERetrace
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyFortnightly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size33 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer笑天 刘炳银 伍

In-app purchases

None

YES NOTE

No in-app purchases

None

Retrace

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is YES NOTE free?
YES NOTE is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Retrace free?
Retrace is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do YES NOTE or Retrace have ads?
Neither YES NOTE nor Retrace shows ads.

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