Comparison

Retrace vs Notes

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

Head to head
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.

About

Notes

Features
Read full description

If you want a notes app that's “open and write, tidy as you go, never lose a word,” Mini Notes is built for you. **Auto-save, so every quick note is safe** Even if a call comes in, the app is interrupted, or your phone runs flat, anything you hadn't saved is brought back automatically. No hunting for a save button—just write. **Flexible organization, your own knowledge base** Manage things as “Notebook → Group → Note” with multi-level nesting for complex setups—or skip filing entirely and just jot things down. **One-tap sharing, capture ideas on the spot** When you spot a passage or link in Safari or another app, just tap Share and choose Mini Notes. It drops straight into your inbox—no copying back and forth. **Effortless formatting, clear at a glance** The rich-text editor gives you bold, strikethrough and a 12-color preset palette, and remembers the last color you used so you don't set it again. Titles inherit the body's formatting, keeping list previews clean and readable. **Home Screen widget, no need to open the app** Put your most recently edited notes on your Home Screen and see what you wrote today at a glance. Tap one to jump straight back into it. **Recently Deleted, for when you delete by mistake** Deleted notes stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days, so you can restore them anytime. Sure you don't need them? Clear them out in one tap. **Text Size, so everything is easy to read** Drag a slider in Settings to resize the text and icons throughout the app, without changing the setting for any other app. **Markdown checklists for quick to-dos** Type "# checklist" to turn the current line into a tappable checkbox. Press Return and the next line starts with a checkbox too. Tap to tick it off—tapped the wrong one? Just undo it. We'll keep updating Mini Notes. If there's something you'd like improved, or a feature you'd love to see, please leave a review on the App Store or get in touch via Send Feedback in the app. Your support and encouragement keep us building a better product. Thank you!

Screenshots

Retrace4 screens
Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Retrace at none against Notes's shown. Notes's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On price, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard2 real differences · 4 level
Retrace versus Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRetraceNotes
PriceFreeFree
Update frequency—Weekly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS18.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer炳银 伍ZHONGCHENG YANG

In-app purchases

None

Retrace

No in-app purchases

None

Notes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Retrace free?
Retrace is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Notes free?
Notes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Retrace or Notes have ads?
Notes shows ads; Retrace does not.

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