Retrace vs Mini Notes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Retrace
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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.
Mini Notes
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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. 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
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Retrace at none against Mini Notes's shown. Mini 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Retrace | Mini Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | — | Weekly |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 22 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 炳银 伍 | ZHONGCHENG YANG |
In-app purchases
Retrace
No in-app purchases
Mini Notes
No in-app purchases





