PhotoNotes vs Cally Calendar
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PhotoNotes
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PhotoNotes: Light Notes helps you capture everyday notes from photos, text, voice, reminders, and documents without cluttering your camera roll. Save a receipt, sticky note, whiteboard, label, document, errand, or idea. Add a title, text, tags, voice, location, and a reminder, then keep the compressed photo inside PhotoNotes instead of mixing it with your regular photos. OCR can turn visible words in a photo into searchable text. Voice notes can be recorded or imported, with speech recognition for searchable transcripts. You can also create simple text notes, mark notes as done, pin important items, filter what needs action, and export text, photo, audio, or an image-based PDF. PhotoNotes is designed for quick, practical notes that stay easy to find later. Key features: - Create notes from camera, scanner, photo import, voice, or text - Store compressed photos separately from the camera roll - Use OCR to make photo text searchable - Record or import voice notes with searchable transcripts - Search by title, body, tags, OCR text, and voice transcript - Add local reminders and mark notes done - Pin important notes and filter what matters - Export text, photo, audio, or an image-based PDF - Choose recognition language for OCR and voice - No account required PhotoNotes stores note content locally on your iPhone. Camera, photo library, microphone, location, speech recognition, and notification access are requested only when you use the related feature. PhotoNotes is free and built to improve over time. Feedback, bug reports, and practical suggestions are welcome at support@photonotes.cloud.
Cally Calendar
See your upcoming meetings and their progress directly on your iPhone's Lock Screen. It intelligently switches between work and personal calendars based on your Focus modes and provides quick access to join calls.
- Lock Screen meeting display
- Focus mode integration
- Live timeline view
- Double-booking alerts
- One-tap call joining
- On-device data processing
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Cally puts the meeting you're in — and the ones right behind it — on your Lock Screen, so you can tell what's next without opening anything. FOLLOWS YOUR FOCUS Turn on your Work Focus and Cally shows your work calendars. Switch to Personal and it follows. You choose which calendars belong to which Focus once, and iOS does the switching from then on. A LIVE TIMELINE, NOT A LIST The meeting you're in sits at the top with a countdown and a progress bar showing how much of it is left. Underneath, the next events are strung along a timeline, so the shape of your afternoon is obvious at a glance. DOUBLE-BOOKINGS, CALLED OUT Two meetings in the same slot are marked "2 at once" rather than quietly hidden behind each other — so you find out before you're late to one of them. WORKS WITH THE CALENDARS YOU ALREADY HAVE Google, iCloud, Exchange — if the account is in iOS Settings, Cally reads it. There is no sign-in, no account to create, and no setup beyond picking your calendars. ONE TAP INTO THE CALL Meetings with a video link get a Join button right on the Lock Screen. TOLD, NOT JUST SHOWN Cally can buzz when one meeting ends and the next is up, even while it's closed. YOUR CALENDAR STAYS ON YOUR IPHONE Cally reads your events on-device and never sends them anywhere. Cally is free and supported by ads. Requires iOS 17. Live Activities appear on iPhone.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: PhotoNotes at none against Cally Calendar's shown. On price, in-app purchases, device support 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | PhotoNotes | Cally Calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Every 2 days |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | IATECH SRLS | Chathushka Rodrigo |
In-app purchases
PhotoNotes
No in-app purchases
Cally Calendar
No in-app purchases









