Bamboo Lite vs ClipMD
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bamboo Lite
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Bamboo (简帛) is a beautifully restrained, fully offline reader built for one thing: making long-form writing readable again. That tutorial you bookmarked. The newsletter you've been meaning to finish. The lecture notes shared in a group chat. The README that scrolls forever. Open them in the Files app and they show up as broken plain text or mangled code blocks. Bamboo turns them into ink on rice paper — measured line height, restrained type, IDE-grade code highlighting, generous white space. WHO IT'S FOR • Read-later collectors who actually want to read it later • Bloggers and newsletter writers • Students and researchers reading lecture notes & papers • Developers reading READMEs and technical blogs • Anyone who wants to finish a good article without distraction REFINED TYPOGRAPHY • Full GFM: headings, tables, task lists, footnotes, blockquotes • Prism.js highlighting for 20+ languages, one-tap copy • Built-in humanist fonts (LXGW WenKai), live font-size control OPEN FROM ANYWHERE • .md / .html from WeChat, Telegram, Mail, Files — tap "Open with..." → done • Or open files directly from the Files app • Share Extension brings Bamboo into every share sheet ONE PIECE, MANY USES • Export as a long image — share to social with watermark • Export as PDF with auto-generated outline • Three curated themes: White Silk, Dark Bamboo, Cyan Reed ON YOUR DESK • Read documents auto-land on the "Bookshelf" • Star to keep favorites within reach • "Timeline" walks back through your reading journey PURE PRIVACY • No accounts. No cache. No cloud servers. • 100% local parsing & rendering, fully offline • No analytics SDK, no ads, no tracking For the written word — Bamboo.
ClipMD
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ClipMD turns web pages and copied text into clean Markdown clips you keep on your device. Paste a URL or share a page to ClipMD, and it extracts the article body and converts it to Markdown - headings, lists, and links included. Copy the result into your notes app, or keep it in ClipMD as a reading archive. Features: - Convert web pages to Markdown by URL or from the share sheet - Convert copied text in one tap - Clean extraction focused on the article body - Copy, share, edit, or delete any clip - Save .md files to a chosen folder or Obsidian vault - Copy an AI-ready version with clear summary and body sections - Convert URLs or clipboard text from Apple Shortcuts - Search clip titles and text - Clips are stored locally on your device - Network access is used only to fetch pages you explicitly request - No account, no telemetry, no ads, no tracking Made for note-takers who live in Markdown: clip it now, paste it anywhere later.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: ClipMD at daily against Bamboo Lite's every 10 days. On price, ads, 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.
Bamboo Lite ships an update every 10 days, ClipMD daily. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Bamboo Lite | ClipMD |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 17.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Yunnan Xiaomai Technology Co., Ltd | ZEC Inc. |
In-app purchases
Bamboo Lite
No in-app purchases
ClipMD
No in-app purchases









