Comparison

PDF nano vs PinNote

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

Head to head
About

PDF nano

Edit, translate, and manage PDF documents with a focus on on-device privacy. This app offers tools for scanning, converting, annotating, and organizing your files locally.

Highlights
  • Read, organize, and manage PDFs
  • Offline PDF translation with layout preservation
  • Scan documents and create PDFs
  • Convert PDFs to Word, Excel, or images
  • OCR for Arabic and English text
  • Add signatures and annotations
  • Remove hidden metadata for privacy
Features
Read full description

PDF nano is a comprehensive, professional PDF reader, editor, translator, and manager engineered for speed and privacy. Combining powerful on-device tools with Apple Intelligence, PDF nano delivers a unified workflow tailored for iPhone, foldable iPhone Duo, and iPad—handling your contracts, reports, and paperwork with top-tier security. Key Features: 1. Foldable iPhone Duo & iPad Experience: • Seven Postures Adaptation: Automatic layout across foldable and dual-display devices. • Dual-Screen Book Mode: Side-by-side reading with automatic hinge isolation to prevent content clipping. • Tabletop Mode: Bottom screen transforms into a control deck for drawing, signing, and scrubbing without covering the document. • Dynamic iPad Sidebar: Instant browsing of thumbnails, outlines, and bookmarks beside your canvas. • High-Contrast Navigation Pill: Prominent back button for effortless touch accessibility and zero status-bar overlap. 2. AI Document Assistant (Beta): • Instant executive summaries of lengthy reports, extracting decisions and action items. • Precision risk analysis and contractual obligation detection. • Verifiable Q&A with answers grounded in direct textual citations from your document. • Encrypted Cloud Privacy: Powered by Apple Intelligence and Private Cloud Compute (PCC) to process documents securely without logging or storing data. *Note: AI features require Apple Intelligence-compatible devices. 3. Offline Document Translation (Beta): • Full-document PDF translation entirely offline while preserving layouts, fonts, and tables. • Batch approval to accelerate processing for files up to 100 pages. • Granular paragraph review with selective editing for each translated block. *Note: Translation operates fully on-device. Machine translations may contain errors. 4. Advanced Reading & Viewing: • Dual-Page Continuous View: True book-like reading with native RTL Arabic and LTR layout. • Distraction-Free Guard: Locks editing overlays during reading mode to prevent accidental markups. • Fast-Scrub Vertical Scroll: High-velocity thumb scrubber for jumping through hundreds of pages. • Full Interface Adaptation: Precision safe-area integration around the Dynamic Island and status bar. • Smart Double-Tap Zoom: Rapid focus scaling with an intuitive floating navigation capsule. • OCR Visual Search: Direct in-document search across scanned PDFs with fuzzy and multi-word query support. 5. Conversion & Smart Scanning: • High-Fidelity PDF to Word (.docx) conversion preserving tables and formatting. • Accurate Table Extraction to Excel (.xlsx) with automatic data type inference. • Camera Document Scanner to digitize receipts and paperwork into clean PDFs. • High-quality PDF-to-Image and multi-image-to-PDF conversion pipelines. 6. Editing, Signing & Organization: • Digital signatures: Create, position, and cryptographically sign contracts and forms. • Complete markup suite: Freehand drawing, highlighters, custom text boxes, and annotations. • Page management: Reorder, rotate, extract, or delete pages with fluid drag-and-drop. • Merge & Split: Combine multiple PDFs into one or split large documents into individual files. • Smart PDF Compression: Reduce file size for rapid sharing via email and messaging apps. 7. Industry-Leading Privacy & Security: • 100% On-Device Processing: Reading, editing, translation, OCR, and conversion run locally without uploading files to external servers. • Cryptographic Apple Privacy: AI Assistant requests are strictly restricted to Apple Private Cloud Compute (PCC). • Visual face and sensitive data blurring with hidden metadata sanitization. • Password encryption, native AirPrint support, and Home Screen widgets. Free tier includes daily tool quotas. Unlock unlimited access via in-app purchase. Standard Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/

About

PinNote

This app places your essential notes directly on your iPhone's Lock Screen, Home Screen, and StandBy. Access important information like passwords, to-dos, or reminders at a glance without unlocking your device. Customize your notes with adjustable font sizes and backgrounds, and utilize privacy mode to blur sensitive content.

Highlights
  • Lock Screen, Home Screen, and StandBy widgets
  • Adjustable font size and background colors
  • Privacy mode for sensitive information
  • iCloud sync across devices
  • Pinning and sorting of important notes
  • Paper-inspired design
Features
Read full description

PinNote — pin what matters most to your screen. Some things you just need to see at a glance: door codes and gate passwords, Wi-Fi name and password, parking spot number, to-dos and shopping lists, a daily dose of motivation. Standby Note is built for exactly these glance-and-go moments. It puts your notes directly on your iPhone's Lock Screen, Home Screen, and StandBy — no unlocking, no opening apps, just look. Key features: Lock Screen, Home Screen, and StandBy widgets Supports Lock Screen rectangular, Lock Screen inline, Home Screen widgets, and StandBy widgets — keeping your notes always in view. Minimal editor, huge type Notes are shown in extra-large bold type, with adjustable font size (16–56pt) and paper, white, yellow, blue, or black backgrounds. Privacy mode Enable it and your Lock Screen widget blurs automatically — sensitive info stays hidden from prying eyes. iCloud sync Notes sync automatically across iPhone and iPad via iCloud. Pin & sort Pin important notes so they always stay on top. Paper-inspired design Warm cream paper, ink-black type, and an amber accent — clean, high-contrast, and unobtrusive, like a real sticky note on your screen. Who is it for? Anyone who forgets door or Wi-Fi codes; anyone who needs to jot down parking spots fast; anyone who wants a daily reminder always in sight; anyone who loves minimal, glanceable tools. Standby Note — keep what matters, always in view. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. We will add or optimize features based on your requests. Support Email: sunjun20141@qq.com Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://docs.qq.com/doc/p/1467c8fe80745c7beac61d87faf270f4ce650a31

Screenshots

PDF nano4 screens
PinNote4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: PDF nano at 5.0 against PinNote's 4.6. PinNote's advantage is ratings volume (5 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. PDF nano sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and PinNote sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PDF nano holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PinNote has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDF nano ships an update every 3 days, PinNote every 2 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
PDF nano versus PinNote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF nanoPinNote
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better4.6 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews—94.7% of reviews
Number of ratings15 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThamer Mohammed军 孙

Customer experience

PDF nano

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

PinNote

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive94.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative5.3%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

PDF nano

One-time1
  • PDFnano Pro Lifetime$19.99
1 purchases

PinNote

One-time1
  • PinNote Premium$3.99

Questions

Is PDF nano free?
PDF nano is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PinNote free?
PinNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PDF nano or PinNote?
PDF nano is rated higher. PDF nano averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while PinNote averages 4.6 from 5 ratings.
Do PDF nano or PinNote have ads?
Neither PDF nano nor PinNote shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PDF nano or PinNote?
PDF nano ships an update every 3 days, and PinNote every 2 days. Most recently, PDF nano was updated on October 24, 2026 and PinNote on October 24, 2026.

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