Nook vs Veil Private Notes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Nook
This app offers a secure and private space for your notes and journal entries. It features unique privacy typing to obscure text as you write and ensures all data remains locally on your device with no cloud synchronization or tracking. Organize your thoughts with customizable notes, lockable folders, and robust security options.
- Privacy Typing to obscure text
- Local storage, no cloud
- Face ID, Touch ID, or passcode lock
- Lockable folders
- Customizable note appearance
- Nested folder organization
- Encrypted backup export
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Nook is a calm, private place for your notes, journal and everyday thoughts. Everything you write stays on your iPhone. There is no cloud, no account, and no tracking. The app has no internet access at all, so your words simply never leave your device. Most note apps sell you the cloud. Nook does the opposite, and makes a promise you can actually verify: your notes are yours alone. PRIVACY TYPING Something you have not seen before. Turn on Privacy Typing and every word you write is blacked out on screen the moment you finish it, so no one can read over your shoulder on the train, in a meeting, or at home. The word you are currently typing stays faintly visible just for you. Tap the eye to reveal the whole note, and Nook remembers the setting per note. You choose the bar color and how hidden the current word stays. HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT Protecting a page while you write it does little if your list still reads like a table of contents. Tap the eye on the home screen and every title and preview is covered behind glass. Bring them all back with Face ID, or uncover one note at a time, which is safer still. Everything covers itself again the moment you leave the app, so Nook never opens onto your own words. SOMEWHERE TO START Fifty one writing prompts, written by hand and grouped by what you might need: today, how you are, the people in your head, looking back, looking ahead, the quiet ones, the unsaid ones. They work on every device, with no model required. On devices with Apple Intelligence, Nook can also suggest a topic or reflect on an entry using Apple's on-device Foundation Models, with no network call at any point. WHY YOU WILL LOVE NOOK • Privacy Typing. Black out every word as you type, so no one reads over your shoulder. • Hide your notes. Cover every title and preview in the list, and bring them back with Face ID, all at once or one note at a time. • Truly private. No account, no email, no sign in. Open the app and start writing. • Lives only on your phone. No cloud and no servers. Your notes are stored locally and protected on device. • Locked for your eyes only. Choose Face ID, Touch ID, or your own passcode to open Nook. • Lockable folders. Put a passcode on any folder, and everything inside it stays private too. • Write beautifully. Titles, headings, bold and italic, plus a page background and text color for every note. • Beautifully organized. Nest folders as deep as you like, give them colors, pin what matters, and search everything in an instant. • Yours to back up. Export an encrypted backup to Files or AirDrop. You choose the passphrase, so only you can ever open it. • Prompts for empty days. Fifty one hand written prompts, plus on-device suggestions on Apple Intelligence devices. • Made for iPad. A two column desk, folders down one side and your pages beside them. • A widget that fits in. Quick capture from the Home Screen, following your own tint. • Calm by design. A warm, focused interface with a gorgeous light and dark theme. NO SUBSCRIPTION. EVER. Try everything free for 7 days. If you love it, buy us a coffee just once and Nook is yours forever. One payment of $5.99. No subscription, no account, no cloud. PRIVACY YOU CAN TRUST Nook collects NO data. There is nothing to leak, nothing to sell, and nothing to track. Your App Store privacy label says it plainly: Data Not Collected. Made with care by an independent couple. Buy us a coffee and keep your thoughts to yourself.
Veil Private Notes
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Veil is a private notebook that lives only on your phone. Sketch a note by hand, slide to lock it behind a cover, and slide to unlock when you want it back — no account, no cloud, no copies. Face ID or your fingerprint keeps the whole notebook yours; hand the phone over and no one else gets in. Nothing you write ever leaves the device. WHY VEIL • Hand-drawn notes in five inks • Slide to lock and unlock any note • Biometric App Lock (Face ID / Touch ID) • Works completely offline — no sign-up, no tracking • Everything stays on your device, always Veil is quiet by design. It doesn't want your email, your contacts, or your attention — just a place to keep what's yours to yourself.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Veil Private Notes at none against Nook's 1. Veil Private Notes also leads on update cadence (daily vs fortnightly). On price, ads, 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. Nook sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Veil Private Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.
Nook ships an update fortnightly, Veil Private Notes daily. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.
| Parameter | Nook | Veil Private Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 106 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | AI Adviesbureau B.V. | Carlos Fadhel |
In-app purchases
Nook
- Buy us a coffee$5.99
Veil Private Notes
No in-app purchases









