Cortex vs Second Brain

Cortex is a private, local-first Markdown workspace for iPhone and iPad. Your notes are real files you control, with fast editing, links, search, and on-device intelligence. CORE FEATURES - Create and organize plain Markdown notes - Daily notes, tasks, templates, links, and backlinks - Keyword search, Smart Search, knowledge graph, and canvas - Save text and links from other apps with the Share Extension - Create, search, and summarize notes with App Shortcuts and Siri - Import, backup, and export your vault - Use Apple Speech for dictation in supported languages FREE - A complete local Markdown vault - Smart Search and knowledge graph - Encrypted notes - Basic dictation - Local attachments up to 5 MB - Import, backup, and export CORTEX PLUS - End-to-end encrypted sync across devices - Ask, Recall, Insights, and semantic Connections - Advanced dictation commands - On-device OCR and audio transcription - Attachments larger than 5 MB Cortex requires no account and contains no ads or tracking. AI inference and embeddings run on your device. If you enable sync, Cortex encrypts your notes before sending authenticated ciphertext to the managed relay or a relay you configure; the relay cannot read note contents. Terms of Use: https://cortex.jtrlabs.com/legal/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://cortex.jtrlabs.com/legal/privacy.html

Speak or type one messy thought. Second Brain separates every intention, creates the right Apple Reminder, Calendar event, or Markdown update, and shows exactly what changed. Your tasks stay in Apple Reminders, your dates stay in Apple Calendar, and your knowledge stays in ordinary Markdown files you control. VOICE TO ACTION • Speak or type when one thought contains several intentions • Attach an existing image or take a photo without leaving the capture • Turn things you need to do into Apple Reminders • Put meetings, deliveries, and passive dates into Apple Calendar • Create, append to, or update the right Markdown page • Keep dates and times exactly as you expressed them SEE AND CONTROL EVERY CHANGE Each capture keeps your words and a receipt for every result. Review destinations, confirm pending events, retry failures, repair exact duplicates, or undo supported changes. YOUR TOOLS, NOT ANOTHER SILO • Tasks live in Apple Reminders • Events live in Apple Calendar • Context stays in ordinary Markdown files • Use the recommended iCloud Drive folder, another Files folder, or an Obsidian vault • Capture from Siri, Shortcuts, widgets, Control Center, the share sheet, or the Action Button KNOWLEDGE WITH SOURCES Ask questions about your pages and inspect linked sources. Search in the app, Siri, or on-device Spotlight. Projects keep notes, pages, reminders, events, and recent activity together. MANAGED INTELLIGENCE Managed Intelligence is an optional monthly or annual App Store subscription for hosted OpenAI processing. The secure service verifies access and limits, stores no request bodies, and deletes temporary results after acknowledgement or within 24 hours. EXTERNAL AI PROVIDER CONNECTIONS Settings > AI & Providers can connect an existing Anthropic or OpenAI developer account as an external service. Second Brain does not sell provider access or include provider sign-up, pricing, or purchase links. The credential stays in Apple Keychain, and requests go directly to the selected provider under that provider's terms. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Before any personal data is sent to an AI service, Second Brain names the recipients and data categories and asks for permission. Choose Use Without AI to keep all AI transmission disabled while local capture, notes, reminders, events, and search remain available. Managed requests go to Second Brain's Cloudflare-hosted service and then OpenAI. Personal-key text requests go directly to OpenAI or Anthropic. Permission can be reviewed or withdrawn in Settings > Privacy & AI. Voice can be transcribed fully on device with Apple Speech, so audio never uploads, or through an optional permission-gated online route. When Online transcription is selected, recordings go to OpenAI directly or through the managed Cloudflare route. Failed or cancelled online uploads preserve the local recording for retry. Photos stay local unless the user includes them in an authorized AI request. There is no Second Brain login, advertising, or tracking. Firebase Analytics and Crashlytics receive content-free product or diagnostic data, never captures, transcripts, audio, chat, files, titles, keys, or model content. The public What Gets Sent view and content-free privacy ledger show the applicable routes and transfers. SUBSCRIPTION TERMS Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel subscriptions in your Apple Account settings. Any trial converts to the selected paid plan unless canceled before the trial ends. Terms of Use: https://second-brain-in-motion.heartsker.chatgpt.site/terms Apple Standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://second-brain-in-motion.heartsker.chatgpt.site/privacy