Comparison

Narratives vs Notes Index

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

Head to head
About

Narratives

Read full description

Thoughts do not arrive in order. Narratives helps you bring them together. Write a few messages or dictate a voice note: an idea, a plan, details you do not want to forget, or a question you are still working through. Talk it over at your own pace. After the conversation, Narratives organizes the material into a card with the main idea, useful details, decisions, and questions that remain open. FROM SCATTERED THOUGHTS TO A USEFUL NOTE โ€ข Capture thoughts by text, voice, or photo. โ€ข Return to the original messages whenever you need context. โ€ข Edit the card to make it your own. โ€ข Preview and share just the card as text or images. Long image exports use multiple pages. โ€ข Export a full dialogue separately when you want to include the source conversation. SEE WHAT CONNECTS Daily summaries bring together the important topics from your conversations. Weekly summaries connect recurring themes, changes, and questions that are still open. Events and reminders, saved memories, web search, and weather are also available when useful. PRIVATE, ON YOUR IPHONE The conversational AI, voice transcription, and image analysis run on your device. Your conversations, cards, and saved memories are stored locally. No account, subscription, or in-app purchase is required. The model downloads separately on first launch; core AI features become available when setup completes. Optional online tools send the necessary request to an external service, for example for web search or weather. Sharing and backup export happen when you choose. You can review, correct, or delete saved memories in Settings. AI can make mistakes. Keep the original conversation, review important details, and edit a card before sharing it. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Notes Index

Features
Read full description

Notes Index turns your handwritten notes into a library you can search. Scan a notebook page or loose sheet with the built-in document scanner, or bring in a photo you already took. Notes Index cleans up the page, recognizes your handwriting on the device, and files it by date. FIND ANY PAGE Search for a word you wrote and Notes Index highlights exactly where it appears on the page. BROWSE LIKE PAPER Pinch through your library from a full-width page down to a dense grid. On iPad, open two pages side by side, like an open notebook. MARK IT UP Write on your pages with Apple Pencil or your finger, and recrop a page any time. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account and no ads. Text recognition happens on your device. Turn on iCloud sync to keep your library on all your devices, stored in your own iCloud account. Export your images and text whenever you like.

Screenshots

Narratives4 screens
Notes Index4 screens

Verdict

The call

Narratives and Notes Index are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters โ€” price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them โ€” neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Narratives versus Notes Index: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNarrativesNotes Index
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 9 daysEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad โ€” better
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size86 MB2 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperMikhail Kolokolnikovnedrelow, LLC

In-app purchases

None

Narratives

No in-app purchases

None

Notes Index

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Narratives free?
Narratives is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Notes Index free?
Notes Index is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Narratives or Notes Index have ads?
Neither Narratives nor Notes Index shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Narratives or Notes Index?
Narratives ships an update every 9 days, and Notes Index every 9 days. Most recently, Narratives was updated on November 6, 2026 and Notes Index on November 10, 2026.

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