Teika vs Skein Notes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Teika
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CATCH THE THOUGHT BEFORE IT’S GONE. Accurate, fast, and private speech-to-text notes for iPhone and Apple Watch—made for the moments when you cannot stop to type. HOW IT WORKS • Start from what is closest. Use the app, Apple Watch, a widget, Control Center, or Shortcuts. On iPhone, you can also say “Siri, start recording with Teika.” • Talk until you are done. Teika keeps listening when you pause to think and stops when you tap again. • Paste it now or find it later. Every transcription is copied to your clipboard and saved in a searchable library on your iPhone. PRIVATE, ON-DEVICE TRANSCRIPTION Teika runs its speech recognition model on your iPhone. Nothing you say is uploaded, and your recordings, transcripts, and notes are not sent to an AI service. After setup, transcription works in Airplane Mode. Record on your paired Apple Watch and the clip is transferred to your nearby iPhone for local transcription. ONE-TIME SETUP Teika needs a one-time speech-model download of about 0.5 GB. Before it starts, Teika shows the size and provider and asks for your permission. Free. No account, ads, subscription, or tracking.
Skein Notes
This app allows users to create and organize notes using plain Markdown files stored locally or in iCloud Drive. It offers powerful search capabilities, real-time editing of Markdown features, and the ability to manage JSON Canvas boards. Notes are kept safe with version history and conflict resolution.
- Plain Markdown file storage
- Direct iCloud Drive integration
- Instant capture field
- Advanced search and tagging
- Full Markdown support
- JSON Canvas board integration
- Note version history
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Skein is a notes app for people who want to keep their own files. Your vault is a folder of plain Markdown on your device or in iCloud Drive. Skein reads and writes those files directly — the same folder you open in Skein for Mac, or in any other editor. Nothing is locked in a database, and there is no service in the middle. Write it down before you lose it The app opens on a capture field. Type the thought and send it; the first line becomes the note's title and Skein files it where you told it to. No dialog, no folder picker, no naming a file before you have written anything. Find it again Search matches titles the moment you start typing and searches inside every note once the index is ready, ranked, with the matching lines and their line numbers — tap one and land on it. The Vault filters by name, by #tag or by folder in one field, and tags are real: tap one anywhere in the app to see everything carrying it. Real Markdown, properly Headings, lists, task lists, tables, footnotes, code blocks, callouts, ==highlights== and [[wikilinks]] — read cleanly and edited as text. A keyboard bar puts the things you actually reach for above the keys, including arrows that move by character and by word, and you can choose which of them appear. Type / for a command, #for a tag it already knows. Canvas Open a JSON Canvas board, move cards, connect them, colour them and write on them. The same file, the same format Obsidian writes, so a board made on the Mac opens here and back again. It keeps your writing safe Skein keeps earlier versions of a note as you edit, so you can go back to what you wrote this morning. When the same note has been changed in two places, Skein keeps both and asks — it never picks a winner quietly. Also Share text from any app straight into your vault. Four themes, including one for reading at night. Dynamic Type throughout, and full VoiceOver support. Skein does not have an account, a subscription for the basics, a server, or telemetry. Your notes never leave your device except through iCloud Drive, which is yours. Skein for Mac is a separate app on the same purchase.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Teika at every 4 days against Skein Notes's every 2 weeks. Skein Notes's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.5). 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.
Teika ships an update every 4 days, Skein Notes every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 15, 2026.
| Parameter | Teika | Skein Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 26.5 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 29 MB | 22 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Gustavs Cirulis | Tomasz Smieja |
In-app purchases
Teika
No in-app purchases
Skein Notes
No in-app purchases









