Comparison

Shift Editor & Quick Lookup vs Cairn

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

Head to head
About

Shift Editor & Quick Lookup

This app streamlines writing and referencing by integrating a browser with customizable text display. It offers smart Markdown shortcuts, multiple customizable presets for editing and viewing, and robust version control for documents. The app prioritizes a clean, distraction-free writing experience with advanced typography options.

Highlights
  • Integrated browser with custom color schemes
  • Smart Markdown shortcuts
  • Customizable presets for editing and viewing
  • HTML preview sync
  • Dropbox repository browsing
  • Automatic document versioning
  • Advanced typography options
Features
Read full description

When we write, we reference the dictionary, Wikipedia, Google, and any number of websites. I made Shift to make writing and referencing both easy to do and especially, easy to read. The integrated browser displays text in your custom color-scheme using gorgeous fonts, so the web can readable at night and during the day. This means that you can quickly open Wikipedia or other text-based website and have the text size & colors match your custom choices without busy clutter. And Shift makes changing between presets easy. You have four customizable presets to choose from, accessible from the editor itself. Two touches, that's it. The MultiMarkdown editor syncs the text with an HTML preview that shows your work with the customizable style of your choice. Tap text to edit, pinch to preview. It's easy. Shift is smart about Markdown. Shift has shortcuts to create lists, emphasis and strong, indentation, headings, and more. All lines selected can be marked at once. For example, if you want to mark a few words to be italic, select at least parts of the words and press the italic button. Shift will insert the markdown where it needs to be. It's smart. Some Markdown documents or some websites are easier to read in landscape. That's no problem in Shift. You can use Shift in landscape view as well as portrait. And Shift can browse your entire Dropbox repository, not just a single folder. Every time you open a document, a copy is saved. Two previous versions are always available for you to revert any mistakes. There will be no tears when using Shift. I care about typography. Shift comes with Concourse, Equity, and Triplicate, three gorgeous fonts by Matthew Butterick (see http://practicaltypography.com). And so font selection and editor layout has been carefully put together. But you are free to change (and restore) text color, background color, highlight colors, and presentation style. You'll find that the keyboard color will follow your background color selection and other parts of the UI adapt to your choices as well. Shift is customizable, but it's simple. It gets out of your way so you can write and read the way you want. If you have any question, go to http://shiftwriter.com and press the "support" link on the bottom of the page. I'll answer as best as I'm able. Thanks for your time. A special thanks to Icons8 at http://iconpharm.com for the use of a number of their icons.

About

Cairn

Manage tasks and notes directly within your existing Markdown files. This app offers focused views, quick capture, and robust task management features, all while keeping your data private and locally stored. It integrates seamlessly with Obsidian and other file sync services.

Highlights
  • Native Markdown task and note management
  • Works with Obsidian vaults or any folder
  • Quick capture with date, tag, and priority parsing
  • Multiple task views (Today, Upcoming, Inbox, Pool)
  • Full support for sub-tasks and recurring tasks
  • Local reminders and Live Activity integration
  • Data stays local, no cloud sync required
Read full description

Cairn is a fast, native task and note companion that lives on top of the Markdown files you already own. Point it at your Obsidian vault — or any folder of Markdown notes — and your tasks and notes appear in clean, focused views. Everything you do in Cairn is written straight back to your files as plain text, in the Obsidian Tasks format. YOUR NOTES STAY YOURS • No account, no sign-up, no Cairn cloud database — your tasks live in your own files • Cairn does not send your notes or tasks to the developer • Careful, patch-based edits change only the content you touched, preserving the rest of your note • Works alongside Obsidian, iCloud Drive, Git, or any sync you already use CAPTURE, BROWSE, AND PLAN • Browse and edit Markdown notes directly in your vault • Quick capture into your daily note, with date, tag, and priority tokens parsed as you type • Choose where longer captures are saved • Today, Upcoming, Inbox, and Pool views, plus a global filter for folders, tags, dates, priority, and status • Full support for sub-tasks and task hierarchies • Recurring tasks in Obsidian Tasks format, with safe completion handling • Convert upcoming calendar events into tasks, or mirror your dated tasks into a calendar you choose (optional) STAY ON TRACK • Local reminders for due tasks — including sunrise-relative reminders computed entirely on your device • A Live Activity keeps today's progress on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island • Home Screen widgets and a Control Center quick-capture control • Search across every task in your vault MADE FOR OBSIDIAN — NOT ONLY OBSIDIAN Cairn reads and writes the Obsidian Tasks plugin format (due, scheduled, start, and done dates, priorities, recurrence, tags), so your vault stays fully compatible with your desktop setup. Don't use Obsidian? Create a plain task folder in the Files app and Cairn works as a stand-alone Markdown to-do app. Cairn asks for access only to the folder you pick. Calendar access and location (used to compute local sunrise times) are optional and processed on your device. If you choose iCloud Drive or another Files or calendar provider, that provider's own sync and privacy terms apply.

Screenshots

Shift Editor & Quick Lookup4 screens
Cairn4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Cairn at every 6 days against Shift Editor & Quick Lookup's every 11 months. Cairn also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Shift Editor & Quick Lookup's advantage is ratings volume (11 vs 1) and iOS requirement (7.0 vs 17.0). On price, review sentiment, 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cairn holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shift Editor & Quick Lookup has 11 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shift Editor & Quick Lookup ships an update every 11 months, Cairn every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Shift Editor & Quick Lookup versus Cairn: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShift Editor & Quick LookupCairn
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (11 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings11 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 11 monthsEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS7.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB9 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperJohn LincolnYoung Hun JEONG

Customer experience

Shift Editor & Quick Lookup

All ratings10 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Cairn

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Shift Editor & Quick Lookup

No in-app purchases

None

Cairn

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Shift Editor & Quick Lookup free?
Shift Editor & Quick Lookup is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cairn free?
Cairn is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Shift Editor & Quick Lookup or Cairn?
Cairn is rated higher. Shift Editor & Quick Lookup averages 4.6 out of 5 from 11 ratings, while Cairn averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Shift Editor & Quick Lookup or Cairn have ads?
Neither Shift Editor & Quick Lookup nor Cairn shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shift Editor & Quick Lookup or Cairn?
Shift Editor & Quick Lookup ships an update every 11 months, and Cairn every 6 days. Most recently, Shift Editor & Quick Lookup was updated on October 29, 2026 and Cairn on October 28, 2026.

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