Comparison

SolarWriter vs Funnel

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

Head to head
About

SolarWriter

Transform your e-reader into a portable typewriter for outdoor writing. This app connects your keyboard to your e-reader's screen, allowing you to type comfortably on e-ink displays in bright sunlight. Save and share your work easily.

Highlights
  • E-reader integration
  • External keyboard support
  • Outdoor writing on e-ink screens
  • Text mirroring to e-reader
  • File saving and sharing
  • Detailed setup instructions
Features
Read full description

Traditional screens are fantastic everywhere but outside, especially on a sunny day. E-ink screens work well, but e-readers like the Kindle are difficult to type on and don't support external keyboards. SolarWriter gives you the best of both worlds. SolarWriter runs on your iOS device and acts as a hub between your keyboard and your e-reader. You type on the keyboard, and the text appears on both on the iOS device and on the e-reader's screen (via its web browser). Take advantage of your Kindle's (or other e-reader's) e-ink screen to put your thoughts on paper even outside, with no need to transcribe later. Write at parks, on beaches, in backyards... anywhere you wanted to but couldn't. Save files on your device, or share through email, SMS, and more. Detailed instructions for setup are included inside the app.

About

Funnel

Quickly capture thoughts, tasks, notes, photos, sketches, and songs to your favorite apps. Integrates with popular productivity tools and offers convenient widgets for instant access.

Highlights
  • Capture tasks to multiple to-do apps
  • Send notes and photos to PKM apps
  • Capture sketches and calendar events
  • Home Screen and Lock Screen Widgets
  • Shortcuts and Share Sheet support
  • Built-in document scanner
  • Song capture via Shazam integration
Features
Read full description

Funnel allows you to effortlessly capture your thoughts and moments to various apps and services. The inspiration to capture something quickly comes from ideas written by David Allen, in his book Getting Things Done. Features: ======= • Capture tasks to Reminders, Todoist, OmniFocus or Things with due dates in natural language. • Capture notes and photos to a variety of popular note taking and personal knowledge management apps. • Capture sketches and calendar events • Beautiful Home Screen and Lock Screen Widgets • Shortcuts Support • A built in document scanner. • Use Shazam to capture your songs directly to your apps. • iCloud Sync for your Destinations • A timeline showing your recent captures • A selection of delightful app icons to pick from. • A lock screen widget to easily access Funnel from your lock screen. • Drag and drop images or text from other apps into Funnel. • Once you capture something with Funnel, Funnel also provides you with a link to easily switch to the newly captured item. • Long press the Funnel icon for quick home screen actions. • Integration with the iOS Share Sheet (currently within the Funnel app only) • Dynamic Island/Live Activities Support • Control Center Widgets Creating Destinations: ================ To link Funnel to your note-taking or task management apps, navigate to the 'Destination' Tab, select 'Add New Destination', and choose an app from the provided list. After adding a Destination, you can click on it for further customization. You can also define templates that get appended or prepended along with your capture. Your Destinations and the order of your Destinations are all synced to your private iCloud account. Funnel offers 30 captures for free, and then requires a subscription or a lifetime purchase. All Yearly Subscriptions come with a 1-week free trial. Enjoy Funneling! Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

SolarWriter3 screens
Funnel4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Funnel at 4.6 against SolarWriter's 3.8. Funnel also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 5 months) and review sentiment (80% vs 64%). SolarWriter's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 26.0). On price, ratings volume, 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. SolarWriter sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Funnel sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Funnel holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 16 and 43 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of SolarWriter's written reviews are positive against 80% of Funnel's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SolarWriter ships an update every 5 months, Funnel every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 10, 2026 and July 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
SolarWriter versus Funnel: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSolarWriterFunnel
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (16 ratings)4.6 (43 ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.3% of reviews80.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1643 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.6 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size92 MB36 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperCool S, LLCNoteSight Labs ApS

Customer experience

SolarWriter

All ratings16 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral6.3%
Negative18.8%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive64.3%
Neutral7.1%
Negative28.6%

Funnel

All ratings43 ratings
Positive88.4%
Neutral2.3%
Negative9.3%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative16.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

SolarWriter

One-time1
  • SolarWriter Pro$9.99
4 purchases

Funnel

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Pro$1.991 Month
  • Yearly Pro7 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time2
  • Lifetime: Early Discount$39.99
  • Lifetime$49.99

Questions

Is SolarWriter free?
SolarWriter is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Funnel free?
Funnel is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, SolarWriter or Funnel?
Funnel is rated higher. SolarWriter averages 3.8 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while Funnel averages 4.6 from 43 ratings.
Do SolarWriter or Funnel have ads?
Neither SolarWriter nor Funnel shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SolarWriter or Funnel?
SolarWriter ships an update every 5 months, and Funnel every 6 weeks. Most recently, SolarWriter was updated on September 10, 2026 and Funnel on July 11, 2026.

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