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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
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Is it worth paying for

Notes

65
Value score / 100 Worth paying? No Skip it

Apple Notes is a convenient, free note-taking app that is highly rated for basic use, but frequent bugs, performance issues with larger notes, and missing advanced features make it less reliable for power users.

Free to download seen up to $90.99 4.8★ lifetime (611,032) since 2016

Apple Notes is a free, pre-installed app that many users find essential for quick notes, lists, and reminders, praising its convenience and syncing across devices. However, recent reviews highlight significant issues like frequent crashes, data loss, performance lag with handwritten or large notes, and a lack of advanced formatting or export options, leading to frustration for users who rely on it for important information.

Free vs paid

Apple Notes is a free, pre-installed application on Apple devices, and there is no paid tier or in-app purchases mentioned in the reviews to unlock additional features or remove ads. All functionality, including basic note-taking, list creation, and syncing across iCloud, is available without cost R70. Users experience all the app's benefits and drawbacks, such as convenience and syncing R70, as well as glitches, crashes, and data loss R3R6R22, within this free model.

Value complaints

    Where it delivers

    • Highly convenient for quick notes, lists, and reminders, readily available across Apple devices.R4R7R15R16
    • Useful for journaling, organizing thoughts, and even creative writing like stories and songs.R23R38R40R41
    • Offers features like locking notes for privacy and scanning documents into PDFs.R26R38
    Worth paying if

    The app is free, so there is no paid tier to consider. It is worth using if you need a basic, immediately available tool for quick thoughts, lists, and reminders that syncs across your Apple devices R4R7R15R16.

    Skip / stay free if

    You should skip using Apple Notes for critical information or extensive note-taking if you require robust features, reliable performance, and data integrity, due to widespread reports of data loss, crashes, and lag, especially with large or handwritten notes R3R6R22R51. Users needing advanced formatting, specific export options, or cross-platform compatibility should also look elsewhere.

    Evidence note: The app is free, so there are no price-related complaints or praise points. The monetization section on the product page lists price points for in-app purchases, but these are not reflected in any user reviews, suggesting they might be for other Apple services or miscategorized. All reviews discuss the app as a free utility.

    Frequently asked

    Is Apple Notes free to use?
    Yes, Apple Notes is a free, pre-installed application on Apple devices, and user reviews confirm it is used without any cost or in-app purchases R70.
    Does Apple Notes have issues with data loss?
    Yes, many users report significant issues with notes disappearing, being deleted, or becoming unrecoverable, especially when moving notes or due to bugs R3R5R6R22.
    Does Apple Notes perform well with large or handwritten notes?
    No, several users report that the app becomes slow, laggy, overheats devices, and crashes when handling large notes or handwritten content, making it difficult to use for extensive study or detailed work R51R70R80R85.
    Can I customize fonts and colors in Apple Notes?
    Users express a desire for more customization options, specifically more colors for text and drawing, and the ability to choose custom font styles, indicating these features are currently limited or missing R1R55R186R374.
    Are there issues with crashing or freezing in Apple Notes?
    Yes, frequent crashes and freezing are common complaints, particularly when pasting content from the web, opening notes, or during general use R25R30R79R131.

    What reviewers actually said

    Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

    1. [R4] 5/5 · US Notes with me: Like having my notes with me. If I’m out & about if I see something I need I can just put it on my list and not worry about losing my scratch piece of paper at home or accidentally throwing my paper away from my purse.
    2. [R7] 5/5 · US Must have: My best friend for all things DONT FORGET
    3. [R15] 5/5 · US Immediately Available: Very convenient!
    4. [R16] 5/5 · US Best thing going: I love that I have the opportunity to immediately jot down a thought that pops in my head, a reminder or list of what I need to do that day or pickup at the store. I love reading something and make a note about it such as new words, writing ideas. And I love adding to the notes from articles, etc. it’s like a “ best friend” and it’s dated and saved. I use it ALOT! Even more than
    5. [R23] 5/5 · US Perfection!: OMG I LOVE THIS APP!! I write stories on it and even some songs! It’s perfect for my fan fics (which are mainly my wishful dreams) and my wannabe songs so… yeah
    6. [R38] 5/5 · US <3: ok so this is a rlly good app to rant and all since i’m just lazy to write in my journal sometimes and also the lock feature is rlly nice, one problem tho is that i draw sometimes and also when i see ppl draw on notes like challenges they have different brushes, maybe it’s my ipad that’s too old lol idk but it doesn’t say i need to update or anything, so ya i’m pretty lost
    7. [R40] 5/5 · US So good!: So I basically use notes for writing about how I feel and also art and animation ideas but its really good so uhh yeah…
    8. [R41] 5/5 · US Great for journaling: Great for journaling if . there was a way to do sub-notes.
    9. [R26] 5/5 · US Amazing features: This version of Notes is crushing my relationship with Adobe by allowing me to photograph the pages of a book and turn it into a PDF in minutes. Who knew this could Do this?
    10. [R70] 3/5 · US 2 steps away from being the perfect note taking app: So as a student i wanted to try out the notes app for note taking with the Apple Pencil. Its honestly great, i love the layout, the tools, the syncing with iCloud,and, most importantly for me, its free. MY ISSUE: When the note is large enough, the ipad a16 i am using atm starts to struggle for no reason. It heats up and the latency for writing
    11. [R3] 1/5 · US Notes is great but…: The only way to make sure that you don't get a note put in your deleted folder and disappear in 30 days which happens a lot it's a bug or a glitch the only way to prevent that is to Lock the new but nowadays you can't lock a note if it includes a PDF a picture of video and a few other things and if you're trying to retrieve your data from Apple to pack your stuff up or if you'
    12. [R5] 5/5 · US Lost ALL notes 🤬: Found most all after closing & reopening the newly installed app. Storage on iCloud versus storing notes on iPhone may lead to a loss of all of your notes. By attempting to move notes from the iPhone up to the iCloud your app will show that all of your notes are now stored in the iCloud and show them as having been moved from your mobile device in to iCloud notes storage.
    13. [R6] 3/5 · US Missing scanned attachments: As much I like Apple. I truly dislike not having a version history option within the app. I’m literally scanning and taking notes only to find out days laters it’s gone. I cannot fathom doing over again. It’s not in recently deleted and no matter how long I kept pressing the undo button has anything changed. I’m truly tired of these glitches. Please fix it. I should ha
    14. [R22] 1/5 · US horrible: all of noted over the last few years with important information just disappeared with no way to get them back???? thanks apple!
    15. [R51] 3/5 · US Good for typed notes, serious performance issues for handwritten notes.: It pretty much does what it says on the tin, and is great for taking down quick notes, lists and reminders from your phone. However for longer notes I prefer to hand write them, and this app causes massive overheating and battery drain on my M4 ipad air. Putting lines on a page should not be this taxing on my tablet, and it s
    16. [R80] 3/5 · US Slow, laggy and search not working: I’ve been using Apple Notes for as long as I can remember and for some reason that app just seems to keep getting worse and worse. It has become so slow and laggy that I can barely use it. By the time it allows me to start typing, I’ve nearly forgotten what I was going to type. Additionally, the search function has become so wonky. If I search a word the notes a
    17. [R85] 3/5 · US Almost there: UPDATE 2: Very slow, delayed responses to taps, seems like it can’t handle thousands of notes well even though a 1-2 thousand mostly text docs doesn’t really seem like a lot for an app (on a relatively recent iPhone) to process. UPDATE: This app crashes a lot. ORIGINAL REVIEW: This app has come a long way. If it had easier formatting (markdown), backlinks, and the ability to naviga
    18. [R1] 1/5 · US Only 5 colors?: I wish you had more colors that you can make the words when you type, because you have more colors on the photos app
    19. [R55] 3/5 · US Limited colors: Great app needs a color wheel and integrated hand writing
    20. [R186] 3/5 · US I miss the old drawing/sketching features this app used to have :(: All the way back in 2017 to 2018 or so this app had these features I really miss: Zoom-in: you could zoom into your sketch to erase precisely or draw meticulous details you otherwise couldn’t without this feature :( An array of colors to choose from in the toolbar: Now you got only like.. six bold colors..?? Talk about a downgrad
    21. [R374] 3/5 · GB PDF reading and custom font style: I have been using notes for many years now and has become an important tool for me in recent years. One feature that is missing amongst other things is the ability to read PDF files. I want to be able to add pdf files, read and mark them inside the notes. I would also like to be able to customise the font style, after that’s what note taking should be about…indiv
    22. [R25] 1/5 · US Horrible and just crashes: Crazy to make a ‘notebook’ app, but it can’t handle saving writing without crashing. Embarrassing!
    23. [R30] 1/5 · US Planned torture: Note: does anyone find it interesting when researching & developing, the system tends to freeze on you in moments of progress. Almost like intentional blocking, hiding, changing. Food for thought.
    24. [R79] 1/5 · US Keeps crashing: My Notes app crashes on both my IPhone and IPad. I open the app and as soon as I try to open any notes it just closes. Can’t use it on anything
    25. [R131] 2/5 · US Crashes all the time: The app crashes constantly.

    Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store