Out now on the App Store

Take notes you'll actually want to look at.

And they stay yours.

Write by hand or type, do the math, chart it, record the lecture — all in one notebook. There's AI when you want it and none when you don't. Everything stays on your device.

Download on theApp Store See what's inside →
$9.99, one time No accounts No subscriptions, ever
A Cell Biology note in YourNotes on iPad, with highlighted organelles and a hand-labeled cell diagram
Everything inside

One notebook for the whole subject.

Handwriting and typing to start, then the tools that turn a page of notes into something you can study, chart, and search.

Handwriting that feels like ink.

Pencil strokes that respond to tilt and pressure, highlighters, and typing on the same page. Then pick a theme to make it yours.

See the themes →

Ask your notes.

Ask across a whole set of notes. Every answer quotes where it came from, and a tap jumps right to it.

Study that adapts.

Quizzes and flashcards from your notes. Miss one and the next round drills it.

Math that solves itself.

Type an equals sign and the answer appears in place.

Play the lecture back.

Your handwriting redraws itself in time with the recording. Tap a word to hear that moment.

Tables become charts.

Bar, line, or scatter in one tap.

iPad and iPhone, in sync.

Over your own Wi-Fi, never someone's server.
Straight from the iPad

This is what your notes look like.

No mock-ups. These are real pages from the app: typed notes, highlights, diagrams and tables side by side, and study tools that stay out of the way until you ask.

The YourNotes library on iPad, showing All Notes, Recents, Favorites and note thumbnails
Your whole libraryOn your iPad, not in someone's cloud.
A Cellular Respiration note in YourNotes with a three-stage flow diagram and an energy-yield table
Diagrams and tablesRight next to your writing.
The YourNotes Study Tools panel offering a summary, quiz, flashcards and a study guide for the open note
Study tools, when you want themBuilt only from this note, by the AI you choose.
Private by default

No account. No cloud. No subscription.

Your notes live on your iPad. Nothing is uploaded unless you export it, share it, or connect your own AI.
Sync over your own Wi-Fi. Your iPad and iPhone talk to each other directly, not through a server.
AI only if you turn it on. Run it on-device, use your own API key, or host your own model.
How privacy works →

Start your first note.

Whether it's for class, for work, or just something you don't want to forget, they're YourNotes, to do with as you please.

Download on the App Store
$9.99 once · iPadOS 18 or later · runs on iPhone too · no subscriptions
Features

Everything the notebook can do.

Write it by hand, type it, work out the math, chart it, record it, and ask it questions later.

Ask your notes

Answers that actually come from your notes.

Pick a few chapters, a whole folder, or any mix, and ask questions across all of them at once. Every answer quotes the notes it pulled from, and you can tap a quote to jump right to it.

  • Summaries, study guides, flashcards and quizzes made from a whole set
  • Adaptive quizzes that focus each round on the topics you keep missing
  • Research mode writes a longer, sourced report on a topic
  • Build a knowledge map, then rearrange it however you think
Ch. 4 · Respiration Ch. 5 · Photosynthesis Lab notes
Where is ATP made in each one?
Respiration makes most of its ATP in the mitochondria; photosynthesis makes ATP in the thylakoid membrane during the light reactions.
Respiration · p.2 Photosynthesis · p.1
Write math naturally

Write math the way you would on paper.

A math keyboard made for notes, with fractions, exponents, roots, π and trig a tap away. Type an equals sign and a space, and the answer shows up right where you're writing.

  • Turn handwritten math into clean, typeset equations
  • Solve for x on simple equations, worked out in place
  • Fractions and exponents stay neat automatically
12+13=56
x2 + 3x = 10→x = 2
Play back your writing

Play the lecture back and watch your notes fill in.

Play a recording and the handwriting you made during it draws itself back in, exactly as you wrote it. Tap any word to hear what was being said the moment you wrote it, and the page follows along on its own until you scroll somewhere yourself.

▶ Lecture 7 · replaying your ink — 2:14 / 48:30
And a few more things

More in the notebook.

Graphs

Turn a table into a graph.

Any table becomes a bar, line, or scatter chart in one tap. Move it, resize it, and export it to a PDF or image to hand in or share.

Sync

iPad and iPhone in sync.

Your notes, folders, and favorites stay in sync across your devices over your own Wi-Fi.

Ink, color & themes

Make it yours.

Select a theme to try it

Ocean theme
Ocean — calm blue-green
Sunset theme
Sunset — warm dusk
Forest theme
Forest — deep green
Lavender theme
Lavender — soft violet
Latte theme
Latte — warm & cozy
Midnight theme
Midnight — ice on navy
Orange theme
Orange — bright & sunny
Neon theme
Neon — electric black
Steampunk theme
Steampunk — brass & walnut
Cyberpunk theme
Cyberpunk — neon-noir
Aurora theme
Aurora — northern lights
Prefer a photo? Set any picture as your background.
Forest photo background
Forest — sunlit woods
City photo background
City — city at dusk
Neon City photo background
Neon City — neon nights
Abstract photo background
Abstract — light trails
Sports Car photo background
Motorsport — track day
Your data, in your control

Your notes stay on your device.

Local by default

Your notes live on your iPad. Nothing is uploaded anywhere unless you choose to export it, share it, or connect your own cloud AI.

AI is your choice

Run models on-device on supported Apple-silicon iPads, bring your own API key from a major provider, or Self Host your own LLM.

Read the full privacy policy →
where your notes go
Your notes
Stay on your iPad.
Sync
Device to device, over your own Wi-Fi.
AI
On-device, or only the provider you pick.
Servers
None. There's nothing in between.
Why YourNotes exists
Notes that belong to you, not to a company.

Most apps want an account before you can use them, keep your data on someone else's servers, and charge you every month for their "services". For something as personal and simple as some notetaking, that always felt wrong.

YourNotes started as the opposite of that. Your notes live on your device, not in a cloud you don't own. The AI is there if it's useful to you and out of the way if it isn't. And since nothing runs on a server, there's nothing to bill you for month after month. You buy it once and keep it. No subscriptions ever.

The goal is a simple one: a note-taking app that treats your work, your data, and your privacy, as your own.

Questions, answered.

What do I need to run it?
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Any iPad running iPadOS 18 or later. YourNotes is designed for iPad and the Apple Pencil, and it runs on iPhone too so you can reach your notes when your iPad isn't with you. On-device AI needs a newer Apple silicon iPad — older iPads can still use a self-hosted LLM or a cloud model of your choice.
Where are my notes stored?
+
On your device. Nothing is uploaded anywhere unless you export it, share it, or connect your own cloud AI. Syncing between your devices happens directly over your Wi-Fi network, so your notes never pass through anyone's server.
Do the AI features cost extra?
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If you use on-device AI or your own self-hosted Ollama, it's completely free. If you'd rather connect a major cloud provider, you use your own API key and pay them directly for what you use. AI is optional and off until you turn it on.
Do I need to make an account?
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No. The core note-taking and syncing need no account at all. You'd only sign in if you choose to connect a specific cloud AI provider.
Is it a subscription?
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No. It was built with the sole purpose of accomplishing what other apps have, without the subscription. Because YourNotes is local-first there are no live services, so it's a one-time $9.99 purchase — you buy it once and keep it.
How do I get help or report a bug?
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Email support@yournotes.dev or head to the Support page for questions and bug reports. A real person reads every one.
Can I suggest a feature?
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Yes, please. Post it on the Requests board. Search first: if someone has already asked for it, add your vote. New ideas appear on the board once they've been reviewed, and the most-voted ones help decide what gets built next. It's anonymous, with no account or email needed.
Requests

What should YourNotes do next?

Suggest what YourNotes should do next. Search first: if someone has already asked for it, add your vote. New ideas are reviewed before they appear on the board, and the most-voted ones help decide what gets built next.

Start typing to see ideas that are already on the board.

On the board

Every idea here has been read. Vote for the ones you'd use; you can take a vote back any time.

    Votes are anonymous. Your browser keeps a random ID so each idea gets one vote per device, and only a scrambled (hashed) copy of it is stored. A quick Cloudflare check keeps bots out. How requests are handled

    Support

    Need a hand? We're here.

    YourNotes is built and supported by one person, so every message is read personally. Most emails get a reply within a day or two.

    Get in touch

    Email support

    Questions and bug reports go straight to the support inbox. Got an idea for a feature? Post it on the Requests board so other people can vote for it too.

    Email support@yournotes.dev
    Prefer to copy it? support@yournotes.dev
    Reporting a bug?

    Please include:

    • Your iPad or iPhone model, and its iPadOS / iOS version
    • The YourNotes version (Settings → About in the app)
    • What you expected, and what happened instead
    • The steps to reproduce it — and a screenshot if you can
    Common questionsSetup, pricing, storage, and AI — answered. Your data & privacyWhere your notes live and what stays on-device.