Apple Notes and UpWill both start with a note. What happens next is different: a note in Apple Notes stays where you put it; a note in UpWill also updates the plan it's about.
What Apple Notes does well
It's free and already on your iPhone, iPad and Mac, synced with iCloud. It's quick to open, holds folders, tags, checklists, sketches and scanned documents, and you can share a note with someone. Recent versions can also record audio with a transcript. For lists, ideas and anything you want to keep, it's hard to beat.
What UpWill does differently
- Notes keep your plans up to date. Say "read for 20 minutes before bed" and UpWill keeps the note in My Diary and adds the 20 minutes to your reading plan, with Undo. When something isn't clear, it asks first.
- Plans, not folders. Twenty kinds of plan (time for an activity, something to finish, rest, sleep, a savings goal, an upcoming bill, a balance to pay off, time with someone, asking for help and more), each with a next step and its progress on one page.
- A record over time. My Life shows each plan as a row across two weeks, with a dot on the days you recorded something.
- Search by meaning, too. Notes can be found by their words, their title, the plan they updated or what they're about, in English or Spanish.
Which one to use
Use Apple Notes for lists, reference and anything you just want to keep. Use UpWill when the note is about something you're working toward and you'd like it to count: time spent, money set aside, a call made, a step done.
Using both
You can keep both. To bring old notes into UpWill, export them as text or Markdown files (on a Mac, an exporter app can do this) and import them in Settings → Import notes; each keeps its date, and imported notes never change your plans. UpWill costs USD 19.99 a month after a 7-day free trial; Apple Notes is free.