Catchlight vs Apple Notes
Apple Notes is free, fast and already on your iPhone, and for a lot of people that is exactly enough. This is the honest case for when it isn't: what happens to your notes in iCloud, what changed for UK users, and where a zero-knowledge app with no account fits instead.
The short version.
| Catchlight | Apple Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Account needed | None. Ever. | Your Apple ID |
| End-to-end encrypted | Yes, on device, always | Not by default; only with Advanced Data Protection |
| UK users | Unaffected; always encrypted | New UK users can no longer enable Advanced Data Protection |
| Where data lives | Your device; optional sync via a folder you own | iCloud (Apple can access standard notes) |
| Notes + tasks + reminders | One unified Take, with notifications | Notes with checklists; reminders are a separate app |
| Price | One flat ~£14.99/yr | Free |
| Verify the privacy | Read the source on GitHub | Trust Apple's policy |
| Platforms | iPhone (iOS 18+); more planned | Apple ecosystem |
Apple iCloud encryption details verified June 2026. Apple Notes is end-to-end encrypted only with Advanced Data Protection, which is unavailable to new UK users. Catchlight is pre-launch; its feature set is subject to change before launch.
Is Apple Notes private?
On a standard iCloud account, your notes are encrypted in transit and on Apple's servers, but Apple holds the keys. That means Apple can technically access them, and can be compelled to hand them over. Apple's own Advanced Data Protection closes that gap by making iCloud end-to-end encrypted, but it is opt-in, and as of 2026 new users in the UK can no longer turn it on at all.
Catchlight takes the choice off the table. Your Takes are encrypted on your device with a 12-word Privacy Phrase only you hold. There is no setting to enable, no account, and no server of ours for anything to sit on. It reads the same in Manchester as it does anywhere else.
We can't read your Takes. Not because we choose not to, because we can't.
What about tasks and reminders?
Apple keeps notes and reminders in two different apps. A thought that is half a note and half a reminder has to live in one or the other, or get copied between them.
In Catchlight there is one kind of thing, a Take. Write, and it's a note. Add a date and it's a reminder that notifies you. Add a checkbox and it's a task. You never choose upfront, and you never juggle two apps for one thought.
Where Apple Notes is the better choice.
Apple Notes is the better choice if you want something free that is already on every Apple device, deeply tied into the system, and good enough for notes you are not worried about anyone seeing. If your threat model is low and you are happy trusting Apple with your data, it is a genuinely excellent app and costs nothing.
Where Catchlight is the better choice.
Catchlight is the better choice if you want your notes to be private by architecture rather than by policy, if you would rather hold your own key than trust a company with it, if losing Advanced Data Protection in the UK bothered you, and if you would like a note, a task and a reminder to finally be the same thing in one calm place.
Common questions.
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Can Apple read my notes?
On a standard iCloud account, yes, Apple holds the encryption keys for Notes and can access them or be compelled to. Only Advanced Data Protection makes them end-to-end encrypted, and that is now unavailable to new UK users. Catchlight is always zero-knowledge: only you hold the key.
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Do I need an account for Catchlight, like an Apple ID?
No. Catchlight needs no account, no email and no sign-up. You create a 12-word Privacy Phrase on first launch, and that is your key.
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Does Catchlight do reminders like Apple Reminders?
Yes, but in the same place as your notes. One Take can be a note, a task and a time or location reminder at once, so there is no separate reminders app to keep in step.