The right sticky notes app for iPhone depends on what you want the note to do. If you want a note sitting on your Home Screen or Lock Screen, pick a widget app. If you want plain notes that follow you to every Apple device for free, Apple Notes already does that. If you want notes that look like paper on a corkboard and hold a checklist, a photo, a recording and a place on the same note, that is what TackNote for iPhone is built for.
The iPhone has no Stickies app of its own, so "sticky notes" on a phone can mean several different things. Below we sort them by the job, compare the options in one table, and say plainly where our own app falls short. The quiz takes two taps at most.
Every answer is listed in Which one fits you below.
What the iPhone already has
Before you download anything, two of Apple's own apps cover a lot of what people mean by sticky notes.
Apple Notes
Notes is built in and free. Apple describes it as the place to "capture a quick thought, create checklists, sketch ideas, and more", you can add a file, photo or video with the Attachment button, scan documents into a note, and pin your most important notes to the top of the list. With iCloud, your notes stay updated across all your devices (Apple Support). For plain notes you want everywhere, it is hard to beat.
Freeform
Freeform is Apple's whiteboard app, and on a Freeform board you can add sticky notes, then double-tap one to type in it (Apple's iPhone User Guide). It suits laying out ideas on a big canvas, like planning a trip or mapping a project, more than a quick list you check at the store.
A note on your Home Screen: widget apps
Many people searching for a sticky notes app for iPhone want one thing: a note they see every time they unlock the phone. That is a widget. Apps such as Sticky Notes: Notepad Widget describe pinning memos to the Home Screen and showing a note on the Lock Screen. Apple explains how to add any app's widget in Add, edit, and remove widgets on iPhone.
If a reminder on the Home Screen is the whole point, choose a widget app. TackNote for iPhone 1.0 has no widget, so it is not the right pick for that job today.
TackNote for iPhone: sticky notes that hold all of it
TackNote for iPhone opens on a corkboard. Each note is a sheet of paper in one of six colors, the same six as TackNote for Mac, laid out in two columns, each tacked on at a slight tilt so it reads as a board rather than a list. What makes it different from a widget app is how much one note can carry.
- Four ways to write. A note can be text, a checklist, text with a checklist under it, or a sketch. You can give it a name and set the text size from 13 to 28.
- Photos and video on the note. Take a picture or a video with the camera, or add one from your library. The first one shows on the note's card on the board.
- Recordings, written out. Tap the microphone and talk. The words appear as you speak, and it keeps recording with the screen locked. The audio stays on the note under the transcript. With Apple Intelligence on, the sparkles button writes a summary on the iPhone. We cover this in recording a meeting and getting notes on iPhone.
- A time or a place. The bell sets a reminder for a date and time. The pin tacks the note to where you are standing, and it lets you know when you arrive there again. How that works is in notes that remind you at a place on iPhone.
- Filing and search. File notes into projects and sub-folders, or drag a note onto a project at the top of the board. Search looks through names, text, checklist items, recording transcripts and place names.
- Sending a note. Send it to another TackNote user with everything on it, as a PDF, or as plain text and files.
Your notes stay on your iPhone, sealed with AES-256, and there is no account to make. Transcription and summaries run on the phone too.
TackNote for iPhone is on the App Store. Free for 7 days, then $24.99 once.
See TackNote for iPhoneIf you also use a Mac
Pair it with TackNote for Mac, a separate purchase, and turn on the switch to sync with your Mac in the iPhone app's Settings. Notes you make on the phone arrive on your Mac's board and wait there until you stick them to the window, tab, document or folder they belong to. They travel encrypted, through your own iCloud. If you are coming from Stickies on the Mac, can Mac Stickies sync to iPhone explains your options.
iPhone sticky notes apps compared
| Apple Notes | Freeform | Widget apps | TackNote for iPhone (ours) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best at | Plain notes on every Apple device | Ideas on a big canvas | A note on the Home Screen | One note holding a list, photos, a recording and a place |
| Looks like sticky notes | No, notes in a list | Yes, on a board | Depends on the app | Yes, paper on a corkboard |
| Home Screen widget | Not covered here | Not covered here | Yes | No, not in 1.0 |
| Checklists | Yes | Not covered here | Depends on the app | Yes |
| Recording with a transcript | Not covered here | Not covered here | Depends on the app | Yes, written on the iPhone |
| Reminds you at a place | Not covered here | Not covered here | Depends on the app | Yes, when you arrive |
| Sync | iCloud, all your Apple devices | Not covered here | Depends on the app | To TackNote for Mac only |
| Price | Built in | Built in | Varies, check the listing | 7 days free, then $24.99 once |
Where TackNote for iPhone falls short
- No widget. Version 1.0 has no Home Screen or Lock Screen widget. Your notes live in the app.
- No import. It cannot bring in notes from Apple Notes or another app. You start a fresh board.
- Sync is with the Mac only. Notes sync to TackNote for Mac through your iCloud. There is no web version.
- It needs a recent iPhone. TackNote for iPhone needs iOS 26 or later, and summaries need Apple Intelligence. Recording and transcripts work without it.
- It is paid after a week. The trial is 7 days. If you do not unlock it, nothing is taken away: every note stays readable, searchable and shareable, and only making and changing notes stops.
Which one fits you
- You want a note you see every time you unlock the phone. Use a widget app. TackNote for iPhone does not have a widget yet.
- You want plain notes everywhere, for free. Apple Notes is built in and syncs through iCloud to all your Apple devices.
- You want to lay out ideas on a big canvas. Freeform puts sticky notes on a board, and it is built in.
- You want a note to hold the list, the photo, the recording and the place together. TackNote for iPhone is built for that: paper notes on a corkboard, written and kept on your phone.
- You already use TackNote on a Mac. Add TackNote for iPhone, and the notes you make on the go arrive on your Mac's board, ready to stick to your work.
Common questions
Does the iPhone have a sticky notes app?
Not one called Stickies. Apple Notes is the built-in place for quick notes and syncs through iCloud, and Freeform, Apple's whiteboard app, lets you add sticky notes to a board. For notes that look and work like sticky notes, you need an app from the App Store.
Can you put a sticky note on your iPhone Home Screen?
Yes, with an app that offers a widget. Widget apps such as Sticky Notes: Notepad Widget pin a note to the Home Screen or Lock Screen. TackNote for iPhone 1.0 does not have a widget.
Is TackNote for iPhone free?
It is free to download and everything works for 7 days. After that you can unlock it once for $24.99, with no subscription, no ads and no account. If you do not, your notes stay readable, searchable and shareable, and only making and changing notes stops.
Do TackNote notes sync from iPhone to Mac?
Yes, with TackNote for Mac, a separate purchase. Turn on the switch to sync with your Mac in the iPhone app's Settings, and notes you make on the phone arrive on your Mac's board, encrypted, through your own iCloud.
Try TackNote for iPhone
On the App Store now. Free to download, and everything works free for 7 days.
See TackNote for iPhone