When comparing The Brain vs Apple Notes, the Slant community recommends Apple Notes for most people. In the question“What is the best cross-platform note-taking app?” Apple Notes is ranked 18th while The Brain is ranked 30th. The most important reason people chose Apple Notes is:
It syncs with iCloud, and surprisingly, also with Gmail and possibly other services too.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Cloud syncing
With an account for syncing on their servers, you can run the brain on multiple computers.
Pro Good support
Worthwhile support is offered, especially for those that pay for a subscription.
Pro Sync with other Apple devices via iCloud, other cloud/email services
It syncs with iCloud, and surprisingly, also with Gmail and possibly other services too.
Pro Built-in
It's a default system app, making it easy to find and use since it is already installed.
Pro Rich-text editing
Allows for simple text formatting and making TODO lists with checkboxes.
Pro Attachments
You can add files to notes and then filter notes by attachment types.
Pro Supports sharing
Pro It's fast, and syncing is very dependable
The app launches quickly on both Mac and iOS, it also syncs quickly (in seconds) and very dependably across different Apple devices.
Pro It remains simple to use with a gentle learning curve
Despite the significant new updates in iOS 9 and iOS 10, you can start using Notes immediately, then try/master new features with ease — definitely a gentle learning curve.
Cons
Con Expensive
There is either a $15 a month subscription fee or a license that ranges from $219 to $299. There is a 30 day free trial for those who would like to test it before subscribing or purchasing, but overall to use this app it can be pricey.
Con High learning curve
There is a little bit of a learning curve with all software, and this is no exception.
Con Cannot export to a format that can be imported again
This makes it obscure and cumbersome to back up your notes as files that could be managed by your backup system. You can export to PDF, but not in bulk; and this isn't the native format that you can easily recover with.
Apple compounds the problem by using some undocumented format for notes. You can, however, back them all up by backing up the files found in ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Notes/Data/Library/Notes
