App Recap: Noted, PodWise, Sidekick and Major App Updates

In this week's App Recap, we've highlighted productivity app "Noted," utility app "PodWise," and health app "Sidekick" as three apps that are worth checking out. We've also compiled a list of apps that received major updates this week.

App Recap Noted

Apps to Check Out

  • Noted. (iOS & Mac, Free) - Noted is a productivity app that fully integrates audio recordings with notes to help users make the most out of note-taking. The app's simple design allows users to easily create notes and start recording in just a few taps. While recording audio, Noted adds a timestamp to each new line, and it's easy to navigate to specific places within the audio. Additionally, users can add #TimeTags, which link to key parts of the audio that can be placed anywhere in the note. Noted also features multitasking, iCloud syncing, the ability to lock notes with a password or Touch ID/FaceID, and more. Noted is free to download, but users looking to gain access to even more of the app's capabilities can upgrade to Noted+, which consists of monthly and yearly subscriptions priced at $2.49 and $23.99 respectively.

  • PodWise (Mac, $14.99) - PodWise is an app that allows users to seamlessly add metadata to .mp3 audio files such as titles, artwork, chapters, author information, and more. The app consists an intuitive interface that allows users to import the file, add in the desired metadata, and then easily export the file. The convenient chapters feature allows users to listen to the audio and pause at desired points to add chapter information, which can even include URL links and images. Although PodWise is priced at $14.99, it features no ads or additional in-app purchases.

App Recap PodWise e1592592604618

  • Sidekick (iOS, Free) - Health app Sidekick is comprised of exercises and tips to boost the mental well-being of its users. Upon downloading the app, users can select up to three goals to achieve through Sidekick, which will then create suggestions in users' libraries based on the selected goals. Aside from wellbeing exercises, the app has a toolkit tab that allows users to access daily wellbeing workouts, favorited exercises for specified situations, and more. Sidekick also features an inspiration tab that contains inspirational quotes and tips to improve one's mental well-being.

App Updates

  • Etsy - Popular shopping app Etsy was updated this week with a new feature that allows for the viewing of items with AR. Users can now explore thousands of items and use AR to determine the fit of the item in a room before adding it to their basket.
  • Fantastical Calendar & Tasks - Flexibits this week updated its Fantastical app with several new features. The update introduces a "Work From Home" feature that includes automatic conference call detection and timed calendar sets. Timed calendar sets will automatically activate at any given time and day as specified by the user. In addition to timed calendar sets, users can activate location-based calendar sets that will automatically activate a calendar set when a users arrives or leaves a certain location. The update also features bug fixes, other improvements, and new iMessage stickers for those who have the iOS version of the app installed.
  • Grammarly Keyboard (iPadOS) - Productivity app Grammarly was updated this week with full iPad support that allows users to access the document editor and personal writing statistics. Grammarly also introduced several improvements to the Grammarly Keyboard on iPad.
  • Notability - Popular note-taking and productivity app Notability was updated this week with improvements to audio controls. Users can now rename, reorder, trim, merge, and split audio recordings. Additionally, the update introduces support for eight new languages for handwriting recognition.

Know of a great new app that we've missed? Let us know in the comments and we'll check it out for next week's App Recap.

Popular Stories

top stories 2025 12 20

Top Stories: iOS 26.3 Beta, Major Apple Leaks, and More

Saturday December 20, 2025 6:00 am PST by
You'd think things would be slowing down heading into the holidays, but this week saw a whirlwind of Apple leaks and rumors while Apple started its next cycle of betas following last week's release of iOS 26.2 and related updates. This week also saw the release of a new Apple Music integration with ChatGPT, so read on below for all the details on this week's biggest stories! Top Stories i...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Features Leaked in New Report, Including Under-Screen Face ID

Tuesday December 16, 2025 8:44 am PST by
Next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be equipped with under-screen Face ID, and the front camera will be moved to the top-left corner of the screen, according to a new report from The Information's Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu. As a result of these changes, the report said the iPhone 18 Pro models will not have a pill-shaped Dynamic Island cutout at the top of the screen....
maxresdefault

Where's the New Apple TV?

Monday December 22, 2025 11:30 am PST by
Apple hasn't updated the Apple TV 4K since 2022, and 2025 was supposed to be the year that we got a refresh. There were rumors suggesting Apple would release the new Apple TV before the end of 2025, but it looks like that's not going to happen now. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said several times across 2024 and 2025 that Apple would...
ios 18 security update

Don't Want to Upgrade to iOS 26? Here's How to Stay on iOS 18 [Update: Now Unavailable]

Friday December 19, 2025 10:37 am PST by
Since the beginning of December, Apple has been pushing iPhone users who opted to stay on iOS 18 to install iOS 26 instead. Apple started by making the iOS 18 upgrades less visible, and has now transitioned to making new iOS 18 updates unavailable on any device capable of running iOS 26. If you have an iPhone 11 or later, Apple is no longer offering new versions of iOS 18, even though there...
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple's 2026 and 2027 Product Roadmap: Foldable iPhone, iPhone 18 Pro, M5 Macs, and More

Tuesday December 16, 2025 4:42 pm PST by
There has been a whirlwind of rumors over the last few days, sourced from leaked internal software designed for the iPhone and the Mac, and news sites like The Information. Below, we have a quick recap of everything we've heard this week, which serves as a guide to Apple's product plans in 2026 and beyond. We've organized the info by likely release date, though there are some products that...
iPhone Chips

Apple Clings to Samsung as RAM Prices Soar

Monday December 22, 2025 6:17 am PST by
Apple is significantly increasing its reliance on Samsung for iPhone memory as component prices surge, according to The Korea Economic Daily. Apple is said to be expanding the share of iPhone memory it sources from Samsung due to rapidly rising memory prices. The shift is expected to result in Samsung supplying roughly 60% to 70% of the low-power DRAM used in the iPhone 17, compared with a...

Top Rated Comments

iDento Avatar
72 months ago
The problem with subscritpion is not how much I am paying, it is ok to price your app at 14.99$, 0.99$ or 299$, I will pay for the app I need as long as it won’t stop working the moment I stop paying.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)