# Reteum Canonical page: https://reteum.com/ Reteum is a private notes and journal app for iPhone that works the way your memory does. It takes things in (text, voice, photos, videos, links and files), brings old thoughts back on its own, finds them by meaning when you search, and sorts them into subjects that link together. The AI runs on the iPhone. Optional iCloud sync is end-to-end encrypted, so only the owner's devices can read it. ## Facts - Platform: iPhone only, iOS 26 or later. No iPad, Mac, Android or web version. - Developer: Reteum. Contact: support@reteum.com. - App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6820520573 - Price: Reteum Pro, $24.99 a year (US price; other countries use Apple's local price tiers), with a 7-day free trial. Sold and managed by Apple; cancel any time in App Store settings. - Without a subscription: you can still read your thoughts, open the Atlas and export everything. - Account: none. There is no sign-up and no Reteum server. - App language: English. Voice notes and the speech in videos are transcribed in the languages Apple's on-device speech recognition supports. ## The four things it does 1. **Take in.** One box for writing, speaking, photos, videos, links and PDFs. Photos and videos keep the time and place they were taken. Capture from Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, Control Center or Siri ("Add a thought to Reteum"). 2. **Recall.** Each time the app opens, an older thought is waiting at the top, like a memory that surfaces on its own. Keep it, add to it, or let it go with a swipe. 3. **Search.** An on-device AI model searches by meaning, so queries like "Seattle last month", "beach" or "nervous before speaking" work without exact words. Photos and videos are found by what they show. The words inside PDFs and documents count. 4. **Connect.** The Atlas sorts everything into subjects on its own and links the thoughts that belong together. ## Privacy - Both AI models (text and image) run on the iPhone, including in airplane mode. No cloud AI. - No account, no analytics, no advertising, no tracking. The developer never sees what users save. - iCloud sync is optional and end-to-end encrypted: thought details use CloudKit encrypted fields, and photos, videos and files are sealed on the phone (ChaCha20-Poly1305) before upload. - Export everything as one zip file with a Markdown copy. - Full policy: [Privacy policy](https://reteum.com/privacy.md) ## Guides - [Second brain](https://reteum.com/second-brain.md): using Reteum as a second brain without folders, tags or manual links. - [Voice journal](https://reteum.com/voice-journal.md): speaking entries, on-device transcription and searching them. - [Reteum and Apple Journal](https://reteum.com/apple-journal-alternative.md): how the two differ and when each fits. - [Obsidian alternative](https://reteum.com/obsidian-alternative.md): how Reteum differs from Obsidian on iPhone. ## Who it suits People who think in fragments and want to find them again: a line on the way to work, a photo of a whiteboard, a voice note after a call. It is not built for long documents, databases, team collaboration or desktop work. --- # Reteum Privacy Policy Canonical page: https://reteum.com/privacy Effective October 8, 2026 Reteum is built so that what you write stays yours. Your thoughts, voice notes, photos and videos are kept on this iPhone and, if you choose, in your own iCloud, end-to-end encrypted so that only your devices can read them. There is no account, no Reteum server, no analytics, no advertising and no tracking. We, the developer, never see anything you save. ## What stays on your iPhone Everything you save in Reteum: the words of your thoughts, your voice notes and their transcripts, photos, videos and what is said in them, files you attach and the words in them, links, the places where you saved things, and the links between your thoughts. The work that makes Reteum useful also happens on this iPhone: the text model that searches and groups your thoughts, the photo model that finds pictures by what they show, reading text in photos, and turning speech into text. None of it is sent anywhere to be processed. Your thoughts are stored in Reteum's own storage, which iOS keeps separate from other apps and encrypts when your iPhone is locked. ## What leaves your iPhone, and why Only what a feature needs, and your thoughts only to your own iCloud, if you choose: - iCloud, if you turn it on (Reteum asks the first time it opens, and Settings can change it). Your thoughts, photos, videos and files are copied to your private iCloud database, so they are safe if you lose this iPhone and appear on your other devices. They are encrypted on this iPhone before they leave: the words go in CloudKit's encrypted fields, whose keys are kept in your iCloud Keychain, and photos, videos and files are sealed with a key that is itself kept that way. Apple stores them but cannot read them, and neither can we. What Apple can see is how many items there are, how large they are and when they changed. Turning iCloud off in Settings stops syncing; the copy in iCloud can be removed in the Settings app under your name › iCloud. - Place names. If you allow location, the coordinates of where you are when you save a thought, or the coordinates stored in a photo or video you add, are sent to Apple's map service to look up the name of the place. Apple's privacy policy covers that request. - Links you save. To show a link's title and picture, Reteum opens the page the way a browser would, in a private session with no cookies. The website sees a request from your iPhone's internet address. For posts on X, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Spotify, SoundCloud and niconico, whose pages show little without their app, the post's address is sent to that platform's own public embed or info service (the one web pages use to embed posts) to get its title and picture. - Siri. If you add a thought by speaking to Siri, Siri turns your words into text, as it does for any app, and Apple's privacy policy covers that. Reteum receives only the text. Typing in Shortcuts, the widgets and Control Center send nothing anywhere. - Downloads from Apple. The photo search model is downloaded once from Apple, and iOS may download its speech models for your languages. Nothing of yours is sent for these. - Purchases. The subscription is sold and managed by Apple through the App Store. Reteum learns only whether your subscription is active; we never receive your payment details or your Apple ID. - Crash reports. If you have chosen in iOS Settings to share analytics with app developers, Apple may send us anonymous crash reports. They describe the app's state when it crashed, not your thoughts. ## Permissions Reteum asks only when a feature needs it, and works without each of them: - Location, while using the app: to note where a thought was saved. - Microphone: only while you record a voice thought. - Speech recognition: to turn your voice into text on this iPhone. - Photos: Reteum uses the system picker, so it receives only the photos and videos you choose and cannot see the rest of your library. You can change these at any time in the Settings app. ## Sharing into Reteum When you share a link, photo or video to Reteum from another app, it is passed to Reteum on this iPhone through storage only Reteum can read, and saved like anything else you add. ## Backups and your control - Export: Settings → Export all thoughts makes one file with everything, saved wherever you choose. What happens to that file is up to you and the place you save it. - iPhone backups: if your iPhone is backed up to iCloud or to a computer, iOS includes Reteum's data in that backup, encrypted as your backup settings say. - With iCloud on, a thought deleted on one device is deleted on the others too, where it also waits in Recently Deleted. - Deleting: a deleted thought stays in Recently Deleted for 14 days, then it and its photos and videos are removed for good. Settings → Delete all thoughts removes everything at once, and deleting the app removes all of its data from this iPhone. Because we hold none of your data, there is nothing for us to hand over, sell or lose. ## Children Reteum is not directed at children under 13, and it collects no personal information from anyone. ## Changes If this policy changes, the new version will be in the app with a new date. A change that sends anything more off your iPhone would be explained before it takes effect. ## Contact Questions about privacy are welcome at support@reteum.com. --- # Reteum and Apple Journal Canonical page: https://reteum.com/apple-journal-alternative Apple's Journal app is a good, free way to reflect on your day. Reteum is built for something slightly different: catching thoughts as they happen and finding them again later, the way your memory does. ## What they share - Both are for iPhone and both take text, photos and your voice. - Both are private: Reteum's AI runs on the phone and, with iCloud on, your entries are end-to-end encrypted so only your devices can read them. ## Where Apple Journal fits best Journal comes with your iPhone and costs nothing. It suggests moments to write about from your day, such as photos, places and workouts, and keeps entries in a timeline. If you want a nudge to write a daily entry about how the day went, Journal does that well. ## Where Reteum fits best Reteum is for the many small things you want to keep: a line that came to you on the train, a photo of a receipt, a link, a PDF, a voice note after a meeting. It is built around finding them again. - **Search by meaning.** An AI model on your iPhone understands what you mean, so "nervous before speaking" finds the entry where you wrote about stage fright. - **Photos and videos found by what they show.** Search "beach" and the beach photos turn up, whatever the caption said. - **Old thoughts come back.** Each time you open the app, something you saved before is waiting at the top. - **The Atlas.** Everything is sorted into subjects on its own, with related thoughts linked together. - **Links and files.** Save web links with previews and attach PDFs; the words inside count in search. - **Export.** Everything as one zip file with a Markdown copy you can read anywhere. ## Price Apple Journal is free. Reteum is $24.99 a year after a 7-day free trial, sold and managed by Apple. Without a subscription you can still read your thoughts, open the Atlas and export. ## Can you use both? Yes. Many people will keep a reflective daily entry in Journal and use Reteum for everything they want to find again. If what you want is a [second brain](https://reteum.com/second-brain.md) more than a diary, Reteum is the closer fit. _Compared in October 2026. Apple and Journal are trademarks of Apple Inc. Reteum is not affiliated with Apple._ --- # An Obsidian alternative for iPhone Canonical page: https://reteum.com/obsidian-alternative Obsidian is a superb tool for people who like to build their own system. Reteum is for people who want the benefits of linked notes without building anything: you put thoughts in, and it connects them. ## Why people look for an alternative Obsidian keeps notes as Markdown files in a vault you own and lets you link them, view them as a graph and extend almost everything with plugins. That power comes with work: choosing a folder structure, writing links by hand, picking and maintaining plugins. On a phone, where most thoughts actually arrive, it can feel like a lot of steps to save one line. ## What Reteum does differently - **No setup.** One box takes text, voice, photos, videos, links and PDFs. There are no folders or tags to decide on. - **Links made for you.** The Atlas sorts everything into subjects and links the thoughts that belong together, using an AI model on your iPhone. - **Search by meaning.** Find a note from half a memory, a place, a month or a feeling, not just the exact words. Photos and videos are found by what they show. - **Recall.** Older thoughts come back on their own each time you open the app. - **Private.** The AI runs on the phone, there is no account, and iCloud sync is end-to-end encrypted. - **Your data stays portable.** Export everything as one zip file with a Markdown copy, which you can open in Obsidian or any editor. ## When to stay with Obsidian If you write long documents, work mostly on a computer, rely on plugins or want to hand-craft your links, Obsidian is the better tool, and it is free for personal use. Reteum is iPhone only and is built for catching thoughts quickly and finding them again. Some people use both: Reteum in the pocket, Obsidian at the desk. ## Price Reteum is $24.99 a year after a 7-day free trial. Without a subscription you can still read your thoughts, open the Atlas and export. More on building a [second brain](https://reteum.com/second-brain.md) without the upkeep. _Compared in October 2026. Obsidian is a trademark of its owner. Reteum is not affiliated with Obsidian._ --- # A second brain that organizes itself Canonical page: https://reteum.com/second-brain Most second brain apps ask you to build the system first: folders, tags, templates, links between notes. Reteum asks you to do one thing, put the thought in, and does the rest the way your own memory does. ## Why second brains get abandoned Personal knowledge management works when you keep it up. The trouble is the upkeep: deciding where a note goes, which tags it gets, which older notes it should link to. When capturing a thought takes a decision, fewer thoughts get captured, and the ones that do end up in an inbox nobody reviews. ## How Reteum does it instead - **Take in.** One box for everything: a typed line, your voice, photos, videos, links and PDFs. Widgets, the Lock Screen, Control Center and Siri catch a thought without opening the app. - **Recall.** Each time you open Reteum, an older thought is waiting at the top, so what you saved comes back without a weekly review. - **Search.** An AI model on your iPhone searches by meaning. Half a memory is enough: "Seattle last month", "nervous before speaking", "the lease". Photos and videos are found by what they show, and the words inside PDFs count. - **Connect.** The Atlas sorts everything into subjects on its own and links the thoughts that belong together. Open a subject and follow the lines. ## A private second brain A second brain holds the things you would not tell everyone. In Reteum both AI models run on the iPhone, even in airplane mode. There is no account and no Reteum server. If you turn on iCloud, your thoughts are end-to-end encrypted, so only your own devices can read them. You can export everything as one zip file with a Markdown copy at any time. ## Is Reteum the right second brain for you? Reteum suits people who think in fragments: a line on the way to work, a photo of a whiteboard, a voice note after a call. If you want to write long documents, build databases or work mostly on a computer, a desktop tool such as Obsidian or Notion will serve you better. Reteum is for iPhone, and it is built for catching things quickly and finding them again. [How it compares with Obsidian](https://reteum.com/obsidian-alternative.md). --- # A voice journal that listens on your iPhone Canonical page: https://reteum.com/voice-journal Some thoughts are easier to say than to type: on a walk, in the car, half awake. Reteum turns what you say into text on the phone itself, and keeps it with everything else you save, ready to be found again. ## Speak, and it's written down - Tap the microphone and talk. The words appear as you speak, in the language you speak, using Apple's speech recognition on the iPhone. - Start a voice entry from a Home Screen widget, the Lock Screen, Control Center or Siri: _"Add a thought to Reteum."_ - The words spoken in your videos become searchable text too. - Each entry keeps its time and, if you allow it, its place. ## An audio journal you can actually search Voice memos pile up because nobody listens back to them. In Reteum, a spoken entry is searchable the moment you finish. Search by meaning rather than exact words: "what I said about changing jobs" finds the entry where you talked about your manager and a new offer. Old entries also come back on their own when you open the app, the way a memory surfaces. ## Private by design A voice journal is about as personal as it gets. Reteum's AI runs on your iPhone, there is no account and no Reteum server, and we never see what you save. Turn on iCloud and your journal is end-to-end encrypted, so only your own devices can read it. [Read the privacy policy](https://reteum.com/privacy.md). ## More than a voice journal The same box takes typed notes, photos, videos, links and PDFs, and the Atlas sorts all of it into subjects and links what belongs together. If you also keep a written journal or a [second brain](https://reteum.com/second-brain.md), it can all live in one place.