# Peek Notes: short notes on your Home Screen, for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch

> Peek Notes is a notes app for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch that puts short notes on your Home Screen: the Wi-Fi password, the gate code, the boiler reset, the plumber's number. Notes live in folders, each with an SF Symbol and a colour, and each widget shows one folder, with arrows that page through it. Free, with no in-app purchases, no account, no tracking and no third-party ads.

Canonical page: https://daveellis.dev/peek-notes/
Made by Dave Ellis (Edinburgh, Scotland). Published on the App Store by The Racing Line Software Limited.
Status: coming soon to the App Store.
Last updated: 8 November 2026

## What is Peek Notes?

Peek Notes is a notes app for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch that puts short notes on your Home Screen. It's for the little things you look up all the time: the Wi-Fi password, the gate code, the boiler reset, the plumber's number.

Each note is a line or two of text with an SF Symbol and a colour, so you can spot it at a glance, and notes live in folders. Each Home Screen widget shows one folder, with arrows to page through it when there's more to see. Your notes sync through your own private iCloud, and the Apple Watch app puts them on your wrist. It's free, with no in-app purchases and no account to make.

## Key facts

| | |
|---|---|
| What it is | A notes app for short notes, with Home Screen widgets that show one folder each |
| Works on | iPhone, including iPhone Duo, and iPad with iOS or iPadOS 27 or later, and Apple Watch with watchOS 27 or later |
| Notes | A line or two of text each, with an SF Symbol and a colour, kept in folders |
| Colours | 13 preset colours, or any colour from the custom colour picker |
| Widgets | Small (one column), medium and large (two columns), and extra large on iPad (three columns); one folder each, with arrows to page through it |
| Apple Watch | A watch app, complications that show a note you choose, and a rectangular widget with a folder's first notes |
| Sync | Through your private iCloud database, or on your device without iCloud |
| Price | Free, with no in-app purchases |
| Account needed | No |
| Data collected | None |
| Ads, analytics, tracking | No tracking, analytics, third-party SDKs or third-party ads. One small banner shows the developer's other apps |
| Made by | Dave Ellis, Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Published by | The Racing Line Software Limited |
| App Store category | Productivity |

## Short notes

Each note is a line or two with its own symbol and colour, and notes live in folders. Write it once, then find it on your Home Screen whenever you need it.

- **Folders:** keep notes together in folders, like Home, Travel and Work, and give each folder a widget.
- **A line or two:** each note is short: a code, a number, where something is kept.
- **Any SF Symbol:** search any SF Symbol by name, or browse favourites grouped as General, Security, Devices and more.
- **13 colours, or your own:** pick one of 13 preset colours, or any colour at all with the custom colour picker.
- **Drag to reorder:** put notes and folders in the order you want with drag and drop, and edit them any time.
- **Synced with iCloud:** through your own private iCloud, to your iPad and your next iPhone. Without iCloud, notes stay on your device.

## Widgets, iPad and Apple Watch

Each widget shows one folder, and pages through it when there's more to see. Peek Notes is on iPad and Apple Watch too.

1. **One folder per widget:** touch and hold a widget, tap Edit Widget and pick a folder. Until you do, it shows your first one.
2. **Small to extra large:** small shows one column of notes, medium and large show two, and extra large on iPad shows three.
3. **Page through it:** when a folder has more notes than fit, arrows on the widget page through them, right on the Home Screen.
4. **Tap to open:** tap a widget and Peek Notes opens that folder.
5. **Hidden when locked:** note text is privacy-sensitive, so iOS hides it while your iPhone is locked, such as in StandBy.
6. **Made for iPad:** folders and notes side by side, the extra large widget, and keyboard shortcuts: ⌘N for a new note, ⇧⌘N for a new folder, ⌘Return to save and Esc to cancel.
7. **Apple Watch:** browse your folders and notes on your wrist, in Peek Notes' own watch app.
8. **On your watch face:** circular, corner, inline and rectangular complications show a note you choose, and a rectangular widget shows a folder's first notes.
9. **No iPhone needed:** your iPhone sends your notes to your watch, so they're there even when your phone isn't.

It's all free: there are no in-app purchases and nothing to unlock. Your notes sync through your own iCloud, so they follow you to your iPad and your next iPhone.

## How to put notes on your Home Screen

1. **Make a folder.** Open Peek Notes, tap New Folder, give it a name and tap Create. There's no account to make.
2. **Add your notes.** Open the folder and tap +. Type a line or two, pick a symbol and a colour, then tap Save.
3. **Add the widget.** Touch and hold the Home Screen, tap Edit, then Add Widget, and choose Peek Notes.
4. **Pick the folder.** Touch and hold the widget, tap Edit Widget and pick a folder. Tap the arrows to page through it.

## Private by design

The little things worth keeping to hand are often private: the alarm code, the gate code, where the spare key is. Peek Notes keeps your notes on your devices and in your own private iCloud, which the developer can't see. There's no account to make, no analytics and no tracking.

- **No account:** there's nothing to sign up for.
- **Nothing collected:** the developer never receives your notes, who you are or how you use the app.
- **No tracking:** no analytics, no third-party SDKs and no third-party ads.
- **Your iCloud, not the developer's:** notes sync through your private iCloud database.
- **Hidden when locked:** widgets hide note text while your iPhone is locked, and watchOS can hide your notes while your watch is.
- **Phone to watch, and no further:** your iPhone sends your notes to your Apple Watch over Apple's own connection between the two, and the watch keeps that copy and sends it nowhere else.

One small banner shows the developer's other apps. The app downloads it from theracingline.app, the developer's own website, and the request carries no account, device or advertising identifier; the app doesn't record whether you see or tap it. Full privacy policy: https://daveellis.dev/peek-notes/privacy/

## Questions

### What is Peek Notes?
Peek Notes is a notes app for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch that puts short notes on your Home Screen: the Wi-Fi password, the gate code, the boiler reset, the plumber's number. Notes live in folders, each note has its own SF Symbol and colour, and each widget shows one folder. It's made by Dave Ellis in Edinburgh, Scotland.

### What can I keep in Peek Notes?
Anything short you look up often: the Wi-Fi password, the gate code, the boiler reset, the plumber's number, bin day, where the stopcock is. Each note is a line or two of text.

### How do I put my notes on my Home Screen?
Make a folder and a few notes in Peek Notes first. Then touch and hold an empty part of your Home Screen, tap Edit, then Add Widget, search for Peek Notes, pick a size and tap Add Widget. Finally, touch and hold the new widget, tap Edit Widget and choose the folder it should show.

### What if a folder has more notes than fit?
Arrows on the widget page through them, right on the Home Screen, so you don't need to open the app. A small widget shows one column of notes, medium and large widgets show two, and the extra large widget on iPad shows three.

### Is Peek Notes free?
Yes. Peek Notes is free, with no in-app purchases and no account to make. It shows one small banner for my other apps.

### Which devices does Peek Notes work on?
iPhone with iOS 27 or later, including iPhone Duo, iPad with iPadOS 27 or later, and Apple Watch with watchOS 27 or later. On iPhone and iPad it has Home Screen widgets, and on Apple Watch it has an app, complications and a widget.

### Does Peek Notes work on Apple Watch?
Yes. The watch app shows your folders and notes, and complications put a note you choose on your watch face, in circular, corner, inline or rectangular styles. A rectangular widget shows a folder's first notes. Your iPhone sends your notes to the watch, so it shows them even when your iPhone isn't nearby.

### What's different on iPad?
Your folders and notes sit side by side, the extra large widget shows three columns of notes, and there are keyboard shortcuts: ⌘N for a new note, ⇧⌘N for a new folder, ⌘Return to save and Esc to cancel.

### Will my notes sync to my other devices?
Yes. If you're signed in to iCloud, your folders and notes sync through your own private iCloud database, so they follow you to a new iPhone and to your iPad. Without iCloud, Peek Notes keeps them on your device.

### Can I choose the symbols and colours?
Yes. Search any SF Symbol by name, or browse favourites grouped as General, Security, Devices and more. There are 13 preset colours, and a custom colour picker for any other.

### Why are my notes hidden in StandBy?
Note text is marked privacy-sensitive, so iOS hides it where your iPhone is locked, such as in StandBy.

### Does Peek Notes collect my data or track me?
No. Peek Notes collects nothing: there's no account, no analytics and no third-party SDKs or ads. Your notes stay on your devices and in your own private iCloud, which I can't see.

### Why is there a banner?
Peek Notes shows one small banner for my other apps. It comes from my own website, not an ad network: the request carries no account, device or advertising identifier, and the app doesn't record whether you see or tap it.

### Who makes Peek Notes?
Dave Ellis, an award-winning web and mobile developer in Edinburgh, Scotland, who also makes the motorsport app The Racing Line, the private location history app Location Vault, the contrast therapy timer Sauna & Plunge and the custom widget maker Widgeling. Peek Notes is published on the App Store by The Racing Line Software Limited.

## About the developer

Peek Notes is designed and built by Dave Ellis, an award-winning web and mobile developer in Edinburgh, Scotland. His motorsport app, The Racing Line (https://theracingline.app/), won Brand of the Year at the 2026 Race Media Awards and is used by more than 100,000 fans, and he also makes the private location history app Location Vault (https://daveellis.dev/location-vault/), the contrast therapy timer Sauna & Plunge (https://daveellis.dev/sauna-plunge/) and the custom widget maker Widgeling (https://daveellis.dev/widgeling/).

## Links

- Peek Notes: https://daveellis.dev/peek-notes/
- Support and FAQ: https://daveellis.dev/peek-notes/support/
- Privacy policy: https://daveellis.dev/peek-notes/privacy/
- Terms of Use (Apple's standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
- Email: dave@theracingline.app
- Dave Ellis: https://daveellis.dev/