The Fineliner app is a free notebook for iPad and iPhone where you draw the interface yourself and can turn your own handwriting into a font. It arrived on the App Store on October 28 and is built around Apple Pencil.
Overcast Radio, LLC published it, the company Marco Arment runs that also makes Unforgetful and the Overcast podcast app. The free download is 13.4 MB and needs iOS 26 or later on iPhone and iPadOS 26 or later on iPad.
The Fineliner app is free with no ads, account or subscription
Notebooks and pages are unlimited, and syncing and sharing through iCloud cost nothing. There are no ads and no subscription, and you never create an account or log in.
The only upsell is a set of one-time purchases for more colors, pen widths and templates. The three packs are Tones and Bolds at $9.99 each and the Deluxe Pack at $12.99, and the purchases can be shared through Family Sharing.
The app collects no data, and handwriting and image recognition run on the device. Notebooks live on your devices and in your iCloud account, so Overcast Radio never sees them.
Locking a notebook behind Face ID or Touch ID uses the encryption built into iCloud and the device. That keeps casual snoopers out, and it is not designed to stop advanced attacks or a compromised Apple account.
You draw Fineliner’s interface by hand and can make a font from your writing
You draw the app’s interface yourself, so most of what is on screen is your own writing. You can also build a handwriting font and export it as a TTF file.
Ink is vector, so notes stay sharp when you zoom in, scale or rotate them. Drawing supports layers and automatic shape recognition, and dark mode applies to your notes as well.
You can create your own headers and links to move around a notebook, and search finds both your handwriting and image descriptions. Notebooks can be shared for real-time collaboration, and they export as SVG, PDF or images.
Apple Pencil is recommended, and iPhone Duo needs iOS 27.2 to use a Pencil
The developer recommends an Apple Pencil and says the app is best on iPad and iPhone Duo. Apple Pencil with USB-C works on the iPhone Duo in iOS 27.2, on both the inner and outer displays, so anyone planning to handwrite on the foldable needs to update first.
