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A notes app without AI: what you can switch off, and what to choose
Short answer: Evernote lets you turn its AI features on or off one at a time but documents no single switch. Apple documents how to turn off or restrict Apple Intelligence, with steps that differ by iOS version. Google Keep's AI is limited to some plans and its help pages describe no way to turn it off. In Notaito the main AI switch is off for every new account.
Notes apps keep adding AI: summaries, rewrites, assistants, search that reads your notes on a server. Some people want it. Plenty do not, and the complaint is not the AI itself but not being able to leave it alone. In Notaito's own count of 9,840 one- and two-star reviews of eleven big notes apps, collected in October 2026, 6.4% of the reviews from the last twelve months mention AI, against 3.1% of those from the twelve months before. The earlier period has far fewer reviews, because the stores only show recent ones, so read that as a direction, not a size. Of 40 mentions we read, most were people who did not want AI features in their notes app, or who were stuck talking to an AI support bot.
Here is what each app's own help pages say about switching AI off, as of 27 October 2026.
| App | Can you turn the AI off? |
|---|---|
| Apple Notes | Apple documents how to turn off or restrict Apple Intelligence. In iOS 26 there is a switch under Settings › Apple Intelligence & Siri, and Screen Time can block Writing Tools, the feature that works inside Notes. Apple's iOS 27 page lists per-feature switches (Siri AI, message and email summaries), and we could not confirm a single master switch there, so check Apple's page for your version. |
| Evernote | You can turn individual AI features on or off in Settings (Preferences › AI features on desktop and web, AI features on mobile). The help pages describe no single switch for all of them, and the two pages that cover it disagree on whether the features are on by default. Evernote says its Semantic Search builds note embeddings on its servers and does not say whether turning it off stops that. |
| Google Keep | Keep's AI features (list creation, voice notes) are limited to Android with a Google AI plan or a Pixel, so most people never see them. Google's Keep help pages do not describe a setting to turn them off. Gemini's connection to Keep is controlled from the Gemini side. |
| Notaito | The main switch, Auto-organise with AI, is off for every new account. While it is off, notes are not sent for filing and pictures and PDFs are not read, unless you change that in Settings. You can also keep chosen projects out of AI, and locked notes are never sent. Features you start yourself still send what they need (see below). |
What "off" should mean
A real off switch does three things. It stops AI features appearing in the app. It stops your notes being sent to an AI service. And it stays off after an update. When you read an app's help page, look for all three. "You can disable individual features" is not the same as "your notes are never sent anywhere".
How Notaito does it
Notaito's main AI job is choosing which project a note belongs to. The switch for it, Auto-organise with AI, is off for every new account. When you switch it on, Notaito sends the text of the notes being filed, your project names and category names to its AI provider. Turn it off again and notes are filed by hand, which is how the app works without AI anyway: you write, then drag a note to a project.
Some things are on purpose, so they still send what they need when you use them: a recorded voice note is turned into text by a speech service, adding a web address to a project sends a request to summarise the page, and the Kitchen's recipe helpers run when you open them. Notaito's privacy policy lists every AI feature, what it sends and when.
Notaito can also be connected to AI assistants such as Claude, on your terms. You approve each app with your Google sign-in, an app can only add notes unless you tick a box to let it read them, and you can disconnect it at any time.
If you stay with your current app
- Read the app's AI settings page once, then check again after big updates, because defaults change.
- Look for a setting that says whether notes are used to build search indexes or "embeddings" on a server.
- Keep anything sensitive in a locked note or outside the app.
Questions people ask
Can I turn off Apple Intelligence in Apple Notes?
Apple documents how to turn off or restrict its AI features on iPhone, including Writing Tools, which works inside Notes. In iOS 26 there is a switch under Settings, Apple Intelligence and Siri. The steps differ by iOS version, so check Apple's page for yours.
Does Evernote have an AI off switch?
You can enable or disable individual AI features in Settings. Evernote's help pages describe no single switch for all of them.
Can I turn off AI in Google Keep?
Keep's AI features are limited to Android with a Google AI plan or a Pixel. Google's Keep help pages do not describe a way to turn them off.
Is Notaito's AI on by default?
No. The main switch, Auto-organise with AI, is off for every new account until you turn it on in Settings.
What does Notaito's AI see when it is on?
For filing, the text of the notes being filed (a few at a time), your project names and category names. Projects you keep out of AI and locked notes are not sent. The privacy policy lists each feature.
See it for yourself
Notaito is a notebook that files your notes under your projects as you write. It runs in any browser and you can try it now without making an account.
Keep reading
Sources
- Evernote help: AI features
- Evernote help: AI features overview
- Google Keep help: AI features and who gets them
- Gemini help: connecting Gemini to Keep
- Apple: turn off and restrict Apple Intelligence on iPhone (current)
- Apple: turn off and restrict Apple Intelligence on iPhone (iOS 26)
If something here is out of date, write to [email protected] and it will be fixed.