None declared
Mostly a question of trust: Color Notes collects data linked to you but declares no tracking. The sensitive items are user content. In total the label lists 2 data types; 25% of encrypted notes apps we checked declare tracking.
Color Notes privacy in one look
- 1Collects nothing
- 2Not linked
- 3Linked
- 4Tracks you
Built only from the developer's App Store label. It describes disclosure, not tested behaviour.
Color Notes collects 1 data type tied to your identity but declares no tracking.
Did Color Notes ask for something?
Pick the permission prompt you saw. We compare it with what Color Notes' developer declared.
Location is not on Color Notes' label. That can be fine: data used only on your iPhone does not have to be declared. If the data would need to leave the phone for the feature to work, ask why it is missing.
Color Notes lists User Content on its label. Choose Limited Access and pick only the photos you want to share.
Contacts is not on Color Notes' label. That can be fine: data used only on your iPhone does not have to be declared. If the data would need to leave the phone for the feature to work, ask why it is missing.
Color Notes declares no tracking, so a tracking prompt would contradict its label. Decline it, and consider reporting the mismatch to Apple.
Health & Fitness is not on Color Notes' label. That can be fine: data used only on your iPhone does not have to be declared. If the data would need to leave the phone for the feature to work, ask why it is missing.
A permission is what the app can reach on your iPhone; the label is what the developer says leaves it. They answer different questions.
What Color Notes collects, explained
| Data type | What it covers | Where to limit it |
|---|---|---|
| User ContentSensitiveNot linked to you | Messages, photos, videos, audio recordings, documents and support chats you create or upload. | Settings › Privacy & Security › Photos: choose Limited Access or None; review Microphone and Files access too. |
| Contact InfoLinked to you | Your name, email address, phone number or postal address. | Use Sign in with Apple with Hide My Email where offered, and check the app's account and marketing preferences. |
What Color Notes' label means for you
Color Notes' label has 1 type under “Data Linked to You”, 1 type under “Data Not Linked to You”. A data type can appear in more than one section when it is used for different purposes — for example, identifiers used for both analytics and advertising.
Color Notes declares no tracking, which means the developer says it does not combine your data with other companies' data for advertising or sell it to data brokers. The data linked to you — contact info — is still tied to your identity, typically through an account, and is covered by the developer's privacy policy and retention rules.
The items that deserve the most attention are user content. This is the content you actually care about. Where it is stored, who can read it and how it is backed up matters more than any other line on the label.
Notes apps quietly collect some of your most personal writing. 'Encrypted' can mean encrypted in transit, at rest on the server, or end-to-end — only the last keeps the developer out. Find which kind of encryption the developer documents, and whether a lost password means lost notes.
Among the 146 encrypted notes apps in our snapshot with a label, 25% declare tracking, 40% collect data linked to you and 40% say they collect nothing. Color Notes lists 2 data types, about the same as the average of 1.8 for this group.
Utilities range from calculators to VPNs, so their labels vary more than any other category. A simple tool that collects identifiers and usage data for tracking is a sign of advertising SDKs.
Settings to check for Color Notes
- 1
Photos
Settings › Privacy & Security › Photos. Limited Access lets you pick exactly which pictures the app can see; Add Photos Only lets it save without reading your library.
- 2
Sign-in
When creating an account, Sign in with Apple can give the app a relay address from Hide My Email instead of your real one.
- 3
Lock the app
On iOS 18 and later, touch and hold the icon and choose Require Face ID. Anyone who picks up your unlocked phone then needs your face, fingerprint or passcode to open it.
- 4
Notifications
Settings › Notifications › Color Notes › Show Previews: When Unlocked keeps message and account details off the Lock Screen.
Does Color Notes track you?
There is no “Data Used to Track You” section on Color Notes' label.
Does Color Notes track you? Full answer and how to stop it →
Lock Color Notes behind Face ID
- Find Color Notes on your Home Screen or in App Library.
- Touch and hold the icon until the quick-actions menu opens.
- Tap Require Face ID (or Require Touch ID / Require Passcode, depending on your iPhone).
- Tap Require Face ID again to confirm. Color Notes now asks for authentication every time it opens.
The lock is an iPhone feature, so it works whether or not Color Notes has a passcode of its own. It does not change what the app sends to its developer.
About Color Notes
| Developer | Matthew Hagens |
| App Store category | Utilities (also Education) |
| Latest version | 2.7, released January 2026 |
| First released | March 2014 |
| Requires | iOS 15.6 or later |
| Size | 62 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ |
| Languages | 1 (EN) |
| Bundle ID | com.dimatt.stickynotes |
The current version shipped in January 2026. That is recent enough that the label should reflect current practices, but check the App Store page again before relying on it.
What the label cannot tell you
- A label is self-reported. Apple publishes the developer's answers and can reject apps that misrepresent them, but it does not independently verify what Color Notes sends.
- It does not say where data is stored, how long it is kept, whether it is encrypted, or which companies receive it. The privacy policy covers those points.
- Optional data counts: if a feature lets you add something (a profile photo, a phone number), the type is listed even if you never use the feature.
- Data handled only on your iPhone is not 'collected', so a no-collection label is compatible with an app that reads your files locally.
- Third-party sign-in, payment processors and SDKs are supposed to be included, but a label can lag behind a new version.
The question to ask Color Notes' developer: Who holds the encryption key for my notes?
Color Notes vs similar encrypted notes apps
- My Notes Safe
- Color Notes (this app)
- myNotes Secure Private Notepad
- Note Lock~Lock your Tales Safe
- My Notes
- CalcPlus
- Plain Note
Fewer types is not automatically safer: a cloud backup app has to collect your files to work. Compare like with like.
Look up any of our apps in seconds, or put two labels side by side.
Apps similar to Color Notes
All encrypted notes apps → Who tracks you? A–Z → Apps that collect user content → Privacy label decoder →
Your Color Notes privacy checklist
Done. You have applied every control the label points to.
True or false?
- Right.Not quite.
False: there is no Data Used to Track You section on Color Notes' label.
- Right.Not quite.
Labels are self-reported by developers. Apple can reject or remove apps that misrepresent practices, but it does not audit each label.
- Right.Not quite.
True: User Content appears on its label, in the Not Linked to You section.
- Right.Not quite.
It is collected and sent; the developer says it is de-identified rather than tied to your account or device.
- Right.Not quite.
Apple's rules require apps to work the same whether or not you allow tracking.