Notes App Apologies

About

Notes App Apologies refers to the common celebrity and influencer practice of issuing public apologies via a screenshot from the iOS Notes App (though sometimes including other text-based note applications). The practice of using Apple's Notes App to write out an apology has existed since at least 2015 and grew as a point of parody and discussion following a rise in such statements in the late 2010s. Notes App apologies are also sometimes used as a parody format to issue joking or humorous apologies in meme culture.

Origin

The trend of celebrities using the Notes App to issue apologies was first prominently noted in 2015, with Ariana Grande posting a Notes App apology on July 8th, 2015,^[1] Amy Schumer posting a Notes App apology on June 28th, 2015,^[2] and musical group Fifth Harmony issuing a Notes App apology on July 4th, 2016.^[3]

On January 1st, 2018, Logan Paul notably posted a Notes App apology^[4] for his controversial Suicide Forest video, gathering over 100,000 likes in five years (seen below, left). On October 21st, 2018, creator Brother Nature posted another apology example that gathered over 370,000 likes in five years (seen below, right).^[5]

Spread

On August 14th, 2018, Twitter^[6] user @tom_harlock posted a tweet that read, "does the iphone notes app have preset apology templates or are racist youtubers just unable to use a proper word processor," gathering over 25,000 likes in five years (seen below, left). On November 18th, Twitter^[7] user @ratsophiarat posted a tweet that read, "I got broken up with via notes app apology screenshot at 3am last night. who does he think he is fuckjng taylor swift," gathering over 80,000 likes in five years (seen below, right).

On February 14th, 2019, Twitter^[11] user @davidmackau posted a tweet that read, "a national emergency getting declared via the notes app feels like a new level for something normally used for celeb apologies," gathering over 5,000 likes in four years (seen below, right). On June 17th, 2020, Twitter^[10] user @samcahnruns posted a parody Notes App apology for Chris D'Elia, gathering over 7,000 likes in three years (seen below, right).

On July 11th, 2020, Twitter^[8][9] user @itszaeok posted a humorous Notes App apology for "stealing from Bed, Bath & Beyond." The post gathered over 220,000 likes in three years (seen below).

On August 2nd, 2021, Netflix U.K.'s official Instagram page posted parody Notes App apologies issued by various characters in Netflix originals.^[12]

Various Examples

OUT: notes app apologies
IN: high effort after effects apologies pic.twitter.com/smGZVC6dJS

— Mike Devine (@mikethedevine) December 28, 2022

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References