In this hyperconnected celebrity age, every snapchat becomes a news story, and starting a feud is as easy as tweeting a single snake emoji. Comments and clarifications don’t need to be sought out by journalists or fed through publicists, they can be delivered instantly to millions immediately after being written out on a device they have with them at all times. Some celebrities simply share their thoughts in tweet storms. Others explain themselves in lengthy Instagram captions. But the savvier among them head to the Notes app on iOS.
Notes not only comes pre-installed on every iPhone, but is impossible to delete—making it the only text editor that every user of the OS is guaranteed to have access to. Meaning, it’s the one they use when in need of responding to a series of surprising (or unsurprising) public Snapchats from Kim Kardashian.
But Swift isn’t the first celebrity to use the app as a way of explaining herself out of a controversy. Difficult People star Julie Klausner did the same thing (on a smaller scale) just last week, when Page Six (correctly) accused her of calling Gwyneth Paltrow a “backstabber.”
Last summer, Amy Schumer tried to nip a controversy about her racially-charged comedy in the bud with this statement:
Fifth Harmony spent three screenshots requesting #Respect and explaining some recent security drama at their tour, by which I mean they did their work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work from Notes.
Australian actress Ruby Rose used the app to comment on a controversy that didn’t even involve her, writing this semi-incomprehensible note to defend her new best friend, Taylor Swift.
Sometimes the app is used as a way for celebrities to get ahead of the gossip and end tabloid speculation before it even starts. Demi Lovato announced her breakup with Wilmer Valderrama not through a more traditional exclusive with a tabloid, but with... Notes.
My kingdom for access to everything else her “Poems” folder contains.
Briana Jungworth sought privacy for the sake of her son (with One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson), Freddie, in a note that spanned two screenshots.
The most entertaining appearance of the app, however, is when it’s used as part of a public apology. Apologies, as we all hopefully know, must be perceived as genuine in order to be believed, and it’s hard to convincingly insist on one’s regret in just 140 characters. Enter: the Notes app.
Remember when Ariana Grande apologized for putting her tongue on that donut? She opened her favorite app in a lick.
After Azealia Banks apologized for her racist remarks to Zayn Malik by posting a Notes screenshot on Instagram, the effort was reported as “seemingly genuine.”
And what about when director John Carney apologized to Keira Knightley (and women in general) with this heartfelt screed in which he admitted to being an “idiot”? People forgave him.
But the app isn’t used just used by celebrities to address controversies. It’s not even exclusively used by celebrities! I don’t know anything about the NFL, but I’d probably pay more attention if they made all their statements with my favorite app.
Even the CEO and co-founder of Twitter—a man who literally holds the power to make Tweets allow for more characters—heads to Notes when in need of them.
Apple’s Notes app is an essential supplement to any social media account run by a celebrity. No other text editor makes it easier to share your words with the world—if only because it’s always there, synced to all your Apple devices.
To my favorite Apple-using celebrities, I look forward to all the Notes screenshots you plan on sharing with us in the future. And to those of you who use Android, good luck getting your thoughts across.
Images via Apple/Screengrab.