# Inkwell: Private Journal — Your diary. No subscription.

> Your diary. No subscription. (iPhone/iPad app by Simon Shih.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/inkwell-private-journal/id6794589862 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Simon Shih](https://appshunter.io/developer/1870707682)
- Category: Lifestyle, Productivity
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 16.4 · 39 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-08-05
- Data updated: 2026-08-09
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/inkwell-private-journal/id6794589862/reviews.md

## What is Inkwell?

Inkwell is a private journal that stays on your phone. No account, no cloud, no analytics — your words live in a local database on your device, and the only copy of your journal is the one in your hands.

WRITE, YOUR WAY
• Fast, quiet entries with an optional title and one-tap moods
• Serif, sans, or typewriter fonts
• Five paper-and-ink color themes, each with day and night views
• A gentle daily prompt when the page is blank
• Live word count, and links in your writing become tappable

CAPTURE MORE THAN WORDS
• Attach photos to any entry
• Sketch directly in your journal with eight inks and two pen widths
• Star the entries that matter and find them in one tap

FIND YESTERDAY
• Calendar view with a dot for every day you wrote — tap any date to read it or write a late entry
• Full-text search across your whole journal
• Edit any entry's date and time
• Streaks and words-per-year to keep the habit alive
• On This Day resurfaces what you wrote in past years (Pro)

YOURS, PROVABLY
• Lock the journal with Face ID
• Export everything — photos included — to a single file, any time, free
• Import it on a new phone and keep writing
• Optional daily reminder, scheduled entirely on your device
• No subscription. Ever.

Writing, moods, the calendar, search, and backups are free forever. Inkwell Pro is a single one-time purchase that unlocks unlimited photos and drawings per entry, On This Day, and beautifully typeset PDF export.

Other journal apps charge a subscription to keep your diary on someone else's computer. Inkwell keeps it on yours.

Pay once. Own it forever. No subscription. Inkwell's Pro unlock is $9.99, one time. Writing is free forever either way.

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Inkwell Pro | $9.99 | one-time |



## Version history (last 2 releases)

### 1.1 — 2026-08-08

Small improvements, including a one-time prompt asking how you're liking the app.

### 1.0 — 2026-08-05

No release notes.

## More apps by Simon Shih

- [SceneReady](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sceneready/id6759228019)
- [DeckIQ](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/deckiq/id6759276345)
- [UGCio](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ugcio/id6759463970)
- [Mise — Film Director Suite](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mise-film-director-suite/id6759731914)
- [NDT Cert Study](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ndt-cert-study/id6785204471)
- [API Inspector Cert Prep](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/api-inspector-cert-prep/id6785875538)

All apps by Simon Shih: https://appshunter.io/developer/1870707682

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-09.*