Comparison

Personal Diary (Journal) App vs Fridge

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Personal Diary (Journal) App

This app provides a simple and secure digital space for journaling. It offers passcode and biometric protection, iCloud sync across devices, and the ability to add photos, moods, and weather to your entries. It's designed to be an accessible and ad-free journalling experience.

Highlights
  • Passcode & biometric protection
  • iCloud sync across devices
  • Import photos into entries
  • Set mood and weather
  • Daily writing reminders
  • VoiceOver support
  • Dark Mode
Features
Read full description

"When all you want is the digital equivalent of a paper diary, this is the perfect one." - goyyboy "Loving the lighthearted feel of this deceptively powerful app." - plinkplok "Good and accessible with VoiceOver" - Allan.summers Need a simple, free, and easy-to-use journalling app? Meet Personal Diary! With no advertisements, limitations, nor any upfront cost, Personal Diary is your simplest and best journalling tool yet. Easily access all your entries in all your devices with iCloud Sync. Write diary entries without worrying that someone will peek at what you wrote, with passcode & biometric protection. Forgot about your diary? The app can 'summon' you back with a friendly nudge. You can also import as many photos as you wish into your entries. As an optional addition, you can set your mood, and add weather and tags to an entry. Notable Features: - Numeric passcode lock (any number of digits). - Unlock using Touch ID or Face ID on supported devices. - Auto-saves as you type. - Simple & easy to use. - Sync data between devices via iCloud Drive. - Ability to pick a mood and weather of the day. - Mood & weather can be automatically chosen. - Import photos to your entries. - Select a theme to suit your style. - Dark Mode for better night use. - VoiceOver fully supported. - Simple Rich Text editing supported. - Optimized for multitasking on iPad. - Full support for physical keyboards, trackpad, and mice. - watchOS keyboard support on Series 7+, and FlickType keyboard support for legacy watch models. - Fully compatible with all modern iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch* models. - Daily notifications for writing in your diary. - No advertisements & absolutely FREE! :D *Some features may not be available on the Apple Watch. Primary editing and viewing functions, such as the Timeline interface and entry editor, are available on the watch. Don't forget to let me know what you think of Personal Diary by leaving a review on the App Store! Reviews and ratings help and let other users find this app. If you have any problems or questions, feel free to send a feedback; I might be able to help! :) Warning: - Please do not forget your password. If you forget your password and your identity cannot be verified, you may not be able to access your data. This app allows you to tip/donate to directly support the development of this app through in-app purchases. No new features will be provided when you tip, it's just to support the app's development if you would like to. Selecting a Small/Medium/Large Tip will initiate a one-time payment for tipping. A Continuous Tip is an automatic-renewal subscription to tip every month, and will renew automatically every month unless it's turned off or cancelled (through your account settings) at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. For this, your Apple account will be charged when payment is confirmed, and charged for auto-renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period at the selected price. You may locate our terms at https://legal.wern.cc/app/terms and privacy policy at https://legal.wern.cc/app/privacy.

About

Fridge

Features
Read full description

About to send something you'll regret? Put it in the fridge first. Fridge makes you wait before sending angry messages. Type what you want to say, set a cooldown timer, and let it chill. When the timer's up, re-read your message and decide again — with a clear head. That's the point. SIMPLE - Type your message - Set a cooldown (30 minutes) - Wait for it to chill - Re-read it when the timer's up - Copy & send, or let it rot YOUR OWN ROT RATE - See how many of your messages died in the fridge instead of being sent - Totals for fridged, sent and rotted messages - Nobody else sees any of it COMPLETELY PRIVATE - Everything stays on your device - No accounts, no cloud, no tracking - Zero data collection FREE - 3 messages chilling at a time - 30-minute cooldown FRIDGE PRO ($2.99, one-time) - Unlimited messages chilling at once - The 15-minute, 1-hour and 2-hour cooldowns as well as 30 minutes - Full stats history

Screenshots

Personal Diary (Journal) App4 screens
Fridge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Personal Diary (Journal) App at every 5 weeks against Fridge's every 5 months. Personal Diary (Journal) App also leads on device support (5 vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Personal Diary (Journal) App sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Fridge sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Personal Diary (Journal) App ships an update every 5 weeks, Fridge every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Personal Diary (Journal) App versus Fridge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPersonal Diary (Journal) AppFridge
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (106 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews87.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings106 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWern Jie LimSaad Naveed

Bugs and requests

Personal Diary (Journal) App

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Entries sometimes disappear or fail to load
  • Passcode/Touch ID not working reliably
  • Syncing issues between devices
  • Unexpected crashes when opening the app

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to password protect individual entries
  • Implement calendar view for better navigation
  • Allow adding videos and other media types
  • Improve search capabilities with advanced filters
  • Provide better data backup and export options

Fridge

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Personal Diary (Journal) App

Subscriptions1
  • Continuous Tip$1.991 Month
One-time3
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Medium Tip$2.99
  • Large Tip$9.99
1 purchases

Fridge

One-time1
  • Fridge Pro$2.99

Questions

Is Personal Diary (Journal) App free?
Personal Diary (Journal) App is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Fridge free?
Fridge is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Personal Diary (Journal) App or Fridge have ads?
Neither Personal Diary (Journal) App nor Fridge shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Personal Diary (Journal) App or Fridge?
Personal Diary (Journal) App ships an update every 5 weeks, and Fridge every 5 months. Most recently, Personal Diary (Journal) App was updated on October 20, 2026 and Fridge on October 30, 2026.

Other comparisons