Comparison

Simple Diary vs Garden Bed Notes

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

Head to head
About

Simple Diary

This app provides a simple and convenient way to journal your thoughts and experiences. It allows you to add images, secure your entries with a passcode, and customize the app's appearance. Data backup and search functions ensure your memories are safe and easily accessible.

Highlights
  • Insert images into entries
  • Secure passcode lock (Face ID/Touch ID)
  • Customizable theme colors and app icon
  • Data backup to iTunes/PC and cloud services
  • Tag-based search for entries
  • Adjustable text font size and color
  • Daily reminder notifications
Features
Read full description

Simple Diary is a simple, easy-to-use free diary app where you can save photos along with your entries. Use it for daily journaling, baby milestones, travel memories, a record of your pet's growth, or a secret diary just for you. Clean, simple screens help you keep going, even if diaries never stuck before. No account registration. Download it and start writing. Your diary stays on your device, and the app works offline. [Features] ■ Add Photos to Entries (Up to 10 per Entry) Like a blog, insert images between paragraphs. Attach photos from your camera roll. ■ Secure Passcode Lock Protect your diary with a passcode. Supports Face ID and Touch ID for quick, secure access. ■ 22 Font Styles Change the look of your diary with 22 font styles, from cute to classic serif. (Some fonts are premium.) ■ Theme Colors and App Icons Choose from 19 theme colors, from cute to cool. You can also change the app icon. (Requires the latest iOS version.) ■ Data Export Export your diary as PDF, HTML, RTFD, or TXT files (premium service). Open them on a computer to reread your diary on a bigger screen, or print entries on paper. ■ Turn an Entry into an Image or PDF Save an entry as one image or a PDF to post to social media, send to family, or print. ■ Data Backup Back up your data to iCloud or your computer. RTFD export (premium service) lets you move your entries to your notes app or cloud storage. ■ iCloud Backup Back up your diary to iCloud and restore it on another device (premium service). It is a manual backup, not automatic sync: back up on your iPhone, then restore on your iPad. ■ Calendar and List Views Look back at your diary on a calendar or as a list. Tap a date to reread that day. ■ Tag Search Use the built-in search to find entries quickly. Write a tag such as "#travel" in the text, and searching for it brings up just those entries. ■ Font Settings Adjust text size, contrast, and line spacing. Great if you prefer larger text. ■ Reminders Set a reminder time and get a push notification, so you don't forget to write. ■ Multiple Entries Per Day Write one entry per day, or add several for memos, work records, or passing thoughts. Change an entry's date and time to write about past days. There is no limit on entry length. [Pricing] The core diary features are all free: entries, photos, passcode lock, search, and reminders. The free version shows ads. The premium service removes all ads and unlocks iCloud backup, data export, all theme colors, and all font styles. Premium is available as a monthly plan, a yearly plan, or a one-time purchase, all with the same features, and covers both your iPhone and iPad under the same Apple Account. [Your Data] Your diary is stored on your device and is not synced to the cloud automatically. To protect your data, use the premium iCloud backup or Apple's iPhone backup. There is no feature to publish your diary or share it with other users. To show someone an entry, turn it into an image and send it. A backup moves your data to a new iPhone. Data transfer to or from other operating systems is not supported. [Perfect For] ■ Students A secret diary for your day, your feelings, and your crushes. Writing out what you can't post online helps you feel lighter. ■ Parents Record your pregnancy and your baby's growth as a photo diary. Write several entries a day, and share special pages with family as images. ■ Anyone Who Wants to Keep a Record Travel journals, reading and movie notes, food diaries, dream journals, daily work logs, or your pet's growth. Simple Diary fits whatever you want to remember, one day at a time. [Help, Feedback] For help, go to "Help / FAQ" in the app settings. Still have questions? Tap "Feedback" on the settings screen to contact us for faster support. Terms of Use: https://komorebi-studio.com/tos_en.html Privacy Policy: https://komorebi-studio.com/policyredirect.html

About

Garden Bed Notes

Features
Read full description

"Wait — what did I plant in this bed last year?" You think it was tomatoes. You can't quite remember. This app is for the three minutes that question costs you, every spring, standing in front of the bed. ▼ It remembers every bed Bed 1, Bed 2, the south planter. Add them in the order they sit in your plot, then note what grew there last year. One allotment plot usually has three to six. ▼ Know on the spot whether you can plant Pick a crop and you get one of three answers — ready, check first, or too soon — with the reason written out:  "Tomato (Nightshade family) was planted in 2026/06. That was 0y 2m ago, and the guideline is 3–4 years" Planting the same family in the same place again and again invites soil disease and poor growth. The recommended gap for 86 crops is already in the app. We count in months, not years — a home garden often grows two or three crops a year, so years are too coarse. ▼ We show where the numbers come from Families and rotation years are taken from published sources. Where sources disagree, we show the longer (safer) figure. Where a source has nothing for the vegetable itself, the screen says "Family guideline". You can read the sources in Settings → Sources & licenses. We don't claim to know. Guidelines shift with your soil, the variety and the weather. In the end, look at the bed and decide. ▼ Log with or without reminders Tap a circle on Today to log watering, feeding, harvesting, weeding or spraying. You can log without setting a reminder, and attach a photo. Set a reminder only if you want one. Give summer a two-day gap and winter thirty — the interval can differ for every month. The next date is worked out the moment you log. ▼ Taking your data with you is always free We don't charge you to export your log and import it on a new device. Photos come too. CSV export opens in Excel. ▼ On this device only Your beds, plantings and care log are kept on this device. The one thing that leaves it is the message you write in Contact us. No ads. No account. ▼ Pricing Logging, reminders, photos, export and import are free forever, with no limits. One bed is free, and the rotation check covers that one bed. Pro (a one-time payment) is only for adding more beds and checking rotation on all of them. There is no monthly fee.

Screenshots

Simple Diary4 screens
Garden Bed Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Garden Bed Notes at none against Simple Diary's shown. Simple Diary's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price 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. Simple Diary sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and Garden Bed Notes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Simple Diary versus Garden Bed Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimple DiaryGarden Bed Notes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (909 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews78.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings909 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 months—
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size206 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKomorebi Inc.RAINBOW TREE LLC

Bugs and requests

Simple Diary

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Some characters not displaying properly
  • Calendar dates not always accurate
  • Deleted entries not recoverable

Requested features

5 requests
  • Automatic iCloud/Google Drive sync
  • More font and theme customization options
  • Video recording and embedding
  • Ability to add tags or categories to entries
  • One-tap access to previous day's entry

Garden Bed Notes

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Simple Diary

Subscriptions2
  • Premium (Monthly)$3.991 Month
  • Premium (Annual)7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium Service (Lifetime)$69.99
1 purchases

Garden Bed Notes

One-time1
  • Garden Bed Notes Pro$9.99

Questions

Is Simple Diary free?
Simple Diary is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Garden Bed Notes free?
Garden Bed Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Simple Diary or Garden Bed Notes have ads?
Simple Diary shows ads; Garden Bed Notes does not.

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