Comparison

Circle vs How are you?

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

Head to head
About

Circle

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Circle is a diary application that focuses on recording and quantifying daily experiences and reflections, presented through a timeline. Apple Watch users have additional functionality, such as the ability to read and track health data, set fitness goals, and view progress towards those goals. Without recording, there is no occurrence, and without quantification, there is no optimization. Many things that happen in life are worth recording, such as places visited, happy events, and precious moments. Even if things were happy and beautiful at the time, they will fade and be forgotten over time. Leaving words, photos, or videos in unforgettable moments can help us remember the bits and pieces of that time in the future, and that is the meaning of recording. As the old year passes and the new one approaches, we like to review the past and look forward to the future. Many times, after setting goals, we put them aside, and only in the annual review do we realize that time has passed and the goals still seem far away. What we need is to move towards our goals, see our own changes every now and then, and see where we have reached. If we find any deficiencies in the process of achieving our goals, we can do better through feedback loops, and that is the meaning of quantification. --- The Circle app uses HealthKit to collect and display data, such as displaying today's heart rate with a line chart, calculating weekly running distance with a bar chart, and showing progress towards this year's running goal with the Activity Rings. The Circle app itself does not upload or store user's private data, and all data is stored locally at the user's iCloud storage. --- User Support: https://usistem.com/en/page/support/ Privacy Policy: https://usistem.com/en/page/privacy/

About

How are you?

Stay connected with loved ones by sharing daily moods, step counts, and locations. Facilitate easy communication and health management, with an added layer of emergency contact features for peace of mind.

Highlights
  • Share daily mood and step count
  • Location sharing with time limits
  • In-app messaging with expressive icons
  • Daily mood and step history
  • Emergency contact registration
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Do you ever worry about your family or friends who live far away? With this app, you can share your daily mood and step count with your loved ones. Let's watch over each other with easy communication! You can also use this app to watch over in your local community. ◆ 5 features of "How are you?" app (1) Sharing mood and steps You can easily share today's mood with everyone just by choosing from the options. This allows you to quickly notice if someone is not feeling well. The number of steps is automatically measured just by walking with your iPhone. (*1) (2) Sharing locations You can share each other's locations when getting together or when you want to know where your family is. You can set a sharing time limit, so even people who are reluctant to share their location on a daily basis can use it with peace of mind. (3) Communication Enjoy your communication by sending messages. You can change the expression of your icon to convey your feelings. (4) Health management You can look back on your mood and steps recorded every day. Check yourself and your family's health. (5) Emergency contact You can register emergency contacts in case of emergency. ◆This app is perfect for the followings! ・I'm worried about my family and friends who live far away, but I hesitate to call them every day because it will be annoying. ・I'm not comfortable with installing sensors such as cameras to watch over my family, and I would like to protect our privacy. ・I want to feel the joy of interactive communication, rather than one-way monitoring. ◆This app does not burden on your households' budgets This app is free to use. Ads are displayed within the app, but they are limited to categories that you can safely watch. *1 This app integrates with the Health app in order to display your daily step counts. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Circle3 screens
How are you?4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: How are you? at Free against Circle's $14.99. Circle's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On update cadence, device support and iOS requirement 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

How are you? is free to download; Circle costs $14.99 up front. How are you? sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $0.69 per 7 days. Circle asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Circle ships an update every 3 weeks, How are you? monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Circle versus How are you?: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCircleHow are you?
Price$14.99Free — better
Rating—5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—3 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Ad-supported
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS14.014
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB125 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer怀国 胡Hikaru Hanada

In-app purchases

None

Circle

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

How are you?

Subscriptions1
  • Ad-free plan$0.697 Days

Questions

Is Circle free?
Circle costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is How are you? free?
How are you? is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Circle or How are you? have ads?
How are you? shows ads; Circle does not.
Which is updated more often, Circle or How are you??
Circle ships an update every 3 weeks, and How are you? monthly. Most recently, Circle was updated on September 18, 2026 and How are you? on June 1, 2026.

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