DrawerJournal vs Grub
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DrawerJournal
This app allows you to easily record daily events and thoughts in a timeline format. You can add text, photos, and audio recordings, and organize entries with tags. It offers a secure, offline space for your private memories.
- Chronological notes with photos and audio
- Organize entries with labels/tags
- Voice recording for immersive memories
- Secure app lock with biometric authentication
- Keyword search functionality
- Offline data storage
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A private journal that feels like texting yourself. Jot down a thought, add a photo, or record a voice memo in seconds. Every entry is time-stamped, so your day reads like a timeline. Lock your journal with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode. Stored on this device. Never sent to us. We can't read it. No account needed. No blank page to fill. Write one line when something happens: on the bus, at lunch, at 2 a.m. Then scroll back and find the small moments you'd otherwise forget. QUICK POSTS ON A TIMELINE • Write as many entries a day as you like • Time stamps are added for you, and you can change the date and time anytime PHOTOS, VOICE, AND VIDEO • Up to 6 photos per entry • Record a voice memo with any entry • The Media tab shows the photos, videos, and voice memos from all your entries in one grid • Short video clips with Premium FIND ANYTHING AGAIN • Tags group entries across dates • Calendar view to jump to any day • Search every entry, with matches highlighted • Memories brings back entries from the past LOCK AND PRIVACY • Lock the app with a 4-digit passcode, Face ID, or Touch ID • Your entries are stored on this device. They're never sent to us, and we can't read them • No account, no sign-up • Back up and restore your journal as a ZIP file • Want your journal on more than one device? Turn on iCloud sync (Premium) and your entries are kept in your own iCloud APPLE WATCH AND WIDGETS • Post from your wrist with voice dictation on Apple Watch, plus complications • Home Screen widgets for today and today's entries • Available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac with Apple silicon MAKE IT YOURS • A selection of free themes and fonts • Entry text gets larger when you increase your device's text size • Share a day as an image PREMIUM (OPTIONAL) Everything above is free unless it's marked Premium. The free version shows ads. Premium is an optional paid upgrade, available as a subscription or a one-time purchase. It adds: • Video clips up to 15 seconds each, up to 3 a day: record or choose from your library, then trim (photos and videos share the 6 slots per entry) • iCloud sync between iPhone, iPad, and Mac (iOS 17 or later) • Print your journal or save it as a PDF • Export entries as text (TXT) • Detailed statistics • All 31 themes, handpicked fonts, and premium app icons • More widgets: photo, one-line, and tag widgets • Drawer mode on iPad and Mac, with your tags side by side as columns • Choose the quality of attached photos, videos, and voice memos • All Memories cards (the free version shows 2), a filter for untagged entries, and the option to hide entries in shared images • No ads WHY "DRAWER"? In Japanese, the app is called 引き出し日記, "drawer diary": a drawer to keep your thoughts in. It's popular in Japan and Korea. Open the drawer, drop in a line, close it. Privacy Policy: https://toastplanet.com/drawerjournal/privacy Terms of Use: https://toastplanet.com/drawerjournal/terms
Grub
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See something. Say something. Clean it up together. Grub turns noticing litter and hazards in your neighbourhood into something you actually want to do. Spot a mess, snap a photo, and raise a "muck" — a pinned report anyone nearby can see, help close out, or show up for. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Raise a Muck — photograph litter or hazards and drop a pin in seconds • Find nearby — browse a live map of open mucks, community clean-up events, and reported hazards near you, with a one-tap "near me" view and adjustable search radius • Schedule Events — organise a clean-up, link the mucks you're targeting, and invite your Squad • Squads — form a group with friends, classmates, or your local community and climb a shared leaderboard • Weekly Challenges — a fresh community-wide goal every week, with real-time progress • Badges & streaks — build a cleaning streak and unlock badges as your impact adds up • Patch health — your local area has a visible state, barren, growing, or thriving, driven by the real ratio of cleared vs. outstanding mucks nearby • Grub, your companion — a small creature who lives in your patch and grows through real life stages as your community's impact grows WHY GRUB Litter reporting apps tend to feel like paperwork. Grub is built to feel like a game you're playing with your neighbours — see the mess, log it, watch the map change, watch your patch (and your Grub) come alive. Your data stays private and secure with iCloud sync via Sign in with Apple. Prefer to browse without an account? Continue as a guest — your data just stays on that device. You can delete your account and data at any time from Settings. Grub is free, ad-free, and built for real communities who want their patch to look better than they found it.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Grub at none against DrawerJournal's 3. Grub also leads on ads (none vs shown). DrawerJournal's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On price 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
Both are free to download. DrawerJournal sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Grub asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | DrawerJournal | Grub |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (74 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 87.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 74 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days | — |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 40 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ToastPlanet Inc. | David Defranceski |
Bugs and requests
DrawerJournal
Reported bugs
2 issues- Occasional crashes or data loss when editing entries
- Background music playback issues
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to add videos or audio recordings
- Cloud sync and backup across devices
- More customization options for fonts, colors, and layouts
- Thread-like functionality to connect related entries
- Improved image handling and editing tools
Grub
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
DrawerJournal
- DrawerJournal Premium Monthly$2.991 Month
- DrawerJournal Premium Annual7 Days trial$20.991 Year
- DrawerJournal One-Time$59.99
Grub
No in-app purchases








