Retrospect vs dusk
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Retrospect
This app offers a private and straightforward method for recording your thoughts, locations, and moods. It allows for daily reflection and helps you make informed future decisions by reviewing your life experiences from various perspectives. Your data is securely stored on your device and backed up to iCloud.
- Private journaling
- Mood tracking
- Location logging
- On-device storage
- iCloud backup
- No account required
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A private and easy way to save your memories. Retrospect lets you journal your thoughts, locations, and moods throughout the day, all without needing an account. Plus, your data is always kept completely private and only visible to you. Whether you want to remember a special trip or just a great day, Retrospect is the perfect way to do it. And because it helps you reflect on your life from different points of view, you can make more educated decisions about your future. Retrospect stays out of your way so you can focus on your own content. Try today and start saving your memories, your future self will thank you! ‣ Easily track your mood throughout the day, including energy level and emotions. ‣ Log the locations you've visited in your entries. Interact with map waypoints, or easily create your own custom locations. ‣ Journal once per day, or multiple times depending on your habits. ‣ No account needed! All data is stored on device and securely backed up to your iCloud account. ** Many new features coming soon!
dusk
This app prompts you with a single question each evening for a moment of daily reflection. Your short answers are saved privately on your device, creating a personal record over time without pressure or streaks. It focuses on mindful observation rather than traditional journaling.
- Daily single question prompt
- Short answer entries
- Private on-device storage
- No streaks or guilt
- Markdown export
- No account required
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Dusk asks you one question every day. You write a short answer — a sentence, a few words, whatever feels right. That's it. No blank pages. No prompts to write more. No streaks that make you feel guilty for missing a day. Just one question, one moment of reflection, saved on your device. Over weeks and months, your entries become a quiet record of who you were — what you noticed, what surprised you, what you were thinking about. Not a diary. Not a productivity tool. Just a small daily practice of paying attention. How Dusk works: • Open the app. Read today's question. • Write your answer. Save it. • Come back tomorrow for a new question. Your entries stay on your device. Dusk never sees what you write. You can export everything as a clean Markdown file anytime — your words, your data, your choice. No account required. No sign-up. Just open and start.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Retrospect at 100% against dusk's 0%. Retrospect also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.0). dusk's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 21 months) and iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.0). On price, ratings volume, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Retrospect holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 2 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Retrospect's written reviews are positive against 0% of dusk's.
Retrospect ships an update every 21 months, dusk every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Retrospect | dusk |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better | 3.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 21 months | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 49 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Lowell Pence | Matthew Kearney |
Customer experience
Retrospect
dusk
In-app purchases
Retrospect
No in-app purchases
dusk
No in-app purchases









