Comparison

Retrospect vs JournalNow

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Private journaling
  • Mood tracking
  • Location logging
  • On-device storage
  • iCloud backup
  • No account required
Read full description

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!

About

JournalNow

Capture your life, reflect with clarity, and organize memories with an AI-assisted private journaling app. Record thoughts via voice, attach media, and use intelligent suggestions for titles and summaries. It offers a secure, premium space for reflection and personal growth.

Highlights
  • AI-assisted journaling
  • Voice dictation
  • Media attachments
  • Smart search
  • Organization by journals and tags
  • Memory resurfacing
  • Export options
Features
Read full description

JournalNow is a private daily journal, diary, mood tracker, and memory archive designed to make reflection feel natural. WRITE AND CAPTURE - Create rich entries with text, voice notes, photos, video, audio, and sketches. - Add mood, tags, location, weather, favorites, and pins. - Use Quick Capture, widgets, Live Activities, and Shortcuts when inspiration arrives. - Protect individual entries with a PIN. REFLECT WITH PURPOSE - Start with guided prompts and reusable templates for gratitude, work, travel, wellbeing, and deeper thinking. - Use optional on-device Apple Intelligence for titles, tags, summaries, semantic search, and weekly reflection when supported by your device and language. REVISIT WHAT MATTERS - Explore entries in Calendar, On This Day, resurfaced memories, and Journal Map. - Find anything with fast search, OCR, and filters for journal, mood, tag, date, theme, and importance. - See insights for writing cadence, word count, moods, themes, and reflection habits. ORGANIZE YOUR WAY - Create multiple journals with distinct themes and visibility controls. - Customize templates and reminders, and request writing suggestions when you need them. - Enjoy a spacious iPad experience alongside iPhone capture. OWN YOUR DATA - Export readable entries as separate PDF files. - Create a complete .journalnow backup for transfer or restoration in JournalNow. - Restore a complete backup or import Markdown and text files. - Journal entries are stored locally. Optional Apple Speech online transcription, place lookup, and link previews can contact Apple or the relevant website to deliver those features. Vanguard Studios does not receive your journal entries. Explore Premium during a 7-day app trial without starting a subscription. After the trial, core journaling remains available for free. A monthly or annual subscription starts only when you confirm a purchase with Apple; subscriptions renew automatically until canceled in your Apple account settings. Prices are shown before purchase. Customers who purchased JournalNow before version 2.1 keep complete access. Previous lifetime purchases remain restorable through Apple. Apple Intelligence features require a compatible device, supported language, and system availability. Privacy Policy: https://vanguardstudio.vercel.app/privacidade Terms of Use (Apple Standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Support: https://vanguardstudio.vercel.app/contato

Screenshots

Retrospect4 screens
JournalNow4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Retrospect at none against JournalNow's 1. JournalNow's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 21 months). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. JournalNow sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Retrospect asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Retrospect against 5.0 for JournalNow. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 2 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Retrospect ships an update every 21 months, JournalNow every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Retrospect versus JournalNow: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRetrospectJournalNow
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 21 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLowell PenceGustavo Venzon

Customer experience

Retrospect

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

JournalNow

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Retrospect

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

JournalNow

One-time1
  • JournalNow Lifetime$1.99

Questions

Is Retrospect free?
Retrospect is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is JournalNow free?
JournalNow is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Retrospect or JournalNow?
Retrospect and JournalNow are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 4 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Retrospect or JournalNow have ads?
Neither Retrospect nor JournalNow shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Retrospect or JournalNow?
Retrospect ships an update every 21 months, and JournalNow every 9 days. Most recently, Retrospect was updated on October 8, 2026 and JournalNow on October 24, 2026.

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