# Shine vs A Lemon Diary

The clearest difference is rating: A Lemon Diary at 5.0 against Shine's 4.0. Shine's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly) and review sentiment (100% vs 86%). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Shine sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and A Lemon Diary sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

A Lemon Diary holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 6 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of Shine's written reviews are positive against 86% of A Lemon Diary's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Shine ships an update every 5 days, A Lemon Diary fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Shine | A Lemon Diary |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.0 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shine-timeline-diary/id1673213224/reviews) | **[5.0 (6 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/a-lemon-diary/id6449700998/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 4 | **6** |
| Positive reviews | **100.0% of reviews** | 85.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 5 days** | Fortnightly |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 106 MB | 74 MB |
| Requires iOS | **14.0** | 15.5 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [晓松 高](https://appshunter.io/developer/1507839334) | [ZIZICICI LIMITED](https://appshunter.io/developer/1564555697) |

## What reviewers say

### Shine

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shine-timeline-diary/id1673213224)

This app allows you to create a personalized journal with customizable themes, colors, and tags. Record your daily thoughts, track your mood, and even add location and weather data to your entries. Export your diary in PDF or HTML format for easy sharing.

**Highlights:** Customizable themes and colors, Location and weather tracking, PDF and HTML export, Calendar and gallery views, Voice diary recording, Rich emotional expressions with emojis, WebDAV and iCloud sync

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 连续包月 | $0.99 | per month |
| 连续包年 | $6.99 | per year |
| 买断 | $39.99 | one-time |


### A Lemon Diary

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/a-lemon-diary/id6449700998)

This text-only diary app allows users to create multiple themed journals for organized event recording. Customize diary covers with unlimited color and emoji sticker combinations. Easily export entries as screenshots or CSV files for sharing and backup.

**Highlights:** Topic-based diary creation, Customizable cover colors and emoji stickers, Screenshot export, CSV file import/export, Offline functionality, iCloud Drive automatic backups

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lemon Pro Lifetime | $3.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Shine free?

Shine is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is A Lemon Diary free?

A Lemon Diary is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Shine or A Lemon Diary?

A Lemon Diary is rated higher. Shine averages 4.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while A Lemon Diary averages 5.0 from 6 ratings.

### Do Shine or A Lemon Diary have ads?

Neither Shine nor A Lemon Diary shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Shine or A Lemon Diary?

Shine ships an update every 5 days, and A Lemon Diary fortnightly. Most recently, Shine was updated on September 25, 2026 and A Lemon Diary on October 7, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*