# Shine vs the waterfall

The clearest difference is rating: the waterfall at 5.0 against Shine's 4.0. Shine's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 88%). 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 the waterfall sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

the waterfall holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 5 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of Shine's written reviews are positive against 88% of the waterfall'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, the waterfall every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Shine | the waterfall |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.0 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shine-timeline-diary/id1673213224/reviews) | **[5.0 (5 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-waterfall/id6470706449/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 4 | **5** |
| Positive reviews | **100.0% of reviews** | 88.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 5 days** | Every 3 months |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 106 MB | 6 MB |
| Requires iOS | **14.0** | 18.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [晓松 高](https://appshunter.io/developer/1507839334) | [文杰 李](https://appshunter.io/developer/1590258684) |

## 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 |


### the waterfall

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-waterfall/id6470706449)

This app serves as a personal introspection companion, allowing users to record thoughts, ideas, and memories. It features guided questions for deeper self-reflection, supports Markdown for expressive text, and allows tagging and image association with entries. Data is stored locally and synced with iCloud for privacy.

**Highlights:** Guided self-reflection questions, Markdown support for text, Tagging and image association, Local data storage with iCloud sync, Pinning important memories, Record reading notes and movie reviews

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| WATERFALL UPGRADE | $7.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Shine free?

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

### Is the waterfall free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Shine or the waterfall?

the waterfall is rated higher. Shine averages 4.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while the waterfall averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.

### Do Shine or the waterfall have ads?

Neither Shine nor the waterfall shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Shine or the waterfall?

Shine ships an update every 5 days, and the waterfall every 3 months. Most recently, Shine was updated on October 30, 2026 and the waterfall on October 24, 2026.

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