Comparison

Shine vs PrivateFolders

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

Head to head
About

Shine

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
Read full description

“Shine Diary” is a story-themed timeline diary that allows for customization of colors, tags, cards, and themes to create a personalized journal. Each story/diary entry can have its own card color. Entries can be reviewed via a calendar or randomly, and the diary supports PDF export. Highlighted Features: WebDAV - Sync across all platforms. Widgets - Story/Random review/Mood calendar widgets support. Location/Tracks - The diary records the location and displays a footprint map. Weather - The diary records the weather. Customized Homepage Stories - Set your frequently used stories as the homepage for easy reading and writing. Rich Emotional Expressions - 36 emojis help you accurately convey complex emotions. Secondary Tag Groups - Secondary tags allow for more detailed diary classification, making management effortless. Custom Layout - Adjust font size, line spacing, etc., to create the best reading experience. Voice Diary - When the keyboard is inconvenient, record life moments with voice, flexible and convenient. High-Frequency Vocabulary - High-frequency words used in the last seven days. Stickers - Add fun stickers to your diary, making expressions more vivid. Calendar View - Check diary entries' time and frequency through the calendar, revisit anytime. Gallery - Easily browse all images in the diary, capturing wonderful moments. Story Heatmap - At a glance, see the number of diary days recorded this year and understand the recording progress. iCloud Sync - Change iOS devices, and your diary can also be successfully transferred and carried with you. Recycle Bin - Accidentally deleted diaries can be restored and recovered at any time. Quote Stories - Quickly respond to past diaries to make memories more coherent and complete. Quick Access - Phone numbers, links in the diary, tap to directly dial and access. Rich Themes - Manually color the diary cards to make memories more personalized. Image Clarity - Choose image quality to optimize iCloud space usage. PDF Export - Export the diary in PDF format, beautifully share with friends. Html Export - Export the diary in Html format, beautifully share with friends. Theme Material - Supports setting 30 types of materials to meet your personalized needs. Diary Templates - Quickly use templates for recording. New surprise features are continuously updated, stay tuned! If you like Shine, or have any questions or suggestions, please contact: Email: 441614591@qq.com WeChat: gaoxsdx Xiaohongshu (RED): 韶光日记App Premium Features and Benefits: Subscription Period: 1 month (monthly continuous subscription product), 1 year (annual continuous subscription product). Subscription Price: Based on the installation package application information, for example, the monthly continuous subscription product is 8 yuan per month, and the annual continuous subscription product is 48 yuan per year. Payment: After the user confirms the purchase and payment, it will be charged to the iTunes account. Cancel Renewal: To cancel the renewal, please manually turn off the auto-renewal function in the iTunes/Apple ID settings management at least 24 hours before the current subscription period expires. Renewal: The Apple iTunes account will be charged within 24 hours before the expiration, and after the successful deduction, the subscription period will be extended for one subscription period. Privacy policy: https://gxspp.site/privacy Auto-Renewal Membership Service Agreement: https://gxspp.site/member Terms of Use(EULA):https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

PrivateFolders

Features
Read full description

[Main Features] - Multiple Users, Multiple Permissions: - Three different types of users: the first login is as an administrator, who can then create regular users and guests. - Administrators can manage all users and manage private files. - Regular users cannot view private files but can see regular files. - Guests can only see memos. - Administrators can manage all users' permissions and icons, etc. - Security: - File encryption, avatar creation, AES encryption and other encryption methods. - Each user can enable a gesture password. - Only one user can enable FaceID. - Different passwords lead to different users, each with different functions. - Waterfall Flow, Immersive Mode: - Files can be displayed in three ways: list, grid, waterfall flow. - Waterfall flow allows viewing the original style of files, maintaining aspect ratio. - Shake the device to enter immersive mode, shake again to exit. - Quick Filtering: - Quick sorting through the menu. - Convenient filtering by file extension, only displaying desired files. - Scenario mode: differentiate scenarios with one click switch. - Custom configurations: switch easily between viewing modes like picture, office, novel shelf, and notebook. - File Transfer: - Easily transfer files with other devices. - Transfer files effortlessly with other file apps, mobile photo albums, iCloud. - Novel Mode: - Supports Txt novels, intelligent parsing. - Simulation, cover, translation. Scroll to change pages. - Multiple themes, suitable for different scenarios. - Adjustable font size, etc. - Code Mode: - Supports syntax highlighting for mainstream languages. - Supports multiple themes. - Automatically adapts themes and syntax highlighting. - Office Mode: - Supports common office documents: .txt, .pdf, .doc, .docx, .ppt, .pptx, .xls, .xlsx, .csv, .rtf - Office content thumbnail preview. - Photo Mode: - View mode, see pictures directly without clicking. - HD mode: directly view a specific picture. - Editing mode: modify a picture. - Markdown Mode: - Easily take notes. - With the note scenario mode, it instantly turns into a note-taking app. - Media Mode: - Suitable for watching movies, listening to music. - Support .rmvb .asf .avi .divx .dv .flv .gxf .m1v .m2v .m2ts .m4v etc. - Others: - Supports in-app Zip, 7z compression, Zip, Rar, 7z decompression, supports encryption. - Supports trash function, saves up to 30 days. - iCloud Sync [Premium Version] - Unlock all features of the premium membership. [User Agreement]: https://tapfeng.com/user-agreement/ [Privacy Policy]: https://tapfeng.com/privacy-policy/ [Contact and Feedback] For any questions and suggestions about the product, feel free to contact us Email: tapfeng@tapfeng.com

Screenshots

Shine4 screens
PrivateFolders4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Shine at every 5 days against PrivateFolders's fortnightly. Shine also leads on iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Shine sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and PrivateFolders sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shine ships an update every 5 days, PrivateFolders fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Shine versus PrivateFolders: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShinePrivateFolders
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS14.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size106 MB148 MB
Age rating4+17+
Developer晓松 高Beijing Tapfeng Technology Co., Ltd.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Shine

Subscriptions2
  • 连续包月7 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • 连续包年$6.991 Year
One-time1
  • 买断$39.99
1 purchases

PrivateFolders

One-time1
  • lifeTime$5.99

Questions

Is Shine free?
Shine is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PrivateFolders free?
PrivateFolders is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Shine or PrivateFolders have ads?
Neither Shine nor PrivateFolders shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shine or PrivateFolders?
Shine ships an update every 5 days, and PrivateFolders fortnightly. Most recently, Shine was updated on September 25, 2026 and PrivateFolders on October 12, 2026.

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