Comparison

Tinybeans Private Family Album vs BackThen

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

Head to head
About

Tinybeans Private Family Album

Privately capture, organize, and share photos and videos of children with invited family and friends. Track developmental milestones, create photo books, and enjoy curated albums. Offers secure sharing and easy engagement for loved ones.

Highlights
  • Private photo and video sharing
  • Milestone tracking up to age 6
  • Photo book and calendar creation
  • Photo editing with stickers and filters
  • Curated smart albums by theme or date
  • Automated daily/weekly email recaps
Features
Read full description

A better way to remember. Tinybeans is a private family journal that helps you capture the everyday magic—first steps, messy meals, bedtime giggles—and keeps all your family memories organized for you, without adding to your mental load. It’s built by parents and designed for real life: small moments, saved when you have a minute, that slowly add up to something you’ll feel so grateful to have captured, whether you’re reminiscing in your private digital journal or flipping through a beautiful photo book. Capture. Organize. Share. Keep. 1) CAPTURE YOUR WAY • Easily upload baby memories (and beyond) in the moment, or bulk upload in batches. 2) ORGANIZE AUTOMATICALLY • Moments are automatically organized and sorted by date. 3) SHARE PRIVATELY • You choose who follows along, by invite only. 4) BRING IT TO LIFE • Turn your memories into beautiful photo books in minutes, right in the app. Choose from two plans: 1) TINYBEANS (FREE) • 20 uploads per month • Secure family sharing • 5GB of storage space 2) TINYBEANS+ • Unlimited uploads • High-quality videos up to 5 minutes • 200GB of storage space • Ad-free experience • 2nd user account to share • Priority support • Secure family sharing Start your free two-week trial of Tinybeans+ today. Why millions of parents love us 1) YOU OWN YOUR MEMORIES: Every photo and video you upload belongs to you. 2) YOU HAVE FULL CONTROL OVER ACCESS: Only the people you invite can see your family’s journal. 3) YOUR DATA ISN’T FOR SALE: We use your information to improve your experience, never to sell it. 4) BUILT BY PARENTS, FOR FAMILIES: Tinybeans was created with the same care you bring to your decisions. 5) HERE FOR THE LONG HAUL: From newborn days to teenage years, we’re committed to supporting your family over time. Because the little moments add up fast—and future you will be so happy you saved them. Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can turn off auto-renew at any time from your iTunes account settings. Questions/feedback? Please reach out to us at info@tinybeans.com. We love to hear from you. Tinybeans website: https://tinybeans.com

About

BackThen

This app serves as a private family journal to securely store and organize photos, videos, and milestones from pregnancy through childhood. It offers features like automatic organization by child, full-resolution storage, and the ability to create premium photo books from your memories.

Highlights
  • Private family journal
  • Photo and video storage
  • Milestone tracking
  • Automatic organization by child
  • Full resolution photos
  • Premium photo book creation
  • Family sharing with permissions
Features
Read full description

The private family journal trusted with 240+ million memories. From bump to birthdays and beyond — save every photo, video and milestone in one safe place, beautifully organized by child. NEW! Transform your memories into premium Photo Books you can hold forever — created effortlessly from your most-loved moments already in BackThen. Our most requested feature, minus the hassle. WHY FAMILIES CHOOSE BACKTHEN 1. Private & secure — You control who sees what. No ads. No data-sharing. Ever. 2. Effortlessly organized — Photos auto-sorted by child on their own timeline. 3. Full resolution — We never compress your images. Your memories, kept at their best. 4. Timelapse magic — Watch how their face changes over time with our unique technology. 5. Photo Books & prints — Create premium keepsakes from the photos already in your app. 6. The whole family — Grandparents, aunts, uncles — everyone included on any device. DESIGNED FOR EVERY STAGE • Pregnancy Journal — Track bump photos, maternity moments & milestones • Newborn & Baby Book — Document firsts, growth markers & everyday memories • Growing Up — Build a lasting digital family album from year to year SAVE & ORGANIZE • Auto-organize from any device — mobile or desktop • Ordered chronologically from the moment you save — every photo and video in the right place • Photos at full resolution, videos at any length, unlimited milestones including height & weight • Each child gets their own timeline, viewed together or individually • Find any moment with instant scroll or search by date SHARE SECURELY • Invite family and friends — you set their permissions • Everyone gets notified when new memories are added • 100% private — no ads, no data-sharing, no exceptions LOOK BACK & ENJOY • Unique timelapse technology shows how their face changes • Fun sibling and cousin comparisons at the same age • Auto-created highlights, flashback reels and animated stickers PRINT YOUR FAVORITES • NEW: Premium Photo Books — beautifully laid out, printed to the highest quality • Auto-created calendars, montages and prints from your favorite photos • Available in the UK, US, Canada and Europe • Printed locally using your original-resolution photos for the best results TRUSTED BY MILLIONS • From the team behind Lifecake — the original online childhood journal, founded in 2012 • Connecting families across 182 countries • All devices welcome — iOS, email, web & other mobile platforms TRY IT FREE • 1GB free storage to try all features • VIP subscription: £4.99 / $6.49 / €5.99 per month • Nothing to lose — all your content returned if you choose to leave Questions? support@backthen.app Privacy: https://www.backthen.com/privacy Terms: https://www.backthen.com/terms

Screenshots

Tinybeans Private Family Album4 screens
BackThen4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: BackThen at none against Tinybeans Private Family Album's shown. BackThen also leads on review sentiment (62% vs 52%) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 16.4). Tinybeans Private Family Album's advantage is chart position (#112 vs unranked) and ratings volume (104K vs 29K). On price, rating, update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Tinybeans Private Family Album sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $4.49 per month and BackThen sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.49 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Tinybeans Private Family Album against 4.8 for BackThen. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 104K and 29K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 52% of Tinybeans Private Family Album's written reviews are positive against 62% of BackThen's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tinybeans Private Family Album ships an update every 8 days, BackThen every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Tinybeans Private Family Album versus BackThen: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTinybeans Private Family AlbumBackThen
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (104K ratings) — better4.8 (29K ratings)
Positive reviews51.6% of reviews61.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings104K — better29K
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#112 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.414.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size315 MB113 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTinybeans USA Ltd.Back Then Digital Ltd

Customer experience

Tinybeans Private Family Album

All ratings104,228 ratings
Positive97.4%
Neutral1.2%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews486 reviews
Positive51.6%
Neutral10.3%
Negative38.1%

BackThen

All ratings28,636 ratings
Positive96.9%
Neutral1.1%
Negative1.9%
Written reviews544 reviews
Positive61.9%
Neutral2.9%
Negative35.1%

User reviews

Tinybeans Private Family Album

From 104K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 🔒 Safe and secure photo sharing
  • 👍 Organizes photos in calendar view
  • 👍 Keeps family connected
  • 👍 Helpful for tracking baby's milestones

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy, crashes frequently
  • 🐛 Uploading issues, photos not loading properly
  • 💰 Expensive subscription fees
  • 🔍 Cluttered with irrelevant content and ads
  • 🤔 Lack of features for managing users and permissions

BackThen

From 29K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Helps families stay connected
  • 🕰️ Chronological timeline of photos
  • 🔒 Secure and private photo sharing
  • 🎨 Clean and intuitive interface

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive subscription fees
  • 🔍 Limited free storage
  • 🚫 No web/desktop access
  • 🤔 Unclear relationship to Lifecake
  • 🤯 Abrupt transition from Lifecake

Bugs and requests

Tinybeans Private Family Album

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Captions getting erased randomly
  • Photos uploading out of order
  • Inconsistent performance on older devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to create separate calendars for multiple children
  • Option to reply to comments
  • Landscape mode support for iPad
  • Higher quality video uploads
  • More photo editing tools and filters

BackThen

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Issues with importing Lifecake data
  • Inviting family members not working
  • App getting stuck during uploads

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to download/backup photos
  • Web/desktop access for non-mobile users
  • Prorated refunds for Lifecake subscribers
  • Yearly subscription option
  • Better integration of comments/likes

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Tinybeans Private Family Album

Subscriptions9
  • Tinybeans+ Legacy Subscription$4.491 Month
  • Tinybeans Subscription$7.991 Month
  • Tinybeans Family Album Premium$7.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • Tinybeans Plus Subscription$7.991 Month
  • Tinybeans Plus Subscription14 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • Tinybeans+ Legacy Subscription$39.991 Year
  • Tinybeans Subscription2 variants$74.991 Year
  • Tinybeans Plus Subscription$74.991 Year
  • Tinybeans Plus Subscription14 Days trial$74.991 Year
2 purchases

BackThen

Subscriptions2
  • VIP - Monthly payment$6.491 Month
  • VIP - Monthly payment1 Month trial$6.491 Month

Questions

Is Tinybeans Private Family Album free?
Tinybeans Private Family Album is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BackThen free?
BackThen is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Tinybeans Private Family Album or BackThen?
Tinybeans Private Family Album is rated higher. Tinybeans Private Family Album averages 4.9 out of 5 from 104K ratings, while BackThen averages 4.8 from 29K ratings.
Do Tinybeans Private Family Album or BackThen have ads?
Tinybeans Private Family Album shows ads; BackThen does not.
Which is updated more often, Tinybeans Private Family Album or BackThen?
Tinybeans Private Family Album ships an update every 8 days, and BackThen every 2 weeks. Most recently, Tinybeans Private Family Album was updated on September 24, 2026 and BackThen on September 24, 2026.

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