Comparison

Simplife vs Dear Past Me

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

Head to head
About

Simplife

This minimalist note-taking app prioritizes a clean interface for focused writing. It offers robust features like passcode protection, calendar views, and media attachments to help you organize and store all your thoughts and ideas.

Highlights
  • Multiple notes support
  • Passcode lock for app and notes
  • Calendar view for notes
  • Attach photos and map locations
  • Search across all notes
  • Backup and restore options
Features
Read full description

Incredibly Simple, Functional and Easy to use. Meet the note app haven't experienced until now. Simplife is minimally designed so you can focus on writing. With Simplife, you can keep everything what you want. [Features] - Support Multiple notes - Passcode lock(start-up screen and for each note) - Calendar view for each note - Change date of entries - Attach photos and map - Change font type and size - Share to E-mail and Twitter - Duplicate to other note in your Simplife - Backup/Restore with Dropbox and iTunes - Search entries in the all notes [With Simplife, try like this] - Daily journal - Private diary - Drafts for your ideas - Scrap book of your favorites - Wish list - Travel note

About

Dear Past Me

Features
Read full description

Reflection Diary helps you record everyday moments and naturally reconnect with your past self. A diary can take on new meaning when you return to it after some time has passed. “I remember thinking this.” “I had forgotten how important that day was.” “I can see how much has changed.” Reflection Diary brings those discoveries back through random entries, reminders, and widgets. ■ Simple diary writing Start writing with just a title and your thoughts. You can create an entry for today or choose an earlier date to capture something you did not have time to write down before. ■ Rediscover past entries The Home screen presents an entry from your past at random. There is no need to search through a timeline. Each visit gives you a natural opportunity to revisit something you once wrote. Premium lets you customize the date range, tags, and refresh interval used for random entries. ■ Home Screen widgets Display past entries on your Home Screen. Reconnect with an earlier moment without opening the app whenever you glance at your device. ■ Daily reminders Receive a reminder containing a past entry at a time you choose. You can control whether reminders are enabled, when they arrive, and whether they use sound. ■ Organize with tags and a calendar Create your own tags to organize entries by work, hobbies, family, travel, or anything else that matters to you. The calendar makes it easy to browse entries by date. The Free plan supports up to 3 custom tags. Premium supports up to 20. ■ Sync across devices Sign in with Apple or Google to use cloud sync. Sync is off by default and begins only after you enable it in Settings. The Free plan can sync up to 100 diary entries. Premium removes the cloud entry limit. Entries stored locally on your device are unlimited on both plans. ■ Share entries as images Turn an entry into a clean, readable image that you can save to your device or share with another app. Choose from multiple designs and aspect ratios to create an image that suits where you want to use it. ■ Make it your own Customize an avatar by choosing different facial features and clothing. Use Light Mode, Dark Mode, or follow your device’s system appearance. Reflection Diary is available in Japanese, English, and Korean. ■ Designed with privacy in mind Your diary is stored locally by default. You can write and revisit entries without creating an account. Diary data is stored in the cloud only after you sign in and explicitly enable sync. Diary text, titles, and tag names are not sent for usage analytics or diagnostic reporting. ■ Premium Premium includes: • Cloud sync without an entry limit • Up to 20 custom tags • Custom date range, tag filters, and refresh interval for random entries Premium is available as an auto-renewing monthly or annual subscription. The price and subscription period are shown before purchase. Previous purchases can be restored from Settings. Write today for the person you will become. Keep it simple, and make reflection part of your everyday life. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Simplife4 screens
Dear Past Me4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Dear Past Me at Free against Simplife's $1.99. Dear Past Me also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

Dear Past Me is free to download; Simplife costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Simplife ships an update every 2 months, Dear Past Me every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Simplife versus Dear Past Me: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimplifeDear Past Me
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews85.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.615.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB39 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSangmook LeeRyota Koda

In-app purchases

None

Simplife

No in-app purchases

None

Dear Past Me

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Simplife free?
Simplife costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Dear Past Me free?
Dear Past Me is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Simplife or Dear Past Me have ads?
Neither Simplife nor Dear Past Me shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Simplife or Dear Past Me?
Simplife ships an update every 2 months, and Dear Past Me every 5 days. Most recently, Simplife was updated on November 1, 2026 and Dear Past Me on October 25, 2026.

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