Comparison

Chronicling vs Check Mate EX

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

Head to head
About

Chronicling

Log habits, chores, and symptoms with a flexible tracker. Visualize frequency, patterns, and time since last logged. Offers gentle reminders and customizable categories.

Highlights
  • Log events with a tap
  • Track frequency and patterns
  • Gentle reminders and goals
  • Customizable categories and groups
  • Sync across Apple devices
  • Export data to CSV
Features
Read full description

Keep track of anything you want to keep an eye on, from habits and chores to symptoms. Chronicling shows how long it's been, how often things happen, and which days and times they tend to happen. Some things happen every day, like coffee, a walk or your medication. Others come and go: changing the bed sheets, a headache, calling home. Chronicling handles both, so it all lives in one place. "If you're looking for a flexible approach to tracking events in your life and want to try an app with an excellent, modern design that supports the latest iOS and iPadOS technologies, be sure to give Chronicling a try." - MacStories LOG IT IN A TAP - Add events from your Apple Watch, widgets, Control Center, the Lock Screen, Siri and Shortcuts - Record a number or a note too, such as cups, miles, pages or how you felt - Automate logging with Shortcuts, from workouts to arriving home SEE HOW OFTEN, AND WHEN - Time since last logged, average gap and longest gap for every category - Heatmaps, charts and trends over weeks, months and years - Spot patterns by weekday and time of day - An annual Wrapped to look back at your year GENTLE REMINDERS - Time Since Last Event: get a nudge when it's been too long since you last logged something, from a few hours to a few months - Daily Goal: pick a time of day, and you'll only be notified if you haven't hit that day's goal - Rolling Goal: aim for a number over the last few days or weeks, with a daily check that only notifies you if you're falling short YOUR CATEGORIES, YOUR WAY - Create your own categories with emoji or symbols and your own colors - Choose the period each category's stats cover - Organize them into groups and filter by Focus ON ALL YOUR DEVICES - iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro - Private iCloud sync between your devices - Export to CSV or a single-file backup at any time - your data is yours If you have questions, suggestions or any other feedback, please contact me at support@chroniclingapp.com. Subscriptions to Chronicling Premium will automatically renew unless canceled within 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial will be forfeited if you purchase a subscription. For more information, see https://chroniclingapp.com/terms-of-use/ and https://chroniclingapp.com/privacy-policy/.

About

Check Mate EX

Create and reuse custom checklists for recurring tasks like camping trips. Organize items alphabetically or manually. Data syncs across devices, even offline.

Highlights
  • Create reusable checklists
  • Manual item arrangement
  • Alphabetical sorting
  • Offline data sync
  • Cross-device synchronization
Features
Read full description

There are a lot of todo apps available to help you remember to “Buy a new tent”. But what do you use when you need a checklist to reuse for every time you go camping? Check Mate EX was designed to make this easy and even fun. It allows you to define a checklist and reuse it as many times as you wish. It also puts you in control of how you use your list. Want to sort your items alphabetically, no problem. Want to manually arrange your list, Check Mate EX has got you covered. Check Mate EX syncs your data across all of your devices - even after you have been offline.

Screenshots

Chronicling4 screens
Check Mate EX4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Chronicling at 4.8 against Check Mate EX's 3.7. Chronicling also leads on ratings volume (188 vs 3) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). Check Mate EX's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 79%) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 18.4). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Chronicling sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Check Mate EX sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chronicling holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chronicling has 188 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 79% of Chronicling's written reviews are positive against 100% of Check Mate EX's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chronicling ships an update weekly, Check Mate EX monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Chronicling versus Check Mate EX: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChroniclingCheck Mate EX
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (188 ratings) — better3.7 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews79.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings188 — better3
Update frequencyWeekly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.414.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size95 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRebecca OwenLogical Software Solutions LLC

Customer experience

Chronicling

All ratings188 ratings
Positive94.7%
Neutral1.1%
Negative4.3%
Written reviews58 reviews
Positive79.3%
Neutral6.9%
Negative13.8%

Check Mate EX

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Chronicling

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly14 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Premium Annual14 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium Lifetime$39.99
1 purchases

Check Mate EX

One-time1
  • Check Mate EX$1.99

Questions

Is Chronicling free?
Chronicling is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Check Mate EX free?
Check Mate EX is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chronicling or Check Mate EX?
Chronicling is rated higher. Chronicling averages 4.8 out of 5 from 188 ratings, while Check Mate EX averages 3.7 from 3 ratings.
Do Chronicling or Check Mate EX have ads?
Neither Chronicling nor Check Mate EX shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chronicling or Check Mate EX?
Chronicling ships an update weekly, and Check Mate EX monthly. Most recently, Chronicling was updated on November 7, 2026 and Check Mate EX on November 3, 2026.

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