DreamNotes vs Dayheld
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DreamNotes
Capture, understand, and decode your dreams with AI-powered interpretation. This journal helps you identify subconscious patterns through symbol tracking, mood analysis, and visual charts. Reflect on your inner life and explore recurring themes in a private and secure space.
- AI-powered dream interpretation
- Grammar and punctuation correction
- Subconscious symbol tracking
- Mood and emotion analysis
- Dream frequency and quality charts
- Dream symbol library
- Private and secure journaling
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DreamNotes is your AI-powered dream journal — built to help you capture, understand, and decode your dreams with clarity. It turns every dream into insight, revealing patterns in your subconscious through intelligent analysis. You’ll never lose a powerful dream again. Whether it’s a vivid nightmare, a recurring symbol, or a strange scene that lingers — log it in seconds from iPhone or Apple Watch, analyze it, and reflect. All with the help of AI designed for calm, private reflection. Capture the moment you wake • Log from Apple Watch — complications, Double Tap, and Siri from the wrist • Home Screen, Lock Screen, and StandBy widgets with Log / Forgotten actions • Control Center control and interactive morning notifications • Voice dictation when creating a dream • Optional “After I wake” reminders timed from Apple Health sleep data (read-only) • Siri & Shortcuts to log a dream, mark one forgotten, search your journal, or open last night’s entry Understand with AI • Instant AI interpretation that helps you make sense of what you dreamed • Chat about a dream or period summary to go deeper • Symbol tracking and a growing library — plus your own language for what symbols mean to you • Mood and emotion signals to spot patterns in your inner life • Visual charts for dream frequency and quality over time • Branded insight share cards when you want to share a moment of clarity • Three free AI dreams with full analysis, chat, and symbols — Plus unlocks unlimited AI, chat, and Dream Sessions • Export and import your journal anytime Why DreamNotes? • Built for speed at wake-up — so dreams don’t fade before you write them down • Private by design: on-device journal with CloudKit sync; analysis stays out of Spotlight • TipKit guidance for Watch, widgets, Control Center, and Siri when you need it • Soft, reflective UI — clarity and calm, not clutter • Requires iOS 18 or later (watchOS 11 for the Watch app) DreamNotes is for those who feel deeply, think reflectively, and want to connect the dots between their dreams and their waking life. Whether you’re exploring lucid dreaming, managing anxiety, or simply curious — this is your space to reflect. New in This Version: • Apple Watch companion with complications and Double Tap • Widgets, Control Center, voice capture, and smarter morning reminders • Siri search, last-night status, and interpret-last-dream actions • On-device title suggestions when available • Three free AI dreams; export & import for everyone • Faster Watch → iPhone analysis when Auto Analysis is on DreamNotes is more than a dream tracker. It’s a mirror for the subconscious. Download now and begin your journey inward.
Dayheld
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Talk for a few minutes. Dayheld turns your words into a journal you can revisit, reflect on, and search over time. CAPTURE WITHOUT FRICTION • Record with Apple-managed on-device transcription on supported iPhones and English locales, or type instead • Start an entry with Siri, Shortcuts, the Action Button, or Record now on your daily reminder • If transcription is unavailable, keep the local recording and type or save audio only • Keep journaling offline • Keep audio on this iPhone or turn it off anytime • Check in with one tap and, if you choose, save check-ins to Apple Health as State of Mind. Dayheld writes only the check-ins you tap and never reads your Health data iOS may use network access and device storage to install a required Apple-managed speech asset. Dayheld does not upload recordings for transcription or download a separate third-party speech model. FIND ANY DAY AGAIN • Search words and simple word forms, or dates like “last March” and “yesterday” • Browse a calendar of the days you wrote • Edit entries and scrub through saved audio • Import from Day One (JSON) or dated text and Markdown files; imported entries are never sent to AI • Import an audio recording, such as a Voice Memo; it is transcribed on your iPhone and keeps its original date • Change an entry's date and time, and restore deleted entries from Recently Deleted for 30 days ONE REFLECTION, NOT AN ENDLESS CHAT Optional AI gives a short, specific reflection and one question. Follow-ups are intentionally limited so the focus stays on your own thinking. A JOURNAL THAT REMEMBERS Dayheld can organize themes and meaningful details from your entries, help you ask questions across time, and create weekly and monthly perspectives. You can see, correct, or delete what Dayheld remembers. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Journal records are encrypted on your device. Dayheld is covered in the app switcher, and you can lock it with Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode. Dayheld does not automatically upload or sync audio; only an export you explicitly share can carry retained audio elsewhere. If you enable iCloud sync, encrypted journal data—not audio—syncs through your private CloudKit database. After you allow AI, direct features and due scheduled insights or Life in Review may send selected readable journal-derived text through Dayheld’s Cloudflare-hosted proxy to OpenAI. Audio is never sent to AI. Provider handling and retention may apply; full details are in the Privacy Policy. YOUR JOURNAL IS NEVER HOSTAGE Recording, typing, reading, keyword search, import, encrypted sync, export, and Delete Everything stay free. Apple on-device transcription is also free when supported and available. Premium adds AI reflections, journal memory, Ask Your Journal, insights, gentle follow-up prompts, and Life in Review. A 14-day free trial of Premium begins with your first successful reflection. A failed or unavailable reflection does not start it. No card is required and it does not start a paid subscription automatically. Monthly and annual subscriptions begin only when you confirm a purchase through Apple and renew unless canceled in Apple account settings. Dayheld is a journaling and general wellness tool. It is not medical care, therapy, crisis counseling, or a medical device. If you are in immediate danger, contact local emergency services. No ads. No guilt-driven streaks. Export and delete anytime. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Dayheld at none against DreamNotes's 2. Dayheld also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). DreamNotes's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads 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
Both are free to download. DreamNotes sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Dayheld asks for nothing beyond the download.
DreamNotes ships an update every 3 weeks, Dayheld every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DreamNotes | Dayheld |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.3 (3 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 42 MB | 20 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Alexandr Kuziaev | Dheeraj Agrawal |
In-app purchases
DreamNotes
- DreamNotes Plus Monthly$4.991 Month
- DreamNotes Plus Annual7 Days trial$34.991 Year
Dayheld
No in-app purchases









