# Firsts vs Tesseract

The clearest difference is rating: Firsts at 5.0 against Tesseract's 4.5. Firsts also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 78%) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). Tesseract's advantage is ratings volume (110 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Firsts sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.69 per month and Tesseract sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Firsts holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tesseract has 110 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Firsts's written reviews are positive against 78% of Tesseract's.

Firsts ships an update fortnightly, Tesseract every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Firsts | Tesseract |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/firsts/id6505028556/reviews)** | [4.5 (110 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tesseract-interstellar-diary/id6599853294/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 1 | **110** |
| Positive reviews | **100.0% of reviews** | 78.3% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | **Every 10 days** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 13 MB | 15 MB |
| Requires iOS | **17.0** | 26.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, Mac** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [杰滨 李](https://appshunter.io/developer/1528346803) | [Goateraction](https://appshunter.io/developer/1647805479) |

## What reviewers say

### Firsts

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/firsts/id6505028556)

This app helps you document and revisit significant "first times" in your life. It automatically organizes memories by age and allows you to add details like photos, locations, and tags. Review your life's chapters with visual charts and enjoy heartwarming moments through home screen widgets.

**Highlights:** Focus on 'first times' only, Categorized by age, Photo-based memory creation, Insights and review charts, Widget support

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly | $0.69 | per month |
| Annually | $5.99 | per year |
| Lifetime | $12.99 | one-time |
| Lifetime Family | $19.99 | one-time |


### Tesseract

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tesseract-interstellar-diary/id6599853294)

This app transforms your daily entries into a visually rich photo diary with dynamic themes and spatial presentation. Add photos, use journaling prompts, and secure your memories with biometric locks. Revisit your past with a calendar, search, and a Home Screen widget.

**Highlights:** Eleven visual themes with motion and depth, Spatial presentation for words and photos, Photo attachments, Horizontal, vertical, and grid layouts, Calendar and search functionality, Face ID or Touch ID lock for entries, On This Day Home Screen widget

**Features:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly | $1.99 | per month |
| Annual | $4.99 | per year |
| Lifetime | $12.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🎨 Stunning, gorgeous UI/UX design
- ✨ Smooth, silky animations and interactions
- 📱 Lightweight app (only 6MB)
- 💭 Intuitive and simple to use
- 🎯 Focused, single-purpose functionality

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💰 Aggressive monetization strategy
- 🔒 Data loss issues after updates
- 🐛 Edit button crashes the app
- 📸 Photos disappear when editing entries
- 🔄 Sync issues between devices

**Reported bugs**

- Data deletion after app updates
- Journal entries disappearing after switching apps
- Edit button causing app crashes
- Photos disappearing when adding new ones
- Photos disappearing after editing entries

**Requested features**

- Customizable theme colors and backgrounds
- Additional font options (especially for Chinese)
- PDF export functionality
- iCloud sync support
- Auto-save functionality


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Firsts free?

Firsts is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Tesseract free?

Tesseract is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Firsts or Tesseract?

Firsts is rated higher. Firsts averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Tesseract averages 4.5 from 110 ratings.

### Do Firsts or Tesseract have ads?

Neither Firsts nor Tesseract shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Firsts or Tesseract?

Firsts ships an update fortnightly, and Tesseract every 10 days. Most recently, Firsts was updated on October 30, 2026 and Tesseract on November 4, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*