Comparison

Quick Journal vs Tesseract

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

Head to head
About

Quick Journal

This app offers a straightforward journaling experience with extensive customization options. Personalize themes, fonts, icons, and layouts to create your ideal digital notebook. Widgets and draft saving features enhance usability for daily reflection.

Highlights
  • Customizable themes and fonts
  • App icon and layout personalization
  • Home screen widgets
  • Save entries as drafts
  • Copy and share entries
Features
Read full description

Quick Journal is the simplest way to keep a journal. You can customize your journal's theme, fonts, app icon, layout, and even where the composer button is placed. To help you write or keep track of your entries, the app features widgets you can put on your home screen. You can copy or share your entries. You can always come back to an entry later by saving it as a draft, just swipe down and the entry will be saved. Hope you enjoy! EULA https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Tesseract

This app offers a unique emotional journaling experience inspired by interstellar travel. It allows users to record memories in an immersive 3D interface, transforming diary entries into cosmic coordinates. Features include voice dictation, AI prompts, and secure iCloud syncing.

Highlights
  • Immersive 3D Tesseract interface
  • Voice dictation journaling
  • AI-powered journaling prompts
  • Aesthetic writing with animations
  • Secure iCloud sync
  • Privacy-first design
Features
Read full description

Keep your days in a photo diary that brings memories to life. Tesseract gives your words and photos a universe of starlight, rain, and black holes. Write a little today, then return to the moments you want to remember. ◆ A space to revisit your memories Motion and depth bring the atmosphere of each entry back to life. Browse your diary horizontally, vertically, or in a grid. ◆ Words and photos that come alive Eleven visual themes inspired by starlight, rain, wormholes, and black holes add motion and depth to your words and photos. Adjust effect intensity and photo placement in supported themes to create your own atmosphere. ◆ Your day in words and photos Write a quick thought or a longer entry, at your own pace. Add photos to hold on to the moments words alone can’t capture. ◆ Revisit past entries Find any memory quickly with the calendar and search. The On This Day widget brings one past entry back to your Home Screen. ◆ Journaling Suggestions to help you begin On iPhone, bring photos, reflection prompts, and places into an entry from Apple’s Journaling Suggestions. Save text you use often as templates to make your next entry easier to begin. ◆ Personal by choice Start without an account. New entries are stored on your device. Lock individual entries with Face ID or Touch ID. With Pro, choose whether to enable iCloud sync. ◆ Tesseract Pro Use every visual theme, create custom folders, and add up to ten photos to each entry. With iCloud sync enabled, continue your diary across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Key features - Eleven visual themes, including free and Pro themes - Spatial presentation for words and photos - Two photos per entry, or up to ten with Pro - Horizontal, vertical, and grid layouts - Calendar and search - Diary templates and writing reminders - On This Day Home Screen widget - Face ID or Touch ID lock for individual entries - Real-time voice dictation on supported devices - Markdown text import and export - Custom folders and optional iCloud sync with Pro An ordinary day can become a scene you will want to revisit. Keep today’s memory in your own universe with Tesseract. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Quick Journal4 screens
Tesseract4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Quick Journal at none against Tesseract's 3. Quick Journal also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (86% vs 78%). Tesseract's advantage is ratings volume (110 vs 24). On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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. Tesseract sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Quick Journal asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Quick Journal holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 24 and 110 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of Quick Journal's written reviews are positive against 78% of Tesseract's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Quick Journal ships an update every 9 days, Tesseract fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Quick Journal versus Tesseract: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterQuick JournalTesseract
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (24 ratings) — better4.5 (110 ratings)
Positive reviews86.4% of reviews — better78.3% of reviews
Number of ratings24110 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS17.4 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB20 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCharlie DeetsGoateraction

Customer experience

Quick Journal

All ratings24 ratings
Positive95.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews22 reviews
Positive86.4%
Neutral4.5%
Negative9.1%

Tesseract

All ratings110 ratings
Positive86.4%
Neutral3.6%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews106 reviews
Positive78.3%
Neutral5.7%
Negative16.0%

Bugs and requests

Quick Journal

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Tesseract

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • 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
Show 7 more
  • iCloud sync not working between iPhone and iPad
  • Bluetooth keyboard Enter key not functioning
  • App freezing and lagging
  • Text alignment issues in display view
  • Paragraph spacing issues in display view
  • Premium features not working after subscription
  • App crashes on edit button press

Requested features

16 requests
  • Customizable theme colors and backgrounds
  • Additional font options (especially for Chinese)
  • PDF export functionality
  • iCloud sync support
  • Auto-save functionality
Show 11 more
  • Photo position/placement control
  • Galaxy map/note clustering visualization
  • Auto-scroll features
  • Pin/favorite entries functionality
  • Search functionality
  • Weather integration
  • Image filters
  • macOS version
  • Customizable line spacing
  • Live photo support
  • Adjustable text size for long entries

In-app purchases

None

Quick Journal

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Tesseract

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Annual$4.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$12.99

Questions

Is Quick Journal free?
Quick Journal is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Tesseract free?
Tesseract is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Quick Journal or Tesseract?
Quick Journal is rated higher. Quick Journal averages 4.7 out of 5 from 24 ratings, while Tesseract averages 4.5 from 110 ratings.
Do Quick Journal or Tesseract have ads?
Neither Quick Journal nor Tesseract shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Quick Journal or Tesseract?
Quick Journal ships an update every 9 days, and Tesseract fortnightly. Most recently, Quick Journal was updated on October 7, 2026 and Tesseract on October 13, 2026.

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