Photo Journal vs Chelf
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Photo Journal
Capture and cherish daily life moments with this photo and video journal. Store up to 5 photos/videos and notes per day, with features like a calendar view, voice notes, and random memory recaps. Export your memories or share them with loved ones.
- Calendar view for daily highlights
- Store up to 5 photos/videos and notes daily
- Record short videos or use gallery clips
- Voice notes with AI transcription
- Random daily memory recaps
- Monthly story format for highlights
- Easy sharing and export options
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Discover the most simple and beautiful photo journal app: PicDiary — free to use, with optional Pro features. Capture and cherish your daily highlights with PicDiary, your personal photo and video journal. Perfect for storing your life's precious moments and memories, this app combines the best features of a diary and a photo album. Key Features: • Stunning Calendar View: See your month at a glance with a stunning calendar view. Enjoy the visual journey of your daily highlights. • Daily Entries: Store up to 5 photos or videos and add personal notes each day. Capture your thoughts and memories effortlessly. • Short Videos: Record a video right in the app or pick one from your gallery. Up to 10 seconds per clip – if a video runs longer, just choose the part you want to keep. • Voice Notes: Record a moment as a voice note and turn it into text with a transcript — polished by AI if you like. • Random Memories: Relive your favorite moments with random daily recaps. Experience the joy of unexpected memories. • Monthly Stories: View all your monthly photos in a beautiful story format. Enjoy your highlights seamlessly. • Search Photos: Easily search through your photos and find specific memories. • Favorite Days: Set and remember your favorite days. Highlight the moments that matter most. • Easy Sharing: Share your daily highlights effortlessly with friends and family. Keep your loved ones connected with your special moments. • Daily Reminders: Get daily reminders to fill your PicDiary every day. • Widgets: View your special memories directly on your Home Screen, or open your diary quickly from the Lock Screen. • Export Memories: Easily export your memories as a collage or a slideshow video to keep or share. • Milestones: Collect achievements for perfect streaks, photo milestones, and more to celebrate your journaling journey. • Ad-Free Experience: Enjoy your beautiful journal without any ads. PicDiary can be used for free, but has some Pro features that require a subscription or one-time purchase, like: • Sync & Backup: Optional account if you want to sync your data or have a backup. Keep your memories safe and accessible across devices. • Dark Mode: Experience a sleek, eye-friendly interface with Dark Mode, perfect for low-light environments. • Lock Your Diary: Protect your memories with your device’s code, Face ID, or Touch ID for extra privacy. • Custom Backgrounds: Select a beautiful background that matches your mood or let the app surprise you with a random one. This app is perfect for: • Creating a Family Moments Album: Capture daily family moments, add personal notes, and enjoy random recaps of precious memories. • Keeping a Travel Diary: Document adventures with daily photos and notes, and relive journeys with random recaps. • Tracking Personal Growth: Capture progress with photos and notes, and review your journey in a monthly story format. • Tracking Creative Projects: Document creative processes with photos and notes, and see your project’s evolution over time. • Maintaining a Daily Gratitude Journal: Practice mindfulness by capturing daily gratitudes with photos and notes, and revisit positive moments with random recaps. • Capturing the beauties of everyday life. Why You’ll Love It: This app is designed to help you be mindful and appreciate your daily life. Whether you’re documenting a trip, tracking your personal growth, or simply capturing everyday moments, PicDiary makes it easy and enjoyable. Just try it out yourself — you will love making memories with me :) --- Privacy Policy: https://picdiary.app/privacy Terms and Conditions: https://picdiary.app/terms
Chelf
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Chelf is your personal media log and goal tracker in one app. Log movies, TV shows, books, manga, webtoons, and video games—then track progress toward goals like “Read 12 books” or “Watch 24 films this year.” **Log what you love** • Add entries in seconds: title, type, rating (1–10), and when you finished • Optional details: where you watched or read it, who recommended it, author, summary, and favorite parts • Tag entries with moods and goals so you can browse and filter later **Goals that actually move** • Create goals with a target count and link them to tags • Goals Review shows progress bars and completed vs. target for each goal • See how close you are at a glance and stay motivated **One place for all media** • Browse by type: Books, Movies, TV Shows, Manga & Webtoons, Video Games • View all entries in one list or jump straight to a category • Episodes and chapters for TV, books, and manga so you can track season or reading progress **Your data, your way** • Sign in to sync entries and goals across devices • Add custom mood and goal tags; manage tags in one place • Optional in-app analytics to see your habits over time **Designed to stay out of your way** • Clean, focused layout so logging stays quick • Dark and light themes • Built for readers and watchers who like to remember what they’ve finished and hit their goals Whether you’re catching up on a reading list, finishing a watchlist, or just want a single place to log and rate what you watch and read, Chelf keeps it simple and goal-oriented. End User License Agreement (EULA): Apple Standard EULA — https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://nexus-app-folio.lovable.app/chelf/privacy-policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Photo Journal at none against Chelf's shown. Chelf's advantage is update cadence (every 8 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Photo Journal sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Chelf sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Photo Journal ships an update every 3 weeks, Chelf every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Photo Journal | Chelf |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (94 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 93.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 94 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 8 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 119 MB | 45 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Benedikt Kehl-Waas | Nathan Ross |
Bugs and requests
Photo Journal
Reported bugs
4 issues- Existing entries deleted without warning when adding new ones to the same day
- Cursor not explicitly at the end of text leads to overwriting/deletion
- Potential synchronization issues between devices
- Text not saved in some instances
Requested features
9 requests- Add video support
- Allow multiple entries per day
- Ability to export journal entry and photo together (like Polaroid)
- Additional font options
- More milestone options
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- Ability to name individual photos
- More background color palettes
- List view option for multiple days
- One-time payment option instead of subscription
Chelf
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Photo Journal
- PicDiary Pro - 1 month3 Days trial$2.991 Month
- PicDiary Pro - 1 month$2.991 Month
- PicDiary Pro - monthly$5.991 Month
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- PicDiary Pro - 1 year7 Days trial$17.991 Year
- PicDiary Pro - 1 year$17.991 Year
- PicDiary Pro - 1 year7 Days trial$19.991 Year
- PicDiary Pro - yearly$34.991 Year
- PicDiary Pro - lifetime$29.99
- PicDiary Pro – Lifetime$39.99
Chelf
- Chelf Pro7 Days trial$1.991 Month
- Chelf Pro Yearly7 Days trial$18.001 Year









