Comparison

Tesseract vs Nostalgia

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

Head to head
About

Tesseract

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
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. Key features - Eleven visual themes - Spatial presentation for words and photos - Photo attachments - 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 - Optional iCloud sync 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/

About

Nostalgia

Features
Read full description

Nostalgia is where you keep the things that made you, you. Not just photos — the song stuck in your head, the movie you rewatched a hundred times, the corner store that's long gone, your childhood pet, a quote you never forgot. Nostalgia lets you save it all in one place, with your own photos and the story behind it. WHAT YOU CAN SAVE • Memories, places, pets & quotes • Music, movies, TV shows, books & games • Sounds, smells & food that take you back • Products, objects, toys & clothes • Brands, trends, routines & events • Apps, websites & YouTube videos BUILT FOR THE WAY YOU REMEMBER • Tag every memory with its decade — from the 1900s to today — and watch your personal timeline take shape • Auto-fill details instantly by searching Apple Music, movie & TV databases, Apple Books, and the App Store — covers, posters and info added in seconds • Create custom Albums for a trip, a person, an era, anything • Share albums with family and friends — everyone can add their own photos and memories to the same story • Everything syncs securely across your devices with iCloud • Find any memory instantly with Siri and Spotlight search Start for free. Upgrade to Nostalgia Gold for unlimited memories, photos and shared albums. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Tesseract4 screens
Nostalgia4 screens

Verdict

The call

Tesseract and Nostalgia are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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 and Nostalgia sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tesseract ships an update every 10 days, Nostalgia every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Tesseract versus Nostalgia: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTesseractNostalgia
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (110 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews78.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings110 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGoateractionJuan Williman

Bugs and 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

Nostalgia

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Tesseract

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

Nostalgia

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Yearly$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$59.99

Questions

Is Tesseract free?
Tesseract is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Nostalgia free?
Nostalgia is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Tesseract or Nostalgia have ads?
Neither Tesseract nor Nostalgia shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tesseract or Nostalgia?
Tesseract ships an update every 10 days, and Nostalgia every 2 weeks. Most recently, Tesseract was updated on November 5, 2026 and Nostalgia on October 31, 2026.

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