Comparison

Tesseract vs Inbound

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

Inbound

Features
Read full description

Words you want to hear, from the people you choose. Pick someone, write what you'd love to hear from them, and it arrives as a notification under their name — when you least expect it. You write the words yourself. No one else sends or receives them. The first person you add is free. • Pick anyone — Mom, Grandma, a crush, your idol, future you — with a name and a photo. • Write the words: Grandma's “did you eat?”, your idol's “you worked hard today”. • Choose how many a day, which days, and between which hours. Then just wait. Seventeen message packs, ready to edit: My goal, Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, My daughter, My son, My crush (him), My crush (her), My ex, My love, Sibling, Best friend, My idol, My pet, My trainer, and Future me. No replies — it's for receiving only. No AI. No account. Names, photos and words stay on this phone and are never uploaded. Only what the store needs for a purchase, and a check for a newer version, ever leave it. Nothing goes to cloud backup either, so if the phone is lost or replaced, what you saved is gone. Free: one person, up to 3 messages a day, all seventeen packs and a photo. Inbound Pro: up to 10 people, up to 20 messages a day for each, and a photo on any message. If Pro ends, messages from your first person keep arriving, and everything you received or wrote stays. Inbound Pro comes as a weekly, monthly or yearly subscription, or as a one-time lifetime purchase. Each price is shown in the app with its period before you confirm anything. Payment is charged to your store account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically until you cancel, and you can cancel anytime in your account settings. The lifetime purchase is paid once and does not renew. Terms of Use (EULA): https://inbound.gridalabs.com/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://inbound.gridalabs.com/privacy.html

Screenshots

Tesseract4 screens
Inbound4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Inbound at every 3 days against Tesseract's every 10 days. Inbound also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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 and Inbound sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tesseract ships an update every 10 days, Inbound every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Tesseract versus Inbound: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTesseractInbound
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (110 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews78.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings110 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS26.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB44 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperGoateractionJEEYOUNG HAN

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

Inbound

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
4 purchases

Inbound

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Monthly$5.991 Month
  • Annual$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Inbound Pro · Lifetime$59.99

Questions

Is Tesseract free?
Tesseract is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Inbound free?
Inbound is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Tesseract or Inbound have ads?
Neither Tesseract nor Inbound shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tesseract or Inbound?
Tesseract ships an update every 10 days, and Inbound every 3 days. Most recently, Tesseract was updated on November 5, 2026 and Inbound on November 6, 2026.

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