Comparison

bigsmall vs dear___

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

Head to head
About

bigsmall

Enjoy a transparent, interactive aquarium widget on your phone screen. Customize your aquarium with various widgets like clocks, calendars, and even a lucky cat. This app offers a unique way to personalize your device with animated fish and cats.

Highlights
  • Transparent pocket fish tank widget
  • Animated swimming cat
  • Customizable aquarium widgets
  • Date reminders
  • Monthly countdowns
  • Calendar widgets
  • Clock faces
  • Lucky cat widget
Read full description

App Store United States > Best New App App Store Japan > Today トレンド 人気のアプリ bigsmall is a pocket-sized, pixel-art aquarium featuring swimming cats, fish, and ducks, combining transparent widgets with gentle ADHD focus companionship. Feel free to create and customize all kinds of aquarium widgets with various styles, colors, and features: date reminders, monthly countdowns, calendars, clock faces, and even a lucky fortune cat to keep your wishes company! - You can get in touch with us via email: ablank.studio@outlook.com All elements and creative ideas are protected under necessary copyright registrations. Creativity makes the world vibrant. Please respect intellectual property. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula Privacy Policy: https://www.ablank.city/privacy-policy

About

dear___

This app allows you to create private, temporary photo albums with layered memories. You can add photos, text, dates, and audio, then reveal them through touch before they fade back. It offers reminders and the option to share or export your creations.

Highlights
  • Create layered memory objects
  • Edit white masks with computer vision
  • Add diary text, dates, music, and audio
  • Temporarily reveal memories through touch
  • Receive memory reminders
  • Export albums as archives
  • Design share cards
Features
Read full description

dear___ is for the memories you're not ready to look at all at once, and the ones you're not ready to let go of, either. Cover your photographs with an editable white mask. Add a diary entry, a date, a song. Then, when you're ready, erase the cover with your finger — the photograph appears, the words surface, the music begins. After a short pause, the mask slowly returns, and the memory recedes into absence again. dear___ doesn't try to bring anyone back. It just gives you a way to visit — briefly, privately, on your own terms — and to leave the door open for next time. With dear___, you can: • Create personal albums from your own photographs • Generate a starting mask with computer vision, then paint, erase, and adjust it by hand • Add diary text, dates, music, and audio to each memory • Reveal memories through touch, and watch them fade back into absence • Receive "on this day" and weekly memory reminders • Design share cards for the memories you choose to show • Decide exactly which layers to save, share, export, or submit • Export your albums as portable archives Your memories stay yours. Albums remain on your device unless you choose to export, share, or submit them. No account is required to create or browse. We all come to accept the absence of those we have loved, but we can still talk to them across time. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

bigsmall4 screens
dear___4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: dear___ at none against bigsmall's 3. dear___ also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). bigsmall's advantage is ratings volume (95 vs 1). On price, ads, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. bigsmall sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. dear___ asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

dear___ holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: bigsmall has 95 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

bigsmall ships an update every 3 weeks, dear___ every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
bigsmall versus dear___: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterbigsmalldear___
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (95 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings95 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB35 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperA Blank Studio LLCTianqi Wei

Customer experience

bigsmall

All ratings95 ratings
Positive88.4%
Neutral7.4%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral28.6%
Negative0.0%

dear___

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

bigsmall

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Annual1 Year trial$12.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$14.99
None

dear___

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is bigsmall free?
bigsmall is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is dear___ free?
dear___ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, bigsmall or dear___?
dear___ is rated higher. bigsmall averages 4.6 out of 5 from 95 ratings, while dear___ averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do bigsmall or dear___ have ads?
Neither bigsmall nor dear___ shows ads.
Which is updated more often, bigsmall or dear___?
bigsmall ships an update every 3 weeks, and dear___ every 9 days. Most recently, bigsmall was updated on October 19, 2026 and dear___ on October 4, 2026.

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