Conviction vs SteadyNote
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Conviction
This app provides a private, encrypted journal for processing difficult emotions and identifying patterns. It offers guided prompts, mood analytics, and self-guided tools to help users navigate overwhelming feelings and gain insight into their emotional cycles.
- Encrypted private journal
- Voice transcription for entries
- Guided shadow work prompts
- Emotional pattern analytics
- CBT thought reframe tool
- Somatic grounding exercises
- Trigger mapping and analysis
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The Thought Record in Conviction walks you through the full CBT method when a thought takes over: the situation, the feeling and how strong it is, the automatic thought, the thinking traps in it, the evidence for and against, and a more balanced thought you can actually believe. Speak it or type it. It also holds DBT skills like Check the Facts, shadow work prompts, mood check-ins and a private journal, all stored encrypted on your iPhone. It's a practice tool to use alongside therapy or on your own. It is not therapy and doesn't replace professional care. WHEN FEELINGS TAKE OVER Talk or type. Voice transcription runs on your iPhone. Name the mood while it is happening, not hours later when the story has already hardened. Sit with the mood instead of getting swept by it. Grief, anger, sadness, the loop you cannot shut off. The journal holds them without asking you to perform okay. Your entries live in an encrypted diary on the device. Private. Yours. THE OLDER FEELING UNDERNEATH A blank page is a trap when you are flooded. Guided shadow work prompts give you a place to start. Questions that meet today's trigger on the surface and the older feeling underneath. You open them when you want them. Nobody pushes you further than you chose. This is not a counter you have to protect. This is a room you can enter and leave. SEE THE CYCLE Journal mood analytics, word clouds, and charts show emotional patterns over time. Recurring loops stop looking like who you are and start looking like a cycle you can step out of. Magic Mirror can surface patterns you miss when you are inside the wave. Detected shadow patterns can become goals you actually track. Ruminating becomes something you can see, not something that runs the day. TOOLS FOR THE WAVE When writing is not enough, self-guided tools are one tap away: - The Mirror: CBT thought reframe and cognitive defusion - Safe Harbor: somatic grounding, breathing, body scans - Pattern Lab: trigger mapping and chain analysis - The Council: assertiveness and validation practice These are tools, not treatment. Use them the way you use a notebook between sessions. Momentum cools when you step away. It never snaps to zero. Miss a week. Come back. Nothing resets. A PRIVATE SPACE AES-256 encryption on your iPhone. Unlock with Face ID. On supported iPhones, Apple Intelligence can surface patterns from your entries on the device. Optional encrypted iCloud backup is a Pro feature and uses a key only you hold. We cannot read your journal. A private space for what the world will not hold. WHO THIS IS FOR People who overthink until living shrinks to rumination. People who need backing when emotion takes over the whole day. People who want a journal that holds space, then helps them sit with what showed up. Not a therapist. Not a crisis line. A private journal with tools, on your iPhone. Start free. Unlimited entries, voice, check-ins, and the core tools are included. Mood detection, Magic Mirror, and insight cards have free limits. Unlock Conviction Pro once if you want those limits removed, plus Shadow Work analysis, Cosmic Rhythms, Apple Health correlation, and optional encrypted iCloud backup. Pro is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. No account required to begin. Export anytime. Delete anytime.
SteadyNote
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SteadyNote is a private CBT journal for understanding your thoughts, tracking your mood, and feeling a little steadier — one small reflection at a time. When your mind feels busy, heavy, anxious, or stuck, SteadyNote gives you a calm place to pause and work through what's happening. Write freely, log your mood, or follow a guided CBT thought record to untangle a difficult thought and find a more balanced perspective. Whether your therapist recommended Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or you're exploring it on your own, SteadyNote is made to be your companion between sessions. It's built around real, evidence-based CBT techniques — but it never feels like homework. Over time, you start to notice the patterns between what happens, what you think, how you feel, and what you do. WHAT YOU CAN DO Guided CBT Thought Records The classic CBT exercise, step by step: describe the situation, capture the automatic thought, rate how you feel, spot the thinking trap, weigh the evidence, and land on a kinder, more balanced thought. Mood Tracking Check in with a simple 1–10 mood log in seconds. Over time, see how your mood shifts and what tends to come before each up and down. Private Journal Entries Write freely when you don't need a full exercise. Your day, your feelings, your therapy notes, or anything on your mind. Spot Your Thinking Traps Recognize the cognitive distortions that catch you most — catastrophizing, all-or-nothing thinking, mind-reading, and "should" statements — explained in plain language. Behavioral Activation Plan a small, meaningful action, predict how it'll feel, do it, then compare what you expected with what actually happened. A gentle way to build momentum when motivation is low. Weekly Reviews Look back gently at your week — your mood, your thought records, your wins, and what was hard — and set a kind intention for the days ahead. Revisit Past Thoughts Return to older thought records and see how strongly you still believe a thought. Watching that belief soften over time is quietly powerful. Therapist-Friendly Export Create a clean PDF summary to bring to a session — with the option to keep your private writing redacted. You choose what to include. PRIVATE BY DESIGN — ALWAYS Your reflections are deeply personal, so we treat them that way. Everything stays on your device and your own iCloud. No ads. No tracking. No accounts. We never see your entries, and we never sell your data. Lock the app with Face ID or a passcode for extra peace of mind. WHO STEADYNOTE IS FOR SteadyNote can help if you want to: - Practice CBT between therapy sessions - Keep going with what you started in therapy - Make sense of anxious or negative thoughts - Track your mood and emotional patterns - Build a calmer journaling habit - Reflect without judgment - Take small steps when motivation is low - Share a structured summary with your therapist FREE, FOREVER Journaling, mood tracking, CBT thought records, and crisis resources are always free. STEADYNOTE PRO Go deeper with full Insights into your moods and patterns, activity insights, and the therapist-ready report. Available monthly, yearly, or as a one-time Lifetime purchase. Going Pro supports an independent, privacy-first app made by one developer. Start with one note. Find one steadier thought. — SteadyNote is a self-help journaling tool. It is not therapy, not a medical device, and not a substitute for professional care. If you are in crisis or immediate danger, contact emergency services or a crisis support line in your country. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.gtrigonakis.com/privacy-policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: SteadyNote at 17.0 against Conviction's 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
Both are free to download. Conviction sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and SteadyNote sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | Conviction | SteadyNote |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Weekly | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 330 MB | 22 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Phillip Paul | Georgios Trigonakis |
In-app purchases
Conviction
- Conviction Pro$3.99
SteadyNote
- SteadyNote Pro · Monthly$4.991 Month
- SteadyNote Pro · Annual$29.991 Year
- SteadyNote Pro · Lifetime$59.99









