Roast Book vs Five Year Diary
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Roast Book
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Remember every roast that worked — and replicate it. Roast Book is a home coffee roasting journal for iPhone and iPad. Log your roasting sessions, manage your bean library, and track what makes each cup great. "First crack at 12 min, drop at 220°C — but I can't repeat it next time." If that sounds familiar, this app is for you. 【What You Can Log】 ▷ Roast Sessions Date, bean, charge weight, roast level, gear, 1st crack time, 2nd crack time, total roast time, and drop temperature — all in one record. Search and filter by bean name, gear, or star rating. ▷ Roast Timer Tap Start when your roast begins. Tap once for 1st crack, again for 2nd crack — times are logged automatically and flow into your record form. Manual entry still works as before. ▷ Tasting Scores Rate each roast on acidity, sweetness, bitterness, finish, and overall (1–5 stars). A radar chart shows the flavor balance at a glance in the detail view. ▷ Photos Attach a photo of your finished beans (1 photo free, up to 3 with Pro). Add from camera or photo library. ▷ Duplicate & Gear Chips Duplicate a past roast as a starting point for a new session. Tap gear name chips to fill in equipment instantly. ▷ Bean Library Track origin, farm, process (Washed / Natural / Honey, etc.), and supplier. Every roast is linked to a bean so you can filter your history by origin or farm. ▷ Statistics Monthly roast count chart included in the free tier. Pro adds roast-level distribution, gear breakdown, and cup score averages across your roast history. ▷ Temperature Profile & ROR (Pro) Plot time vs. temperature as a line graph. Add and edit points manually and track your rate of rise. ▷ Bean Score Comparison & Inventory (Pro) Bar chart comparing cup scores across multiple roast dates for the same bean. Track purchase lots, weight on hand, and auto-deduct usage when saving a roast. 【Who It's For】 · Home roasters using a stovetop popper, fluid bed roaster, drum roaster, or any other setup · Anyone who nailed a roast but can't repeat it · Roasters keeping notes in a notebook or spreadsheet who want something simpler · Specialty coffee enthusiasts dialing in beans by origin and farm 【Your Data Stays on Your Device】 All records, bean data, and photos are stored locally on your iPhone or iPad. Nothing is sent to external servers. No account required (payment is processed by Apple / RevenueCat only). You can export or import CSV / ZIP from Settings when you need to. 【Pricing】 Free: up to 15 roasts, timer, 1 photo per roast, radar chart, monthly stats, duplicate, and more. Roast Book Pro (one-time): ¥980. Unlimited roasts, up to 3 photos, temperature profile, bean inventory, and full statistics. Pay once — no subscription, ever. ------------------ Developer: Kore Apps Support: support@kore-apps.com ------------------
Five Year Diary
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Write today, and the same day from last year and the year before appear on the very same page. Gonen Diary is a five-year diary that shows five years of one date on a single page. A few lines are enough, so it is easy to keep going, and a year from now you get to meet yourself again. [Who it is for] - You want an easy five-year diary on your iPhone or iPad - Paper diaries never lasted more than a few days - You want to look back at what you were doing on this day last year - You keep short daily notes, such as a parenting or gratitude journal - You want a privacy-minded diary with no sign-up [No account, no network] - No registration and no email address - Your diary stays on this device only. Nothing is sent to a server - Even if a service goes down or you are offline, your diary stays readable [Meet last year's today] - The same date from five years is lined up on one page - While you write today, you can see last year's you right below - Open a past day from the calendar and the earlier years of that date appear with it - The longer you keep going, the thicker the page gets [Mood in one emoji] - Pick your mood from five emoji (optional; you can write without choosing) - Last year's mood for the same day shows up alongside the text [One photo a day] - Keep one photo per day (free) - Add a photo to today's entry or to a past day you are filling in - Photos stay on the device only. They are shrunk before saving and location data is removed - Last year's photo for the same day appears right under the text [Made for iPad too] - On iPad, the left side is where you write today and the right side lists the same day from earlier years - Text is a little larger (three text sizes to choose from) [Quiet, never pushy] - No streak counts and no "days in a row" badges - Days you skip are simply left alone (no "missed" marks) - Only the total number of entries is shown, quietly - No prompts forced on you and no character limit - No ads [Search and look back] - Search your diary by word (Search tab) - The calendar marks the days you wrote - An optional gentle reminder at your writing time (on or off) [Keeping your diary safe] - Every time you write, a backup copy is made on the device so you can restore it - Export (backup) and import are free. Your diary is always yours to take out (export covers text only, not photos) - Protect the app with Face ID, Touch ID or the device passcode - Nothing is sent to AI [Why a five-year diary works] Because one book shows the same date across five years, you never need to write a lot. Even a few lines turn into "this day last year" a year later. Seasonal events, your children growing, small changes at work and at home, shifts in health and mood: things you cannot notice in a single day appear across the years. [How to use it] 1. Write a few lines in the evening or morning 2. The same date from last year and the year before appears below 3. On days you want a photo, add just one 4. To find an entry, search by word 5. Export a backup of the diary you care about [About paying] - Writing, reading, searching, photos, export and import are all free - The only thing a one-time in-app purchase adds is exporting to PDF (save, print, share) - There are no monthly payments [FAQ] Q. Do I have to write every day? A. No. Days you skip are simply left as they are, with no missed marks. Q. Can I move my diary to a new phone? A. Export and import are free, so your diary can always go with you. Q. Can anyone else see my diary? A. It stays on your device and is never sent anywhere. You can also lock the app with Face ID and the like. Available in Japanese, English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese (Traditional and Simplified). You can switch in Settings at any time. Dark mode is supported. A year from now, open this day and meet today's you. That is Gonen Diary.
Screenshots
Verdict
Roast Book and Five Year Diary 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
Both are free to download. Roast Book sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Five Year Diary sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Roast Book ships an update weekly, Five Year Diary every 9 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Roast Book | Five Year Diary |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 9 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 46 MB | 34 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | kazuki korenori | AKIHIRO MATSUYAMA |
In-app purchases
Roast Book
- Roast Book Pro$5.99
Five Year Diary
- Unlock PDF Export$0.99









