Comparison

DoddleDiary vs Five Year Diary

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

Head to head
About

DoddleDiary

Features
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DoddleDiary is a simple drawing journal for saving ideas, sketches, and daily notes. Create lightweight entries, organize your thoughts, and keep a visual record of your day.

About

Five Year Diary

Features
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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

DoddleDiary1 screens
Five Year Diary4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: DoddleDiary at none against Five Year Diary's 1. Five Year Diary's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, ads 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. Five Year Diary sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. DoddleDiary asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DoddleDiary ships an update weekly, Five Year Diary every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 4 level
DoddleDiary versus Five Year Diary: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDoddleDiaryFive Year Diary
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGoBuildFast, LLCAKIHIRO MATSUYAMA

In-app purchases

None

DoddleDiary

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Five Year Diary

One-time1
  • Unlock PDF Export$0.99

Questions

Is DoddleDiary free?
DoddleDiary is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Five Year Diary free?
Five Year Diary is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do DoddleDiary or Five Year Diary have ads?
Neither DoddleDiary nor Five Year Diary shows ads.
Which is updated more often, DoddleDiary or Five Year Diary?
DoddleDiary ships an update weekly, and Five Year Diary every 9 days. Most recently, DoddleDiary was updated on November 7, 2026 and Five Year Diary on October 31, 2026.

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