Comparison

Bifolio vs Thoughts

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

Head to head
About

Bifolio

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Bifolio is a private journal that opens like a book. YOURS, AND SEALED What you write, and every photo, video, recording and drawing with it, is encrypted on your iPhone before it syncs to your iCloud. The keys travel between your devices in iCloud Keychain, and an optional recovery key of your own lets you back in if they can't. There is no Bifolio account, no server of ours and no tracking of any kind. Settings shows whether iCloud is up to date. YOUR WORDS STAY YOURS Bifolio never writes your entries. If a blank page is hard to start, it offers a question. Where Apple Intelligence is available, it can suggest questions drawn from your recent entries, worked out on your iPhone. Journaling Suggestions can start an entry from a moment your iPhone remembers, and Apple's Writing Tools are there when you want them. One switch in Settings turns all of it off. JOURNALS LIKE BOOKS Keep as many journals as you like, each a book on your shelf in its own cloth. Write as many entries a day as you want, and add photos (several at once, or straight from the camera), video, audio transcribed on your iPhone where your language is supported, and drawings or handwriting. Mark how you felt, and let Bifolio note where you were and the weather. An entry's own menu moves it to another journal or shares it. LOOK BACK Search everything you have written, even what you said in your recordings. The calendar marks the days you wrote, and On This Day brings back the same date in earlier years. YOURS TO TAKE WITH YOU Export everything, one journal or one day as a PDF, or as a ZIP of Markdown files with the original photos, video, audio and drawings. Share a single entry as a PDF. Bring journals in from Day One, Apple Journal or an earlier Bifolio export, and undo an import that wasn't what you wanted. A weekly backup can keep copies in a folder you choose. Exports and backups are plain files, not encrypted, and Bifolio says so wherever it makes one. QUIET BY DESIGN No streaks, no badges, no congratulations. A few lines is a full entry, and so is a single photograph. An optional daily reminder stays quiet on days you have already written. AROUND YOUR IPHONE Widgets for today, On This Day and the month, and a New Entry control for Control Center. Siri and Shortcuts can start an entry, open today, record audio or search. Lock the journal with Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode of its own: after several wrong passcodes it makes you wait, longer each time, and with the lock on, widgets never show what you wrote. AN OPEN BOOK ON IPHONE DUO Folded, Bifolio is a pocket journal for a quick note. Unfolded, it becomes a spread: your days on one side, the page you are writing on the other. Read your journal as a book and the crease becomes its spine, with two facing pages that turn like paper, one day after another. On other iPhones it is the same journal in a single, unhurried column. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Thoughts

A private chat-style diary for capturing thoughts, memories, and experiences. Organize entries with photos, voice notes, and tasks, track your mood and habits, and secure your data with biometric locks.

Highlights
  • Chat-style diary entries
  • Multimedia attachments (photos, voice, files)
  • Mood and habit tracking
  • Future self messages
  • Customizable chat appearance
  • Biometric app lock
  • iCloud sync
Features
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Your thoughts. Your memories. Your personal space. Thoughts is your private diary in the familiar chat style. Write down thoughts, capture experiences, and collect everything you don't want to forget - quickly, personally, and without distraction. • Capture thoughts like news Organize your entries in personal chats and supplement them with photos, files, drawings, voice recordings and tasks. • Reflect on mood and everyday life Record how you feel, keep a gratitude diary, and keep an eye on your habits. • Rediscover memories Browse your entries, rediscover them in the calendar and get insights into your past weeks. • Letters to your future self Write down thoughts, wishes, or tasks that only reappear at a time of your choice. • Personally designed Customize your chats with colors, icons, and backgrounds, and create thoughts the way you want. • Protected and private Lock the entire app or individual chats with Face ID, Touch ID, or your device code. • With iCloud Sync your listings between your Apple devices from your private iCloud storage. • Directly from the home screen Capture your current mood with the widget or open a new idea with a few steps. Thoughts is the place for everything that moves you. Write it down. Keep it. Think about it.

Screenshots

Bifolio4 screens
Thoughts4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Thoughts at 3 against Bifolio's 1. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Bifolio versus Thoughts: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBifolioThoughts
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequency—Weekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB113 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCanopus Labs LtdLuca Ring

In-app purchases

None

Bifolio

No in-app purchases

None

Thoughts

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bifolio free?
Bifolio is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Thoughts free?
Thoughts is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Bifolio or Thoughts have ads?
Neither Bifolio nor Thoughts shows ads.

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