Comparison

HearTime vs Private Diary

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

Head to head
About

HearTime

This app provides spoken timers for workouts and daily tasks, allowing users to maintain pace without looking at their screen. It offers features like automatic counting with compatible headphones, customizable routines, and Siri integration for hands-free control.

Highlights
  • Spoken stopwatch and countdown timers
  • Automatic jump rope and squat counting
  • Multi-step routines with rest periods
  • Nine offline synthetic voices
  • Siri and App Shortcuts integration
  • Lock Screen status with Live Activities
Features
Read full description

HearTime is a spoken timer for workouts and everyday routines. Keep your pace without watching the screen during training, stretching, recovery exercises, cooking, or focused tasks. - Automatic jump rope and squat counting with compatible AirPods that support head tracking - Practice calendar with daily history and weekly and monthly summaries - Collections to organize related timers and practice through rounds - Timer library backup and restore in Settings - Background images for your presets and routines - Share timers and routines as text, or import from the clipboard with a preview Key features: - Free stopwatch and countdown timers - Reusable timer presets - Multi-step routines with configurable group rests - Nine pre-generated synthetic voices that play offline after installation - Adjustable announcement intervals, beats, speech rate, and enhanced volume - Quick control with Siri and App Shortcuts - Timer status on the Lock Screen with Live Activities - Background audio, portrait and landscape layouts, Dynamic Type, and VoiceOver support Spoken number meditation helps you follow a breathing rhythm. Follow a breathing rhythm by ear, or drop a meditation step into a routine you already use. HearTime remains a spoken timer, not a meditation course. HearTime requires no account and contains no ads. Optional anonymous usage analytics can be turned off in Settings. Your presets, routines, timer history, and settings stay on your device by default. The free version includes the core timer experience. A one-time HearTime Pro purchase permanently unlocks additional presets, routines, and advanced features. It is not a subscription. Share presets, Routines, and meditations as text. Import from the clipboard with a quick preview, or describe a workout to an external AI, bring the result back, and save after you confirm. Try HearTime Pro free for 7 days, with no automatic charge when the trial ends. You can also preview a Pro session for 30 seconds.

About

Private Diary

This app provides a private digital journal experience where all entries are stored locally on your device. It offers daily prompts, voice-to-text input, photo attachments, and robust search capabilities. An optional upgrade unlocks advanced features like biometric lock, AI tidying, and PDF export.

Highlights
  • Daily writing prompts
  • Voice-to-text input
  • Photo and location attachments
  • Local storage and iCloud backup
  • Searchable journal entries
  • Optional AI writing assistance
  • PDF export
Features
Read full description

Scriptum is a daily journal with no account and no server. Your writing stays on your phone, and nothing leaves it unless you ask it to. ONE PAGE A DAY • A question is waiting each morning, so you never open to a blank page. • Write a line or a thousand words. The day is one page, of any length. • Missed a day? Open the calendar and write it whenever you like. WRITE HOWEVER SUITS YOU • Type, or speak and watch your words land on the page. • Add a photograph to remember the day by. • Note where you were, when that is part of it. FIND IT AGAIN YEARS LATER • Search every entry you have ever written. • A calendar of the days you wrote, and the days you did not. • Open any date and read it exactly as you left it. PRIVATE, NOT MERELY ENCRYPTED • No account. Nothing to sign up for, nothing to sign in to. • No analytics, no trackers, no advertising inside the app. • Most diaries keep your writing on a server. This one has no server to keep it on. AND STILL IMPOSSIBLE TO LOSE • A copy of your journal is kept in your own iCloud, so deleting the app no longer takes it with it. • Nothing is sent to us. The copy sits in your iCloud Drive, where you can see it. • Or save the whole diary, words and photographs, as one file only you hold. SCRIPTUM COMPLETE An optional upgrade, for when the free journal is not enough. • Lock your diary behind Face ID, a fingerprint, or a passcode. • Up to ten photos on a page, arranged for you. • Sketch over the paper in ink. • Stickers to decorate a page, every pack of them. • Have a rambling entry tidied by AI into something you will want to reread. • Colour the whole app to suit you. • Turn your journal into a printable PDF book, typeset page by page. Scriptum Complete is offered monthly or yearly, or as Lifetime, a one-off purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled. Lifetime does not renew. Terms of Use: https://annrstudio.com/scriptum/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://annrstudio.com/scriptum/privacy/

Screenshots

HearTime4 screens
Private Diary4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Private Diary at 15.1 against HearTime's 17.0. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. HearTime sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Private Diary sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for HearTime against 5.0 for Private Diary. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
HearTime versus Private Diary: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHearTimePrivate Diary
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings12 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysEvery 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size61 MB53 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer平 丁ANNR Studio

Customer experience

HearTime

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Private Diary

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

HearTime

One-time1
  • HearTime Pro Lifetime$9.99
3 purchases

Private Diary

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Yearly$17.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$34.99

Questions

Is HearTime free?
HearTime is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Private Diary free?
Private Diary is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, HearTime or Private Diary?
HearTime and Private Diary are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do HearTime or Private Diary have ads?
Neither HearTime nor Private Diary shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HearTime or Private Diary?
HearTime ships an update every 5 days, and Private Diary every 5 days. Most recently, HearTime was updated on October 15, 2026 and Private Diary on October 4, 2026.

Other comparisons