Comparison

Journal Thing vs Lightcode Astrology Calendar

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

Head to head
About

Journal Thing

This app provides a private daily journal with colorful pages, mood tracking, and photo integration. It offers writing prompts, daily focus features, and robust search capabilities. Access your journal from various devices and enjoy automatic backups.

Highlights
  • Colorful daily pages with themes
  • Mood tracking with emoji packs
  • Up to five photos per entry
  • Writing prompts and daily focus
  • Search by word, tag, or photo
  • Home and Lock Screen widgets
  • Automatic backups and export
Features
Read full description

Make a little space for every day. Journal Thing is a private daily journal built around one idea: every day gets its own colorful page. Write one line or the whole story, mark your mood, add a photo, and watch your week turn into a rainbow. No account needed, no ads, and everything you need to journal is free. ONE PAGE A DAY • Colorful daily pages with beautiful themes, in Day, Night or System appearance • Mood tracking with seven illustrated and emoji mood packs, or a custom pack made from your own photos • Up to five photos per entry, from your library or the in-app camera • Writing prompts for the days when the page stays blank • Daily Focus for intentions and priorities, and checklists right inside your entry • #Tags with autocomplete; rename or merge a tag everywhere at once • Search by word, tag, photo, or the people you mention LOOK BACK • Month view with a mood chart and your photos • Rewind brings back a past entry you forgot you wrote • Streaks, with a small celebration at each milestone from 3 days to a year • Share any entry as an image card WRITE FROM ANYWHERE • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, including a one-tap mood picker on the Lock Screen • Quick Entry: a Live Activity on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, on the days and hours you choose • Reply to a reminder notification to write without opening the app • Siri Shortcuts: add an entry, set your mood, check your streak • Control Center button on iOS 18 and later • Apple Watch app: type or dictate an entry, page through the week, see your todos • Voice entries with transcription (optional; audio is sent to a transcription service only after you agree) YOURS TO KEEP • Saved on your device; no account needed to start • PIN lock (Face ID / Touch ID unlock with Premium) • Automatic backups with optional passphrase encryption, plus export to JSON or Markdown • Import from Day One, Journey, Daylio, Writeaday, or CSV JOURNAL THING PREMIUM (OPTIONAL) Everything you need to journal is free forever: unlimited entries, moods, photos, tags, todos, search, reminders, PIN lock, export, and backup. Premium adds Journal Thing Sync: one journal on iPhone, iPad, Android and the web, kept in step through a Journal Thing account you create with Sign in with Apple or Google. Premium also unlocks four extra themes, three extra fonts, adaptive text color, and Face ID / Touch ID unlock. Premium is available as: • Journal Thing Premium Monthly — auto-renewing subscription, billed monthly • Journal Thing Premium Annual — auto-renewing subscription, billed yearly • Journal Thing Premium Lifetime — a one-time purchase, not a subscription Prices are shown in the app in your local currency before you buy. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. A subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your Apple Account settings at any time after purchase. Journal Thing is for personal journaling and mood tracking. It is not a medical device and does not diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent medical conditions. Terms of Use: https://www.thingsthingsthings.studio/journal-thing/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://www.thingsthingsthings.studio/journal-thing/privacy/

About

Lightcode Astrology Calendar

Read full description

Lightcode Astrology is a calendar of the sky. It lists every transit of the day with its exact time, lays out the week and the month ahead, and draws a live wheel of the sky - all calculated on your iPhone by our own astronomical engine. AN ENGINE BUILT ON NASA/JPL DATA Every planetary position, aspect, sign change, station, Moon phase and house cusp is computed on the iPhone from NASA/JPL's DE440 planetary ephemeris (1900 to 2100), with Chiron from JPL Horizons and the IAU precession-nutation and sidereal-time models. There is no server and no account: the app works fully offline. TRANSITS TO YOUR NATAL CHART Enter your birth date, time and place once. The Day, Week and Month then show the moving planets' aspects to your own natal chart, each with an interpretation to reflect on. Or switch to transits to transits and follow the sky itself. DAY, WEEK, MONTH, CLOCK - Day: the day's transits in time order, with sign changes, stations and Moon phases, and the sky as it is now. - Week: every transit of the week ahead, day by day. - Month: the whole month of transits at a glance. - Clock: a live wheel of the sky with the houses for where you are. Travel into the past or the future, and open the Ephemeris table. NOTES AND REMINDERS Write a note on any day and set a reminder for it. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your birth details, notes and location stay on your iPhone. No sign-in, no ads, no analytics, no tracking. FREE AND PREMIUM Free: the Day's list of transits between the planets, notes and reminders, and the living sky. Lightcode Astrology Premium unlocks transits to your natal chart, all the interpretations, and the Week, Month and Clock tabs. Lightcode Astrology Premium: $6.99 per month or $39.99 per year (US prices; the App Store shows the price in your currency before you buy), each with a one-week free trial for new subscribers. Payment is charged to your Apple ID when the free week ends (or at purchase, without a trial). The subscription renews automatically unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel it in your iPhone's Settings > your name > Subscriptions. Terms of Use (EULA): https://lightcodeastrology.com/terms Apple Standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://lightcodeastrology.com/privacy Lightcode Astrology is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA or JPL. The interpretations are for reflection; they are not medical, legal, financial or psychological advice.

Screenshots

Journal Thing4 screens
Lightcode Astrology Calendar4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Journal Thing at 3 against Lightcode Astrology Calendar's 1. Journal Thing also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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. Journal Thing sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Lightcode Astrology Calendar sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Journal Thing versus Lightcode Astrology Calendar: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJournal ThingLightcode Astrology Calendar
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size60 MB39 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThings Things Things LLCALLEN WAYNE AYLER

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Journal Thing

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Premium Annual$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium (Lifetime)$59.99
2 purchases

Lightcode Astrology Calendar

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly7 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Journal Thing free?
Journal Thing is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Lightcode Astrology Calendar free?
Lightcode Astrology Calendar is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Journal Thing or Lightcode Astrology Calendar have ads?
Neither Journal Thing nor Lightcode Astrology Calendar shows ads.

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