Private journal for iPhone, iPad & Apple Watch
Write a few honest lines, add a photo, pick a mood. Face ID keeps every page shut to everyone but you. No ads, no tracking, no account.
Free to download, free to write.
Premium is optional, with a 7-day free trial.
Try it: type 8294, then =Decoy Mode · Premium
Why it's private
Most journal apps want an account, an email address and a server to keep your words on. Secret Diary needs none of that.
App Privacy
Data Not CollectedThe developer does not collect any data from this app.
Decoy Mode Premium
Anyone who picks up your phone sees a calculator, a list of notes or the weather. You see your diary.
CalculatorIt really calculates. Your code and = open the diary.
NotesGroceries, Wi‑Fi passwords and nothing worth reading.
WeatherA forecast nobody will look at twice.
If Premium ever ends, a disguise you've set up keeps protecting your diary until you turn it off.
Every day
Quick on a one-line day, deep when you need it. Write as often as you like, free, with no entry limit.
Looking back
Every day coloured by your mood, every entry a scroll away, and small moments that come back On This Day.
Mood calendarSpot the good weeks and the hard ones. Free.
Journal and searchEvery entry, searchable, with streaks and achievements. Free.
Insights and Year WrappedMood trends, and your year told as a story only you see. Premium
The film
It starts as an ad for a calculator. Type the code and press equals. Sound on; captions are built in.
Apple Watch & widgets
Some thoughts don't wait until you're at your phone. The watch app and widgets are free.
Secret Diary is built on one rule: your diary should open for you and no one else.
That rule decides everything else. There's no account, so there's no password to leak. There are no ads or analytics, so nothing is watching how you write. Your entries stay on your devices, and if you turn on iCloud sync they travel through your own private iCloud, not a server of mine. I don't run one. And if you ever stop paying for Premium, nothing you wrote is taken away.
ShankarDr. Shankar Dutt, DuttLabs
Pricing
Since version 2.1 the journal is free, with no entry limit and no time limit. There are no ads either way.
$0for as long as you like
$1.67a month, billed $19.99 yearly
Secret Diary is free to download, and the free journal has no time limit. Premium is an optional in-app purchase. Prices are in US dollars; the App Store shows the price for your country. The 7-day free trial is available on the monthly and yearly plans for eligible new subscribers; Lifetime is a one-time purchase. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase, or when the free trial ends. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and renewal is charged within the 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel anytime in Settings › your name › Subscriptions. See the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
FAQ
Can't find yours? The Support page has step-by-step help and a way to reach the developer.
No. Secret Diary asks for Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode when it opens, and again after the Auto-Lock time you choose, and it hides your entries in the app switcher. Your journal is stored on your device and, if you turn on sync, in your private iCloud. DuttLabs has no server and no way to read what you write.
Yes. It's free to download and the journal is free to use: write as many entries as you like with a photo, mood, place and weather, lock them with Face ID, and use the calendar, journal timeline, widgets, Apple Watch app and password-protected backups. Premium is optional. It adds Decoy Mode, iCloud sync, voice notes, the dream journal, time capsules, insights and Year Wrapped, extra themes, fonts and icons, the prompt library and templates, and a PDF photo book, for $2.99 a month or $19.99 a year (each with a 7-day free trial for eligible new subscribers) or $49.99 once. There are no ads either way.
Nothing you made is taken away, and you can keep writing for free. Voice notes, dreams and time capsules you made stay readable and are included in your backups; making new ones needs Premium. If Decoy Mode is on, it keeps protecting your diary until you turn it off. Premium themes, fonts and app icons switch back to the free look, and iCloud sync pauses, so new entries stay on the device you wrote them on. More about what changes.
Open Settings › your name › Subscriptions › Secret Diary on your iPhone and tap Cancel Subscription. You can also tap Manage Subscription on the Premium card at the top of the app's own Settings. You keep Premium until the end of the period you've paid for, and the free journal keeps working after that.
Your code is stored only in your device's secure Keychain, so we can't see it or reset it, and there's deliberately no "forgot code" button for someone else to find. See what to try if you've forgotten it before you delete anything.
Yes, with Premium. Turn on Settings › iCloud & Backup › iCloud Sync in the app on each device signed in to the same Apple Account, and your journal syncs through your own private iCloud. Sync stays off until you turn it on. Without Premium, you can still move your journal with a free password-protected backup.
Save a password-protected backup on the old phone and restore it on the new one, which is free. With Premium you can turn on iCloud Sync on both phones instead. Step-by-step instructions are on the Support page.
Yes, and it's free. Log how you feel in one tap or dictate a quick note on your watch, and it's added to that day's entry in your iPhone journal the next time the two connect. The watch shows your streak and recent moods, never what you wrote. How to install it.
No, never. There are no ads, no analytics or tracking SDKs, no advertising identifier and no account. This website doesn't use cookies or analytics either.
Download Secret Diary free and write your first private entry tonight.
For iPhone and iPad with iOS 17 or later, and Apple Watch with watchOS 10 or later.