Year Rings - Once a Year Diary

The same questions, once a year. They open for 14 days from a day you choose — your birthday, New Year's. Answers stack like tree rings, and nothing leaves your phone.

Year Rings is a diary you write just once a year, answering the same questions every time.

You don't have to keep a daily journal — once a year is enough. The questions open for 14 days from an "answer day" you choose, like your birthday or New Year's Day. "What matters most to you right now?" Answer the same question every year, read it next to what you wrote one and two years ago, and a year's change becomes visible — like the rings of a tree.

[Answers stack like tree rings] Pick a question and your answers line up as concentric rings: the first year at the center, this year on the outside. Years you didn't write remain as quiet, pale rings. The app never asks you to fill them in.

[Nothing rushes you] There are no deadlines. When the answer period passes, every year stays open — you can write or revise any year, anytime. No streaks, no badges. Even the optional notification only says, once a year: "This year's questions are open."

[Write your first ring today] No need to wait for your answer day. Write this year's ring the day you download the app, and fill in past years from memory if you like.

[The app never touches what you write] No analysis, no sentiment guessing, no summaries, no AI. Whatever you feel when you reread your rings is yours alone.

[Pricing] Three built-in questions — plus writing, rereading, filling in past years, and JSON backup — are free forever. Premium is a one-time purchase, no subscription: it unlocks all 30 built-in questions, up to 20 custom questions, up to 3 answer days, and image/PDF export of your rings. Buy it once, and the rings are yours for life.

[Privacy] Year Rings never connects to the internet (except for purchases). No account, no developer server — your answers live only on your device. Export and import a JSON backup to move to a new phone.

A tool that takes ten years to complete. Why not start with this year's answer?