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Parents' Guide to

Dear Diary - An Interactive Story About Anna's Secrets

By Amanda Bindel, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Sweet, interactive diary is ad-heavy, requires patience.

App iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad Free Simulation Games
Dear Diary - An Interactive Story About Anna's Secrets Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this app.

  • Dear Diary - An Interactive Story About Anna's Secrets App: Screenshot #1
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Privacy Rating Warning

  • Unclear whether personal information is sold or rented to third parties.
  • Personal information is shared for third-party marketing.
  • Personalised advertising is displayed.
  • Data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • Unclear whether this product uses a user's information to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Unclear whether this product creates and uses data profiles for personalised advertisements.
Learn more about our privacy ratings

What’s It About?

DEAR DIARY - AN INTERACTIVE STORY ABOUT ANNA'S SECRETS shows how one girl's daily life in high school plays out. Readers get one free key per day to unlock her diary and read an entry. Some entries have choices that readers can help with: Should Anna wear the blue dress or the red dress to the party? Address the umanities or science for a school project? Ask Rick out or ask Martin out? Each answer affects the direction of the story and can't be changed until the story plays out. Once tweens have read the whole diary, they can go back and change answers to see how that affects the outcome.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say Not yet rated
Kids say (3 ):

This sweet story with relatable characters and situations is a fun, interactive concept, marred only by the incessant ads for other apps. Ads can be disabled through an in-app purchase, though. Tweens may find waiting for entries to be frustrating, but that's part of the appeal; it's almost like seeing a serial story play out in episodes. The story is well written, though stereotypical, with concerns over boys and clothes; a slightly more empowered female character would make the story more interesting. Anna is a good student and sets a good example in that regard, and even though she judges her siblings and family members somewhat, she genuinely respects them. Watching the ads or buying keys to read a few more entries still isn't all that satisfying, especially since there's still a daily limit. Readers have to wait -- which, in this day of instant gratification, isn't a bad practice.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the choices they made for Anna and discuss the pros and cons of each, working in parenting advice about dating and relationships.

  • Since the story plays out in diary entries that are almost like episodes of a TV show, check out Yes, You Can Make TV Time Count for ideas about what to talk about with tweens as they read Anna's diary.

App Details

  • Devices: iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad
  • Pricing structure: Free (One key per day to read one entry. Additional entries (up to five per day) can be read by viewing ads or by purchasing for $1.99.)
  • Release date: July 2, 2015
  • Category: Simulation Games
  • Publisher: Tapps Tecnologia da Informação Ltda
  • Version: 1.0
  • Minimum software requirements: iOS 6.0 or later
  • Last updated: July 27, 2016

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