Apple's Journal App

[FireFish]

OK - I'll say it:​

The long awaited Apple Journal App sucks.

DayOne really has nothing to worry about competitively.

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Apple has touted a huge part of the iOS 17 upgrade to be focused around their new Journal app.
Journal is supposed to be Apple's new native app focused on allowing iOS users to properly journal their daily life and it would effectively act as a central repository to tying one's life together.

Since it has been announced, the folks at DayOne have taken the high road by 'welcoming Apple into the journaling space' and claim that they don't see it as a threat, rather as a plus to the journaling community as a whole.

They really officially have nothing to worry about because I can assure them that as-is in 17.2 Beta 1, the native Journal app stinks.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I use DayOne. I will also give the new Apple app a go when it is released. DayOne doesn't have anything to fear. I don't think Apple was trying to compete with them. I think Apple just wanted to offer a basic app for the mental wellbeing aspect .

 

[gwang73]

I'm not a diary or journal type person so this isn't for me and won't be using it.

 

[brgjoe]

I also use DayOne. But will give this a look when 17.2 gets released to the public.

Don't imagine switching to it, but am curious to see what it is like.

 

[xxFoxtail]

I’m going to give the Journal app a fair chance. I used Day One back when it was new and gave up on journaling shortly after.

I’ve made a lot of life changes over the last few months and wish I had some kind of log on all the little things that got me to those points and everything in between.

I like that it suggests a new entry based on my last workout. I like that I can add an image to a new entry. And I like that it gives me a reflection topic to write about when I don’t have anything else going on.

It may not be the most fully featured journaling app. But, I’m going to try to make the most of it. It didn’t cost me anything, and has the potential of giving me so much more back in the future.

I would like to see it on the Mac and iPad though. My last entry was pretty detailed and I wish I had a larger screen and a keyboard.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I’m going to give the Journal app a fair chance. I used Day One back when it was new and gave up on journaling shortly after.

I’ve made a lot of life changes over the last few months and wish I had some kind of log on all the little things that got me to those points and everything in between.

I like that it suggests a new entry based on my last workout. I like that I can add an image to a new entry. And I like that it gives me a reflection topic to write about when I don’t have anything else going on.

It may not be the most fully featured journaling app. But, I’m going to try to make the most of it. It didn’t cost me anything, and has the potential of giving me so much more back in the future.

I would like to see it on the Mac and iPad though. My last entry was pretty detailed and I wish I had a larger screen and a keyboard.

I think we will see Mac and iPad versions.

 

[BLtheP]

I like it though I’ve only used it once. Now with beta 2, notifications properly work and I’m going to start making an entry at least a few times a week, if not most days. It would be nice to be able to go back in time to reminisce and see what happened on various days and it’s hard to do that without something like this.

 

[tomtad]

No option for 'I can believe it is this terrible' ?

 

[Mike Boreham]

I think we will see Mac and iPad versions.

So am I correct that the Journal can only be updated or browsed on the iPhone it was created on? Not syncd to Mac or iPad via iCloud, and no way to export it in any form?

 

[Apple_Robert]

So am I correct that the Journal can only be updated or browsed on the iPhone it was created on? Not syncd to Mac or iPad via iCloud, and no way to export it in any form?

I haven’t used the beta but, it is my understanding, that at this point in time there is only the phone app with no import function. Hopefully, that changes.

 

[orbital~debris]

I haven't tried it yet, as I nearly never install beta OSs (Mac OS X Public Beta was probably the most recent…), but I like Apple's approach with Journal drawing upon other elements of iOS and using your data to bring into journal entries. It's great to see Apple laying the foundation for something that will likely help many people (from a mental health perspective), especially as so many Apple customers are likely to try a preinstalled app.

I am not fond of Apple's occasional tendency to introduce apps on iOS first, with iPad OS and macOS following later. I think the whole ecosystem should get versions at launch, especially now that Apple have made efforts to bring versions of apps to each of their platforms that were missing one (e.g. Weather app).

With regards to comments about the limited functionality of the app – this does seem to fall into the pattern Apple have of beginning with a fairly limited feature-set, which they expand over time with each new release. That seems to work well, as you generally get a working app to start with, that improves over the years (think Notes app).

 

[symphony]

What will compel me to use Apple Journal is that it has automated features that is influenced systemwide.

But Day One is able to adopt the same thing, iirc Apple also made an API for that.

However, I left Day One since they switched their cloud system. I just don’t trust them with my personal thoughts. I use Apple products so it’s natural to favour their cloud, and they happen to have a stance on privacy before the iPhone came out (or generally around the first launch).

 

[Mike Boreham]

What will compel me to use Apple Journal is that it has automated features that is influenced systemwide.

What does this mean please?

 

[Ac1d 8urn]

I like it. It's in beta right now so of course it's going to be pretty barebones, but more features will come with time. I don't even need a bunch of flashy features in a journal app, all I really need is basic text formatting, security, and cross-device syncing. I always prefer to use native apps instead of a 3rd party too. I'm currently paying $35/year for Day One so it'll be nice to cancel that once journal comes to Mac and iPad.

 

[matrix07]

It may not be the most fully featured journaling app. But, I’m going to try to make the most of it. It didn’t cost me anything, and has the potential of giving me so much more back in the future.

I think it’s great that serious journal users can pay $35 a year for a serious journal app while everybody else can do it for free in (the most) secured platform. Best of both worlds.
Don’t tell that to EU though. They would come after Apple real fast.

 

[OnePieceIsReal]

Honestly been testing it for a while now ; guess it’s not for me I don’t find it useful

 

[symphony]

What does this mean please?

I meant that the Journal app will automatically suggest relevant content so I don’t need to invest too much time putting everything together.

 

[Davidglenn]

I am presently travelling and find the Journal App OK. It's nothing fancy and straightforward to use. It gives me memories of what happened during the day such as walks and photos. It is not a full journal, but enough to remember what happened during the travels.

 

[symphony]

Maybe things have drastically changed since I left Day One, but Journal has similar features. What features does it not have?

 

[jpdunn13]

Honestly been testing it for a while now ; guess it’s not for me I don’t find it useful

Do you keep a journal on some other platform? Which one do you like best?

 

[OnePieceIsReal]

Do you keep a journal on some other platform? Which one do you like best?

Don’t use any this is literally my first ; that’s why I said I just don’t find it useful to me

 

[stephenschimpf]

I left Day One since they switched their cloud system. I just don’t trust them with my personal thoughts.

I've been using Day One for years, mostly to record details about foreign and domestic travel, projects I start and their progress, new things I buy for the house, etc., stuff that I used to keep in a Word document before I discovered Day One. So, no deep, personal thoughts or details about my plans for world domination! But, I'm pretty sure Day One uses end-to-end encryption with a key only I possess, so I feel my journal entries are secure.

I haven't seen the Apple Journal app yet. My guess is it will be good enough for some people, and like all Apple apps will get better over time, but Day One has a long head start, and it's an app I'd say is close to perfect for me. Customer support has also been excellent, with a reply to any question I ask in less than a day. The price ($25/year for me) is well worth it, since I use the app almost every day.

 

[Dizbuster]

I use Day One like some other people I see here. Nothing terribly deep; I use it to keep track of books I finish and once a week I will jot a recap of what happened that week. For me, if the Journal App will notify me on anniversaries (i.e. - four years ago this is what you wrote) that is really all I'm looking for.

In my opinion, and I am speaking for myself, Day One got too complicated. The original version was super bare bones, but it was everything I needed.

 

[jpdunn13]

Long ago I used Evernote -- but when they started charging for multiple devices I moved to OneNote. I really hate OneNote. Then I found Day One, but again, it can only be used on one device for free. I am hoping Apple makes Journal available on iPad soon. I have started putting my thoughts into the Journal App and really like how it works. It has some interesting features to prompt your writing.

 

[matrix07]

I bought Day One when it's just a one time purchase. It was - like @Dizbuster mentioned - a simple app and a joy to use. iCloud sync was great. Then they went subscription and removed iCloud sync and I hadn't touched it since.

I'm now using Apple Notes for small journals using Apple own Remember shortcut. It's easy enough and get the job done but it doesn't look nice. Can't wait for a free and dedicated journal app and hopefully there will be a Mac and iPad app next year.