Apple's Journal App

[Apple_Robert]

So you must of been using day one for years then. How have you found it, has it been good or a buggy experience.

I have been using Day One for years and it has been a good experience (overall).

 

[Isamilis]

So you must of been using day one for years then. How have you found it, has it been good or a buggy experience.

Yes correct, it’s very good experience. Highly recommended.

 

[twdawson]

I know one thing for certain. The Android app is shocking, well that's when it will let me log in and the support from these people so far is non existent.

 

[Isamilis]

I know one thing for certain. The Android app is shocking, well that's when it will let me log in and the support from these people so far is non existent.

I never use Android version. It seems, they ported to Android just recently. My usage is limited to iPhone, iPad and Mac, and stored my data in iCloud.

 

[twdawson]

I never use Android version. It seems, they ported to Android just recently. My usage is limited to iPhone, iPad and Mac, and stored my data in iCloud.

I didn’t know you could use iCloud from the app, always assumed that you had to backup your journal data on their servers.

or am I missing something.

 

[twdawson]

I am trying out another journal app which is called Diarium and it's only a one time fee of £7.99 here in the UK.
It looks like you can import from all of the other popular journaling apps as well.

It is available on iOS, Mac and Android and so far I am impressed.

 

[msackey]

I haven't tried the Journal app yet but I am intrigued by it and am eager to try. I am hoping though that the Journal app feature will also be available on the iPad because to tap away at a nice lengthy detailed entry on the phone is a true PITA. I'd much rather do that on my iPad.

 

[twdawson]

I haven't tried the Journal app yet but I am intrigued by it and am eager to try. I am hoping though that the Journal app feature will also be available on the iPad because to tap away at a nice lengthy detailed entry on the phone is a true PITA. I'd much rather do that on my iPad.

That’s exactly what I am hoping for. If it doe not come to iPad then it’s a non starter for me but it needs an import and export option to be taken seriously otherwise it will just get ignored by the serious journal crowd.

 

[i4k20c]

I haven't tried the Journal app yet but I am intrigued by it and am eager to try. I am hoping though that the Journal app feature will also be available on the iPad because to tap away at a nice lengthy detailed entry on the phone is a true PITA. I'd much rather do that on my iPad.

That’s exactly what I am hoping for. If it doe not come to iPad then it’s a non starter for me but it needs an import and export option to be taken seriously otherwise it will just get ignored by the serious journal crowd.

I just assumed it would also be available on the iPad. Am I crazy to ask for it to be available on the mac too? I do most of my serious typing on a laptop.

 

[msackey]

I just assumed it would also be available on the iPad. Am I crazy to ask for it to be available on the mac too? I do most of my serious typing on a laptop.

My understanding is that some of the prompts are created as a result of the Journal app knowing some of your health and geolocation data which the iPhone keeps track of and more recently the iPad can access. The Mac doesn't seem to have access to that information so perhaps the Journal app won't be available on it, or it wouldn't receive the same prompts unless the prompts can be remotely generated by your iPhone (or iPad?)? Not sure.....

But yes, I probably type much more often on my Mac too.

 

[gwhizkids]

No sir, that was not the intention nor the impression that Apple gave us at the Keynote.
Their Journal app was to have access to certain very personal otherwise unavailable APIs that DayOne or any other Journaling app couldn't since it's not Apple branded.

I still have yet to see these benefits, nor have I seen any of the promised integration with the Apple Shortcuts app.

Sheesh, dude, it’s a version 1 and it’s still in beta.

 

[gwhizkids]

Just to be clear: You do know that Day One also will prompt you how ever often you want with a prompt to stimulate a journal post. You can very easily attach images, or videos, and even integrate the image metadata into your entry. It also can connect with your workouts via Health app, and include pedometer steps in your entry's metadata, and what's most annoying is that Journal doesn't allow anything near what Day One does when it comes to EXPORT functions. So if you want to quickly export certain notes, or PDF them to share with someone, Day One makes that simple whereas Apple's Journal app makes that impossible as far as I can tell.

Let's also not forget that DayOne actually has Command Line Tools for advanced Mac users who want to automate entries via Terminal.

That’s all nice. And it costs money, too.

If you like Day One, stick with Day One. But that doesn’t mean the Apple Journal app sucks. It just doesn’t have the features YOU want. But it may be perfectly fine for someone else who doesn’t want to (or can’t) shell out the dough for Day One.

 

[gwhizkids]

I get very agitated by people who bloviate in these forums about false equivalencies. Comparing the Apple Journal app to Day One is about the same as comparing Reminders to OmniFocus. While these apps play in the same general categories with each other, they are catering to entirely different constituencies. Not everyone has to dive headfirst into the most intense app available in any given product category. That doesn’t make the less complex / less capable app a failure.

 

[Isamilis]

When the Apple version has iPhone, iPad and Mac version, plus simple export / import capabilities? That would make massive migration from DayOne for most users.

 

[i4k20c]

I get very agitated by people who bloviate in these forums about false equivalencies. Comparing the Apple Journal app to Day One is about the same as comparing Reminders to OmniFocus. While these apps play in the same general categories with each other, they are catering to entirely different constituencies. Not everyone has to dive headfirst into the most intense app available in any given product category. That doesn’t make the less complex / less capable app a failure.

while i agree with this , i mean we’re talking about Apple, not an independent developer. At the very least when an app is released by one of the richest companies that is meant for writing, it should be available on all their devices from launch that has writing functionality.

Also exporting is a fairly basic feature for something that has a lot of writing involved with it.

 

[twdawson]

while i agree with this , i mean we’re talking about Apple, not an independent developer. At the very least when an app is released by one of the richest companies that is meant for writing, it should be available on all their devices from launch that has writing functionality.

Also exporting is a fairly basic feature for something that has a lot of writing involved with it.

As soon as apples version has all the features then I will jump on it but until then it’s a no from me.

I much prefer first party apps but they have to be capable, it just feels like it was rushed and someone said “ok that will do” so release it.

 

[gwhizkids]

while i agree with this , i mean we’re talking about Apple, not an independent developer. At the very least when an app is released by one of the richest companies that is meant for writing, it should be available on all their devices from launch that has writing functionality.

Also exporting is a fairly basic feature for something that has a lot of writing involved with it.

Who knows why they’ve limited it to the iPhone to this point. Until and unless they do not release a version of this app for the other platforms, I’m willing to withhold my judgment.

 

[twdawson]

I don’t seem to be able to copy and paste text into the journal app for whatever reason.
That’s a big limiting factor in using this app.

Can anyone else paste text into it.

 

[twdawson]

I have been entering data in to this app for the last week and enjoying it but this morning I opened the app and there was no data there and it asked me if I wanted to start journaling.

i hope this is better when 17.2 is officially released.

 

[jpdunn13]

I don’t seem to be able to copy and paste text into the journal app for whatever reason.
That’s a big limiting factor in using this app.

Can anyone else paste text into it.

I was able to copy & paste it into the Journal. I copied the text from a journal.pages file into Notes, then copy and paste into Journal. I was unable to copy directly from the pages file. I guess pasting into Notes removed some hidden codes. I was then able to click the ... at the top and set a custom date. I pasted a couple entries from 2001. When I have more time I may paste everything I have in the pages file, not sure I really have that much time to kill.

 

[Davidglenn]

I was able to copy & paste it into the Journal. I copied the text from a journal.pages file into Notes, then copy and paste into Journal. I was unable to copy directly from the pages file. I guess pasting into Notes removed some hidden codes. I was then able to click the ... at the top and set a custom date. I pasted a couple entries from 2001. When I have more time I may paste everything I have in the pages file, not sure I really have that much time to kill.

Thanks, I can write in Notes on my MBP and paste it into Journal. This makes it so much easier if you are writing a longer post.

Not sure how long I will continue using Jouranl after both the novelty and I have been travelling since Beta 1. As I am travelling Journal has given me a reason to write something at least daily. Copy and pasting from Notes has made this easier.

 

[decypher44]

Pen and paper. Get yourself a good fountain pen and a journal with quality paper. It’s a much better journaling experience.

 

[Bazza1]

Pen and paper. Get yourself a good fountain pen and a journal with quality paper. It’s a much better journaling experience.

I know we've lost cursive to a generation who have become glorified secretaries, but from a flow-of-thought and memory retention POV, if Journal accepted your handwriting (and, if necessary, transcribed it to print afterwards) it would be a true journaling experience. This, by all reports I've read, is not. Its an oversexed Notes.

 

[jpdunn13]

My wish list for Journal:

• Import
• Export
• Search
  • by date
  • by keywords
• Print
  • entry
  • date range

 

[gwhizkids]

My wish list for Journal:

• Import
• Export
• Search
  • by date
  • by keywords
• Print
  • entry
  • date range

And I think you’ll get some or all of these in future releases. For now, I’m happy that it is available (or will be very shortly).

Also needs to expand to the iPad and Mac.