Journaling is a form of meditation that typically involves introspection and self-reflection. When a person expresses their thoughts and writes them down, it helps them better analyze the life events and emotions they’re going through. Apple’s Journal app is one of the biggest features of iOS 17, and it’s a decent option for documenting one’s everyday life. Following a few weeks of daily use on an iPhone 15 Pro Max, I came to some conclusions regarding its practicality.
Journal app availability
Source: Apple
Apple first previewed the Journal app back in June during WWDC23. It then made it available to developers and testers with iOS 17.2 beta. Unfortunately, the app is currently exclusive to the latest iPhones, so it won’t work on iPads or Macs. You can get your hands on it by downloading the iOS beta on your iPhone or waiting for its stable release by the end of 2023.
What I like
Sleek design
When I launched the Journal app for the very first time, it instantly made a good first impression. The main screen is neat, featuring a large plus button towards the bottom center and a filter option in the top right. And that’s really all you need to get your brain’s juices flowing.
Expectedly, hitting the plus button starts a new entry, and the user interface there is equally clean. When compared to the built-in Notes app, Journal has even fewer options and distractions. So, you won’t get to format text, add bullet points, change the background, etc. Journal is designed to prioritize the meaning behind the words you type, rather than how they visually appear.
Powerful API
To many users, Journal may feel too lackluster. After all, the app offers pretty much the bare minimum when it comes to features and tools typically provided by journaling apps. Though, its real power is the Journaling Suggestions API, on which Journal is built. Through this application programming interface, third-party developers can supercharge their existing journaling apps.
For those unfamiliar, this API compiles all sorts of relevant user data, including location, photos, music and podcasts played, people contacted online or in real life, and more. While this may sound like a privacy nightmare to many, it actually isn’t. All of the data is processed on your device, and third-party apps can only access the bites you share with them.
So, if you permit a third-party app, a sheet will appear with all sorts of personal data. This will only be visible to you, and the app won’t be able to access your entire data set. Once you pick the kind(s) of data you want to include in an entry on a third-party app, said app will get access to the individual information you agreed to share with it.
This API spares third-party apps the need to request access to and analyze your location, photos, music, and other sensitive data. Instead, it does all the heavy lifting in the background, and presents the data with a privacy-focused approach. As a result, the fruitfulness of the Journal app will only become apparent when third parties start implementing the API in their apps creatively.
Right number of features
What I really like about the Journal app is that it has the right number of main features, in my opinion. While, as previously mentioned, some people may find it lackluster, it still serves my personal needs. I don’t care about bells and whistles — I just want an intuitive space where I can vent and attach some kinds of media.
The supported attachments include workouts recorded, photos, location pins, music/podcasts listened to, reflection prompts offered by Apple, and voice memos. Typically, I only write a few sentences and attach a relevant photo to visualize my thoughts. I may want to add a location pin if a certain thought is related to a special place I’ve been to. For complex brainstorming, the Apple Freeform app acts as a better candidate.
Apart from attachments, you can optionally opt for journaling reminders through push notifications. You get to set the day(s) and time, based on how often you plan to write during the week. Notably, you can bookmark entries and then exclusively browse through them using the filter tool mentioned earlier. The filter tool can also display entries that only have specific kinds of attachments in them, such as photos or location pins. And lastly, you can lock the entire app with biometrics or your iPhone’s password for added peace of mind.
What I don’t like
iOS exclusive
One of the biggest annoyances of Journal is that it’s exclusive to the iPhone. While it does make sense, since the iPhone typically collects the most personal data, iPadOS and macOS editions would’ve been welcome. Apple could rely on iCloud sync to surface personal data collected by iOS, such as workouts or people we’ve met in real life, on iPadOS or macOS.
After all, many users are more comfortable typing on the larger iPad screen or using their Mac’s physical keyboard. That’s not to mention that Apple Pencil support on iPad would’ve made Journal more personal through handwritten text. Maybe iPadOS 18 and macOS 15 will address that.
Lacks mood tracking
In recent OS releases, Apple has been further introducing features related to mental well-being. Surprisingly, the Journal app lacks a mood tracker. A welcome feature would’ve been the ability to pick one of the preset, color-coded emotions when writing an entry. This way, users can easily track how (un)well they’ve been feeling lately and pinpoint the potential causes through visual indicators and a calendar view. Though, considering that third-party apps exist for this purpose, one of them could adopt the Journaling Suggestions API to deliver the combination of features I was hoping for.
No search functionality
Last but not least, there’s still no way in Journal to search entries based on keywords. You’re pretty much limited to the basic filters that focus on bookmarks and attachments. This makes absolutely no sense to me, as users may want to search for entries that revolve around the same topic to monitor specific changes throughout the months or years. We only hope that this gets addressed in iOS 18.
Should you use Apple Journal?
Journal is undoubtedly a welcome addition to Apple’s expanding suite of apps. It’s true that many users, especially those used to advanced journaling apps, won’t find its limited features satisfactory. Nonetheless, other people, including myself, are fine with the minimalistic approach that spares us unnecessary complications and gimmicks. I’ve been using the Journal app to stay in touch with myself and keep track of my personal progress across different life aspects. It enables me to do so.
Otherwise, for those unhappy with its limitations, the Journaling Suggestions API acts as a solid route to deliver more powerful executions of this same concept through third-party developers. So, if you belong to the latter group, then keep an eye open for when other journaling apps start adopting this incredible API.