iPhone gets a Journal App. Should you use it?

iPhone recently got a major software update and you might have noticed a new app on your home screen called Journal. It’s a small app with a potentially big impact.

“It’s a fairly barebones journal app that can give you smart suggestions kind of based on what you do,” said Andrew O’Hara, a writer with the website AppleInsider.

The app arrived with the iOS 17.2 software update, and while it is basic, those smart suggestions are key.

“It’s leveraging what Apple does best. So, there’s a lot of deep ties into iOS, it can pull from your photos, it can bring those in,” said O’Hara.

This means a picture you take, a place you visit, someone you call or text or even a fitness activity can jumpstart a post.

Journal can be locked with a passcode or Face ID and everything is encrypted in iCloud.

Some downsides: there is no way to export or print your journal and it’s only on iPhone for now. There are plans to bring it to iPad and Mac computers eventually.

“If you’re like a steadfast journaler, you really like doing that, this might not be for you, this might be too minimalist at launch. That’s why there are so many good options in the App Store that people can check out,” said O’Hara.

“By Apple entering the market they’re going to be educating a whole new group of users out there about the benefits of journaling,” said David Radparvar, co-founder of Reflection.app.

“Journaling has been proven to help reduce levels of stress, anxiety and depression and beyond baseline wellness, it can help you identify your core values. It can help you connect with your emotions, help you navigate a challenging life circumstance and help you foster gratitude. And all of those things combined can help you live a richer, more meaningful and happier life,” said Radparvar.

Reflection.app takes a guided approach to journaling with helpful, thoughtful prompts to get you started.

“We’re quite excited to offer a platform to take their practice to the next level,” said Radparvar.

The brilliant thing about Apple’s entry into journaling is that the company built an entirely new way for app developers to take advantage of the same suggestions feature Apple built into it’s Journal app. It’s called Journaling Suggestions API. This way, developers can build these smart suggestions into their apps, too, in a private way.

Already, apps are taking advantage of it. The popular journaling app Day One has already incorporated the suggestions feature into its app. Others, including Clearful, have too. Clearful calls them “Moments.”

“So it’s not necessarily that I want people to journal, but I think that there’s a magic in [it]. When you do all those things, you start to love the life that you’re already living. And I think journaling unlocks that,” concluded Radparvar.

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