What I Learned Using Apple’s Journal App

The Journal app, coming to iOS 17.2, is Apple’s new mental health tool for reflection. CNET’s Bridget Carey has been using it for the past month and shares her impressions on what was helpful – and what was unexpected.

0:00 Using Apple’s Journal App: What Surprised Me Most
1:00 Journal App Coming in iOS 17.2
1:51 Getting Started with Journal
2:59 Apple Claims Journal Apple Protects Users' Privacy
3:55 Journal App Does Have Limits
4:53 Journal Posts Resist Sharing and Searching
6:29 CNET's Second Opinion on Apple's Journal App
7:46 Apple's Journal is Worth A Shot

#apple #journal #ios17

[MVIVN]

I'm a prolific journal writer, I've kept a daily journal which I write in every single day for the last 9 years of my life. I was previously using OneNote for this, I had a 'notebook' for each year and tabs within each notebook for each month and pages within each tab for each day, and that's how I kept it organised, but I needed to manually add pictures and remember things I wanted to put in the journal. The Apple Journal app has finally made me move on from journaling in OneNote. It feels a lot more dynamic and the suggestions it makes for new journal entries using map pins for places you've been, pictures you took that day, activities you did recently, or just prompts for something to reflect on have all made me fall in love with journaling again, which I'll admit had started to feel like a chore with the way I was doing it previously. I really like what Apple did here! I don't know if this app will make people who don't already journal regularly start doing so, but for someone like me for whom journaling has already been a daily part of my life for almost a decade now I really appreciate it!

[MoMo-uluk]

Tip for those beginning to journal: only add entries for events you believe are worthy, or write down your thoughts/emotions on a topic. Frequent, but not everyday, entries will make journaling more enjoyable.

I have been journaling on and off in DayOne since 2015. It helps put perspective on my experiences. 🙂

[srhatfield]

The "no searching" part is a deal breaker for me. The main reason to have a digital journal is to be able to more easily find what I wrote.

[ChristopheHanne]

I like the fact that you mentioned that the posts are for yourself, and you're wondering why it's important... I think the goal is not only to get access to your memory or your old activities or souvenirs... but journaling is important to STOP... and start thinking about you, your life, your situation, and your goals. It's so easy to being lost in Facebook or Twitter, watching meaningless videos over and over like a robot. It's important to stop, sometimes.

[PiercingSight]

I definitely won't be using it until it's on Mac and iPad as well, so I can journal whenever, synced to the cloud. I also won't be using it until I can export the entries into an open standard file or folder for backup or printing.

The purpose of a journal isn't just to write down what you did, or what you think, but also to archive for future generations. Having it locked behind a proprietary software wall is antithetical to one of the main purposes of journaling.

[slonekettering]

This is the first time I have seen a video with Bridget. I really enjoyed her. Super likable and engaging. Good job!

[Derkaramma]

I honestly was impressed when they released it at WWDC but didn’t expect that I WOULD USE IT

I have never written a journal but I actually really enjoy it and like Bridget said, since I’m already on my phone at night, it makes sense for me to journal right before I go to bed and I do think it does help your perspective 🙏✨

[MR_THINQ]

I journal everyday, I write with a fountain pen using sepia ink and this app isn’t journaling.

When you physically write in a book instead of typing on a screen it’s a more holistic and meaningful experience and there’s something unique in writing in a book that technology just can’t do - it’s a connection between the physical and spiritual being.

Plus in the future when you eventually get rid of all your tech, what have you got - nothing, but if you have written and journaled in physical books you have tangible history to pass on to your family.

Less is always more and a single object like journaling in a book has no distractions and it’s better for your mental health and a way of escaping from tech and being more connected with the physical world, which we all need as humans.

[JeremyDeBose]

I think it’s good at the start. I’d love to save a template soon. Hopefully they build a connection to the Health app mental health logging. “You said you were feeling unpleasant today. Write about the good things that happened recently.” It’s not bad for a version 1 as long as they don’t quit here.

[MarkWhiteartist]

Day one has been the best journal app ever. I’ve been an avid journal user for over 15 years.

[JackFou]

Why they released this for the iPhone but not the iPad is beyond me. Writing on a larger device, potentially with a pencil seems much more enjoyable than typing on a tiny phone screen to reflect about your day...

[marekdvorak]

Screencasting to a family friends about your holiday memories example:

To enable a feature where you can selectively share holiday memories on a smart television while keeping the rest of your journal hidden (blacked out) during the screening, it would need to be created a “Selective Sharing & Screen Mode” feature.

1. Selective Section Sharing Feature

• Tagging for Specific Sections: When you create a journal entry, especially for something like holiday memories, you can tag it with a custom label (e.g., “Holiday 2024”). This allows you to create a specific section of your journal that can be easily selected for sharing or viewing, without affecting the rest of the entries.
• Share as Presentation Mode: Within the app, offer a “Present Journal Entry” feature, where you can choose which sections (like your holiday memories) to share. This would black out or hide all other journal entries, ensuring only the selected section is visible.
• Locked Preview: Other parts of your journal would be hidden or blacked out, meaning you can’t accidentally scroll into a private entry during the presentation.

2. Smart TV Integration with Privacy Mode

• Casting and Display Control: Use casting protocols like AirPlay for iOS or Chromecast for Android to seamlessly cast the selected entries (i.e., the holiday memories) to your smart TV. When casting starts, the app will automatically activate “Presentation Mode”, which limits the viewable entries to the ones you’ve selected.
• Dynamic Blackout: As the journal displays on the TV, all unselected journal entries (even if accidentally accessed during the screening) are shown as black screens or placeholders on the TV. These entries would only be revealed to you when you disconnect from the TV and return to your iPhone or personal device.

3. On-the-Fly Adjustments

• Quick Switch Between Entries: During the presentation, you can seamlessly switch between photos, notes, and any other media in the holiday memories section, without leaving the “screening mode.” A sidebar or navigation tool within the app would allow you to quickly scroll through the specific entries you’re sharing, like a slideshow.
• Interactive Editing or Highlighting: Add an “Interactive Mode” where you can highlight or annotate parts of the holiday memory on the smart TV while sharing it, and the app will save these annotations for later.

4. Privacy and Security During the Screening

• Time-Limited Blackout Mode: Once you end the casting or “screening mode, ” all blacked-out entries are revealed back to you only on your device. This ensures that your private journal sections stay hidden during the time of the screening but are fully accessible again afterward.
• Security Lock for Private Sections: You can also enable a security lock (biometric lock, PIN) for your private journal sections, ensuring that these sections can’t be viewed without your explicit permission, even after casting is finished.

5. User Control of What’s Shared

• Preview Before Sharing: Before casting to your smart TV, offer a preview mode where the user can see exactly how the journal section will appear on the screen. This allows for a final check that ensures only the intended memories are being shared.
• Multiple Modes: The app can offer multiple display modes:
• Standard View: Only the specific section is shown.
• Slideshow Mode: Auto-scroll through the holiday photos or videos at a user-defined pace.
• Interactive Display Mode: You control navigation and highlighting with your phone or tablet while the big-screen version stays synced.

6. Offline and Remote Control

• Offline Mode with Local Casting: Even if you are offline, the app will still allow casting to a smart TV via local connection, maintaining the selective viewing capabilities. Your phone becomes the remote, allowing for smooth transitions between memories without revealing anything else.
• Remote Control Features: During the screening, your phone acts as a remote, allowing you to control the display, skip to the next entry, pause on a particular memory, or add notes in real-time.

7. Automatic Disconnect and Privacy Recovery

• Automatic End of Presentation: Once the presentation is finished, the app should seamlessly disconnect from the TV, and any blacked-out entries are instantly revealed on your phone. Your private journal sections return to normal, and you can resume journaling or navigating through your entries.
• Confirmations: Include a simple confirmation before revealing hidden sections again, just to ensure you’re done sharing.

Integration into the Existing App Design:

This feature can fit perfectly into the personalized, AI-driven journal system that was previously described. It enhances the User Control, Privacy, and Multimedia Support features, and elevates the experience of sharing selective parts of a journal in a social setting, while keeping the rest private. Here’s how it merges into the earlier render:

1. Extend the AI and Data Visualization: AI can suggest specific journal entries or memories that might be ideal for sharing, based on context (e.g., past holiday entries or happy moments).
2. Cross-Platform Sharing: Ensure that these sharing and screening features work whether you’re using iOS, Android, or desktop. So if you start the presentation from an iPhone, but your friend uses an Android device, they could still control the viewing.
3. Customization for Presentation: Apply personalized themes and layouts for the “presentation mode” itself, allowing users to add backgrounds, music, or even voice-overs to make the shared memories even more engaging.

This feature would be a game-changer for anyone who loves to share their memories selectively and ensures the ultimate control over privacy during social gatherings. It adds an extra dimension to the journaling experience, while also incorporating the security and personalization that makes the rest of the app outstanding.

[tdz]

Unimpressed but hopefully they will improve. I’ve been using DayOne for a while for journaling and love it. You can create separate journals and have a ton of flexibility. I use separate journals and since Apple only has one main journal it’s not something I’m going to use now. I’m hoping they add this in the near future. If so I’ll dump my day one and transition over.

[marekdvorak]

Video Recording of selected content of the Journal for Presentation (friends & family versus potentially a corporate presentation - could be bridge in any relevant way with the Keynote App or PowerPoint:

Integrating a feature where you can record a screencasted presentation of your journal (whether it’s holiday memories or a corporate presentation) and edit it before saving would be a game-changer. This would add immense value for both personal and professional users, turning the journal into a dynamic, multimedia tool that bridges journaling, presentation, and video editing.

1. Recording the Screencasted Presentation

• One-Touch Recording: As soon as you begin presenting your selected journal entries (whether holiday memories or a corporate presentation), there would be a simple option to record the entire session. This captures everything that is displayed on the screen (photos, videos, notes, etc.) and your voice if you’re narrating.
• Real-Time Annotation: While presenting, you can annotate, highlight, or add live notes, all of which would be captured in the recording. For example, in a corporate setting, you could highlight key data points or focus on specific images from a holiday memory while narrating.

2. Automatic Scene Detection

• Smart Segmentation: To make editing easier afterward, the app could automatically create segments or “scenes” based on the content of your presentation (e.g., photos, videos, transitions between entries). This is especially useful in corporate presentations where you might need to edit sections quickly without going through hours of footage.
• Scene Transitions and Customization: You could also add custom transitions between scenes—whether fading in and out, slide transitions, or others—to give the final video a more polished, professional look.

3. Post-Presentation Editing Tools

• Timeline-Based Editing: After the screencasting session is complete, the app provides a timeline-based editor, much like a simplified version of video editing software like iMovie or Adobe Premiere. This allows you to:
• Trim Sections: Easily remove parts of the recording that are unnecessary.
• Add Text or Titles: Insert title slides, subtitles, or text overlays within the recording (great for corporate presentations or captions for holiday memories).
• Enhance Audio: If the narration was unclear in some parts, you can record additional voice-overs or replace certain sections.
• Add Background Music: For holiday memories, you could add a music track to play softly in the background. For corporate presentations, you might opt for a more professional soundscape.

4. Customizable Presentation Themes

• Theme Templates for Presentations: The app would offer customizable templates that allow users to pick a theme for their presentation. Whether it’s a corporate, minimalist style with branded colors for work-related meetings, or a warm, nostalgic theme for personal moments, you can apply these themes both during the recording and post-edit.
• Slide Builder: In corporate settings, the ability to add slides for intros, agenda, or closing thoughts would help create a structured, professional video. You could also include these slides in holiday memory recordings to break up sections (e.g., “Day 1: Arrival at the Beach”).

5. Export Options

• Multiple Formats: Once the presentation is edited, allow users to export it in various video formats (MP4, MOV, etc.) for sharing across different platforms.
• Cloud Sync: Automatically sync the final edited video to cloud platforms like Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive, making it easy to share or download.
• Direct Sharing: If the presentation needs to be shared immediately after, users can upload it directly to platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, or private company intranets for corporate content.

6. Interactive Elements and Engagement Features

• Clickable Elements: For more interactive presentations (especially useful for corporate), you could add clickable elements like buttons or hyperlinks directly within the video. This would be beneficial for allowing viewers to dive deeper into a specific part of the presentation (e.g., visiting a website or document related to the presentation).
• Interactive Viewer Comments: If the presentation is being shared within a team (via company platforms or private links), allow viewers to leave comments or feedback directly on specific sections of the video. This could be useful for real-time collaboration or improving the presentation based on viewer suggestions.

7. Real-Time Collaboration

• Live Editing Collaboration: During the post-presentation editing phase, allow multiple users to collaborate. For corporate presentations, team members could join the editing session in real-time, adding their own notes or adjustments before the final video is exported.
• Presentation Review Mode: For holiday memories or group events, share the recorded presentation with friends or family, allowing them to suggest edits or add their own memories to the video.

8. Integrated AI Assistance for Editing

• AI-Powered Editing Suggestions: AI could scan the recorded presentation and suggest automatic edits, such as trimming unnecessary pauses, improving audio clarity, or adding transition effects where needed.
• Highlight Creation: For long holiday videos or detailed corporate presentations, AI can automatically generate a highlights reel of the most engaging moments, allowing you to quickly create a summary video.

9. Hybrid Mode for Professional & Personal Use

• Switch Between Holiday Mode and Corporate Mode: The app could provide a toggle to switch between “Personal Mode” (optimized for fun, casual memories like holidays) and “Corporate Mode” (optimized for professional, data-driven presentations). Each mode would have tailored features (e.g., corporate templates, business slides, and analytical tools in Corporate Mode; fun transitions, emojis, and music overlays in Personal Mode).

10. Corporate Presentation Features

• Data Integration and Live Charts: In corporate presentations, you can integrate data and generate live charts from Excel sheets or Google Sheets directly within the presentation. During editing, this data can be updated in real-time, making sure the numbers or graphs reflect the most recent figures.
• Branded Overlays and Logos: For corporate presentations, allow users to upload company logos and apply branded overlays, which would be automatically watermarked on each slide or section of the video.

11. Integration with Task and Workflow Apps

• Linking Presentation to Workflow: For corporate users, link the final video presentation directly into project management systems like Asana, Trello, or Slack. Tasks could be created from action items discussed in the presentation, helping to streamline workflow and team accountability.

Conclusion

By integrating a screencast recording and editing feature into the app, we can create a tool that serves both personal and professional users in a way that no simple journal app currently does. Whether you’re creating a polished corporate presentation or a fun, engaging video of your holiday memories, this feature would add immense value by combining presentation tools, editing functionality, and content sharing into one seamless experience.

This would elevate the app from a simple journaling tool into a full-fledged multimedia powerhouse, catering to diverse needs while still maintaining the privacy, customisation, and ease of use I’ve outlined previously.

[rogerbravo]

I loved the app by far. But m kinda looking for a folder structure. You know seperate journals for other aspect of our life! That would be phenomenal!

[JixiFox]

It’s a battle versus other apps like Facebook memories…. It’s a good play to keep you engaged.

[AndreaBalduzziCagliari]

At the end, the new Journal App is like a social media profile, but you are both the writer and the reader. Pretty much like in most other social media.

[HoffmanKurt]

I have been a journal keeper since 1968. I love Journal app. But it would be more satisfying on the iPad. When will Apple get the hint & port the Journal app to the iPad & it's larger format!

[cgimovieman]

I’ll preface this by saying that I’ve used Apple computers and devices since 1987, have upgraded my iPhone with every model since the original in 2007, and even worked at an Apple Store for one year. But I’m really not into the Journal app. Lately, my folder of “Apple apps”, from Journal, to Freeform, to Shortcuts, to Home, and on and on has gotten massive. I just don’t need to be doing EVERYTHING from my phone. Also, we have so many things that remind us of things, that I feel like it’s diminishing our ability to actually remember things with our own brains. Whether it’s a phone number, a birthday, or an appointment. I don’t think it’s healthy, and I pride myself with my memory. With Journal as well, I’d rather write in an actual journal. In recent years I was realizing how little I wrote things out by hand, and even more so how long it had been since I wrote in cursive. So I started doing it a whole lot more, and I found that I’ve really missed it. Writing something in your own hand is not only so much more personal and special, but it’s also a skill and an art. Just like making a painting. I also like that I have skills like knowing how to drive a manual transmission car. I don’t want to lose these skills. I even completely got off of social media a few years ago, and have never felt better. All that it did was make me feel bad about my own life, seeing everyone else’s narcissistic posts every 5 minutes, and waste a lot of time. But also, everyone who you know doesn’t need to have a wide open window of every single aspect of your life. It’s just unnecessary. Your casual acquaintance from 10 years ago doesn’t need to see a picture of your plate of pasta you had for dinner. I mean, come on. But back to the Journal, what if you wrote for years in that, and then one day Apple decided to discontinue that feature? Or if the digital information was deleted? Bam! All of your time and energy is gone. But you can always pull out a paper journal. Heck, maybe your handwriting improved or changed and it’s a nice memory. With Journal too, I’m sure it’s great if your life is all perfect, you have a great job, a spouse and kids, and see your family and friends all the time. But what if that isn’t the case? You sure don’t have much to write about, and trying to look back at your life is just depressing. So as I say, I’ve been a big fan of all that Apple does for over 35 years, and overall I still am. But not everything has to be consumed by technology, and we don’t have to be tethered and dependent on it 24/7.

[ChristopheHanne]

One point that we must emphasis to is the fact that your journal IS NOT SYNCHRONIZED WITH YOUR ICLOUD account (yet). So if you delete the app, you'll delete all it's content. Forever. Just be aware of that. It happens to me...