by Joe Lonergan 

In the iOS 17.2 update, Apple introduced a new app called Journal. Finally, we have a journal app that is accessible and secure.

It has been well documented the benefits of journaling, it helps people to reflect and practice gratitude as well as record events and achievements.

Apple announced this app would be coming to IOS 17, but it was not ready until 17.2. For some, it has been worth the wait. What I liked the most was to help inspire journal entries, personalised suggestions can be intelligently curated from a user’s recent activity, such as photos, people, places, and workouts. This is really handy because if you are after having a long hard day it can be difficult to sit down and think of what to enter into a journal. I got suggestions like a Morning walk, a Morning Visit to Marble City Tea rooms, Reflection, making an audio recording of your surroundings, and writing about what you notice.

Listening to audio recordings a few days after an event can effectively transport you back to the memories of that occasion. Recommendations tailored to user activity encompass writing prompts that encourage meaningful insights. Daily reflection prompts are designed to guide users in focusing on gratitude, kindness, and purpose. For instance, you might reflect on the most creative person you know or select a moment from the week that has imparted a valuable lesson.

You might be wondering how the app knows all this and what to suggest. Well at the start when you set up the app you will be asked some simple yes/no questions to allow or not allow other apps on your iPhone to access Photos, memories, workouts, and locations. You can choose if you want Journal to send you reminders to enter journal entries and what time you would like to receive these reminder notifications. Journal even offers to put in entries from memories gone by such as previous holidays and occasions.

Keeping your journal entries private

The other thing I love about a digital Journal is the ability to add a passcode or Face ID or Touch ID to unlock it so there is no chance of someone picking up your journal and having a snoop.

Apple has said, “Journal is built with privacy at its core”. When an iPhone is locked with a passcode, entries in the Journal app are encrypted. Additionally, users can choose to enable secondary authentication and lock the Journal app with their device passcode, Face ID, or Touch ID. All Journal entries are end-to-end encrypted when stored in iCloud so that no one but the user can access them. Journaling suggestions are created on the device, and users can choose which suggested moments are shared with the Journal app and added to their Journal entries.

In summary, I have been using the Journal app for a couple of weeks and it has been a rewarding experience so far. It is nice to look back on your thoughts and reflect, but only time will tell how good it actually is. If I am still using it this time next year then Journal is working and holding my interest and helping to keep a check on my mental wellbeing.

The only downside so far is that entries can only be added on the iPhone for now, it is not available on Mac or in the cloud so text input will have to be in short form for the time being.

If you do not see the Journal app after updating to 17.2, then check the app Library or try saying Hey Siri open Journal, and like any other app you can move it to a more convenient place on your Home screen.