Have you noticed a new app on your home screen since updating to iOS 17.2? It’s called Journal, and as the name suggests, it’s used for keeping track of your thoughts, memories, and reflections. Instead of immediately dismissing it, I recommend giving it a chance. It’s part of Apple’s efforts to improve your mental well-being. Apple has also introduced the option to record daily moods in the Health app under the “Mindfulness” category. You can also use Siri to ask questions related to the Health app, such as “How much sleep did I get this week?”. While these features focus on tracking emotions and indicators, the Journal app focuses on overall well-being. You can add photos, videos, geotags, and voice recordings, creating a digital scrapbook. The app also suggests various topics to write about, pulling them from your photo gallery, activities, and other available sources.
While it’s not a unique app, you won’t have difficulty finding many alternatives in the App Store, especially ones that are available across all Apple platforms (iOS, iPadOS, and MacOS). Journal is only available for iOS, but its simplicity and free availability are its advantages.
As someone who has always struggled with journaling, I found the experience frustrating. Despite understanding the benefits of keeping a journal, such as tracking progress towards goals and reducing stress, I struggled with expressing my emotions freely without overanalyzing every sentence. That’s why I wasn’t initially enthusiastic about using the Journal app. However, since I’m already glued to my phone after work, scrolling through TikToks and responding to messages, I decided to dedicate some of that time to giving journaling another try.
To make it a habit, I used the Schedule feature and set specific days and times to receive reminders. I chose Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays at 8:00 PM, thinking that time would allow me to relax at the end of the day. When this feature is enabled, you receive a notification on your lock screen. Tapping on it immediately takes you to the app.
The user interface is simple. Tap the plus sign at the bottom to create a new entry and start writing. You can also attach photos, locations, or voice recordings to each entry. If you don’t feel like writing on a particular day but still want to add an entry, you can just include a photo or recording to preserve at least some memory or thought. There’s even an option to “Save without writing” if you only want to add a photo or video to the entry.
At the beginning, when I started using the Journal app in November, I had a lot to write about. My boyfriend was running the New York Marathon, so I recorded the entire week leading up to the event and the race day itself, capturing it with video recordings, photos, and geotags. When the holiday season arrived, it was easy to find topics to write about. I also celebrated my thirtieth birthday in January, so I dedicated an entry to describing that special day, adding photos of the cake and notes about everything we did. Writing came easily to me initially.
Of course, not all weeks are filled with excitement (especially now that the holidays are behind us). It can be challenging to write a lot about watching TV or ordering takeout. In such situations, the Suggestions feature becomes helpful. According to Apple, these suggestions are generated based on your device’s intelligence, using information already existing on your iPhone. When browsing through suggestions, you’ll see two tabs. The “Recommended” tab combines content from different years, including photos, videos, and locations, inspiring you to write about a specific memory. In between, there are also “Reflections” which are introspective prompts, such as “Write about a time someone created something special for you. Include a photo in your entry” or “Describe the most important part of your week”. The second tab, “Recent”, suggests topics based on your daily activities, such as phone calls, photos and videos taken, or places you’ve been to, to inspire you to write about them.
The suggestions don’t always align with my choice. The reflective ideas were too sentimental for my liking. But in order to step out of my comfort zone and push myself to use the Journal app as more than just a highlight reel, I decided to try a few of them, such as “Write about something you had difficulty changing. What steps could you take today?” and “What went well this week?”. I felt great having time for reflection and planning for the future.
On the other hand, the “Recommended” tab sometimes shows me photos from past years, and there are memories that I simply don’t want to revisit. Furthermore, the reminders I receive to journal are based on recent activities. They often revolve around recent places I visited, which can be a bit irritating. No, I don’t want to write about my visit to the vet with my dog or the trip to the beauty salon, or my visits to the grocery store. My colleague, Adrienne So, shares similar sentiments. She spent a few minutes at a bar and received a suggestion to journal about it.
You can customize this in the settings. You have the option to completely disable Journal Suggestions or choose which ones to keep, such as Activity (workouts and exercises), Media (podcasts and music you listen to), Contacts (people you talk to and call), Photos (library, memories, and shared photos), and Significant Locations (places you spend time in). Since I don’t want to write about phone calls or messages, or my location, I turned off the Contacts and Significant Locations features.
The Journal app is also accessible through the sharing options in other apps. This allows you to easily add content to your journal while browsing outside the app itself.
FAQ:
1. What is the function of the Journal app?
The Journal app is used to record thoughts, memories, and reflections, creating a digital scrapbook.
2. Where can alternative apps to Journal be found?
Alternative apps to Journal can be found in the App Store.
3. What are the advantages of the Journal app?
The advantages of the Journal app are its user-friendly interface and availability for free.
4. How can reminders for journaling be set in the Journal app?
To set reminders, you can use the Schedule feature and set specific days and times to receive reminders.
5. How can an entry be added to the Journal app?
To add an entry, simply tap the plus sign at the bottom of the screen in the Journal app and start writing.
6. Can only a photo or recording be added to an entry?
Yes, there’s the option to add only a photo or recording to an entry in the Journal app.
7. What are the Suggestions features in the Journal app?
The Suggestions features in the Journal app are “Recommended” and “Reflections”. “Recommended” combines content from different years, inspiring you to write about a specific memory, while “Reflections” are introspective prompts encouraging writing.
The source of the article is from the blog radiohotmusic.it