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Trying to get into the habit of journaling but lose motivation every time you try? Apple’s Journal app has simplified the process of jotting down your thoughts and preserving your memories. From creating your first entry to customizing it, here’s all you need to know.
How to Create a Journal Entry
One of thefeatures that came with the iOS 17.2 updatewas the Journal app, which Apple designed to help you reflect and practice gratitude. Once you update your iPhone to iOS 17.2, the Journal app should appear on your Home Screen. In case you accidentally uninstalled it tofree up space on your iPhone, you can download it again from the App Store.
Download:Journal(Free)
Once you’ve installed the app on your device, launch it and tap theplus (+)icon at the bottom of the screen to create your initial journal entry. If you’re using the Journal app for the first time, you’ll be asked if you’d like to enable Journaling Suggestions, which utilizes on-devicemachine learningto suggest journal entry prompts.
TapTurn On Journaling Suggestionsand then tapAllowif you’d like to enable it, orNot Nowotherwise. you’re able to also enable or disable it later from your device’s settings if you wish to.
If you’ve enabled journaling suggestions, you’ll see two tabs on the next screen:RecommendedandRecent. TheRecommendedtab displays different highlights from your Photo Memories, songs you’ve played (on Apple Music), and numerous writing prompts you may use for inspiration. On the other hand, theRecenttab sorts the same information by date instead.
If you’d like to create a new entry based on a journaling suggestion, simply tap a suggestion you like to begin. However, if you’d like to write based on your own thoughts, tapNew Entryat the top.
If you’re writing about something that happened in the past or is yet to happen, you may tap theellipsis (…)button next to the current date and tapCustom Date. Once you’ve set a date for the entry, tapDone.
You can also bookmark your journal entry to come back to it later by tapping thebookmarkicon. If you’re unhappy with your journal entry and would like to discard it entirely, tap theellipsis (…)button next to the date and chooseDelete.
How to Customize Your Journal Entry
The best aspect of using the Journal app to write about how you’re feeling is the numerous options you have to customize your journal entries. Your journal entries don’t have to resemble a wall of text; you can customize them by adding images, videos, audio recordings, music tracks, and more!
To view more journaling suggestions from your recent activities as you write, you may tap themagic wandicon in the toolbar above your keyboard and head to theRecenttab from the following menu. Now, you can attach the recent media you’ve played or contacts you’ve been in touch with.
Once you’ve written the content of your entry, you can tap theimageicon to add photos and videos from your library to your journal entry. If you’d like to capture a new photo or video to include in your journal entry, tap thecameraicon instead. Similarly, you can tap theaudioicon to record an audio and attach it to your entry as well.
Journal App Settings You Can Tweak
Locking the Journal app enhances the privacy of your entries by requiring your iPhone’s passcode, Face ID, or Touch ID for access. To activate this feature, go to theSettingsapp, scroll to theJournaloption, selectLock Journal, and enter your iPhone’s passcode. Finally, toggle on the switch next toLock.
If maintaining a consistent journaling routine is a challenge for you, we recommend setting a journaling schedule. This feature sends reminders to write a new journal entry at a designated time every day (or on certain days of the week). To set this up, go toSettings > Journal, tapJournaling Schedule, and toggle it on. Choose the preferred notification time and the days you want to receive reminders.
If you’d like to stick to only writing when something is on your mind, you can also disable journaling suggestions. To do so, go toSettings > Journaland toggle off the switch next toSkip Journaling Suggestions.
While Apple’s Journal app undoubtedly stands out as an excellent tool to preserve memories and maintain a consistent journaling routine, it’s disappointing that its availability is currently limited to iPhone users. Therefore, if you own an iPad or Mac, you have to resort to third-party journaling apps for now.
