Journal

Screenshot of Journal on an iPhone 14 Pro running iOS 17.2
Developer(s)	Apple Inc.
Initial release	December 11, 2023; 12 months ago (2023-12-11)
Operating system	iOS (17.2–),
Platform	iPhone
Type	Journaling
License	Proprietary

Journal is a personal journaling app developed by Apple Inc. for iPhones, first revealed during the 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference before officially being released on December 11, 2023, alongside iOS 17.2.^[1][2] The app encourages users to create journal entries in which they can record and reflect upon their thoughts and activities.^[3]

The app features a simple interface which displays all of a user's previous journal entries, alongside a plus button at the bottom of the screen to create a new entry. These entries can also be filtered by attachment type or bookmarked for faster look-up. When creating a new entry, Journal will provide a user with writing suggestions generated on-device based on their activity throughout the day by grouping data together, such as a prompt which includes a number of photos taken at a specific location, or one that includes a recorded workout as well as a playlist that was being listened to during the activity. The app can also suggest "reflection" prompts, which are statements or questions intended to inspire a user to begin writing.^[3]

A user can also manually attach data to a journal entry during writing, including support for photos, video, voice recordings, location tags, completed workouts, recent contacts, and music playlists amongst other info. Third-party developers can choose to integrate their own data into journaling suggestions, and an API allows for other third-party journaling apps to utilize the same on-device journaling suggestions.^[4]

Journal can be locked to prevent access from other users without a passcode or Face ID, and a journaling schedule can also be set which sends a notification out at a set time on chosen days to encourage consistent use.^[5]

An insights page was added to the app alongside iOS 18, which provides users with statistics on their journaling habits such as their longest streak, the amount of times a location has been visited, or the total number of words written across all journal entries.^[6]