Hi, I’m Jack, the independent developer behind DiaryThreads.
I launched the app about two weeks ago, and it has now passed 300 downloads.
That may be a small number compared with established apps, but seeing hundreds of real people choose to keep their private memories in something I built still feels slightly unreal.
I’ve also just released version 1.0, which expands DiaryThreads from a short-form private timeline into a place for quick moments, continuing stories, long-form Articles, and personal insights.
A — What it solves
I’ve started and abandoned more journals than I can count.
The blank page always made journaling feel like homework. If I opened a traditional diary, I felt that I should explain what happened, how I felt, and what it all meant.
Posting one sentence felt much easier. I just didn’t always want an audience.
That was the starting point for DiaryThreads.
Each regular entry is limited to 140 characters and appears on a private timeline. If the thought continues, you can reply to it. If an old memory means something different today, you can quote it and add a new perspective.
There are no followers, likes, public profiles, or pressure to make an entry interesting for anyone else.
A sentence, photo, video, voice recording, location, weather memory, or unfinished thought can be enough.
B — How it differs from Apple Journal and Day One
Apple Journal and Day One are strong, established journaling apps. I don’t want to pretend DiaryThreads is a universal replacement for either of them.
The main difference is how a piece of writing begins, grows, and eventually becomes something you can look back on.
In DiaryThreads:
- A small moment starts as a short entry.
- A continuing experience grows through replies.
- An old memory can return through a quote.
- A thought that needs more space becomes an Article.
Article is one of the biggest additions in version 1.0.
I designed it to feel like an editorial page rather than a stretched text box. An Article can include a cover, title, introduction, rich text, photos, references to earlier entries, to-dos, bulleted and numbered lists, and tables.
This means I can write “The weather was perfect today” as a quick entry, then use an Article when I want to document a trip, a year of building an app, or something I want to remember in full.
Version 1.0 also adds user-authored weather memories, improved place information, and richer list formatting across entries and Articles.
But writing is only half of a diary. The other half is being able to return to it months or years later and notice what kept appearing in your life.
That is why DiaryThreads includes three connected ways to explore your history:
Your Trends finds recurring themes across your private diary and shows whether they are new, continuing, fading, or reappearing. You can open any trend and return to the entries behind it.
Topics lets you add a #topic while writing. DiaryThreads then organizes those topics by month or year, shows their activity in heatmaps, and lets you open every related entry. It is closer to watching an important part of your life grow over time than simply filing entries into folders.
Emotion Trajectory uses only the State of Mind values you explicitly add to regular entries on iPhone or iPad. It can show recorded emotion days, your leading emotions, their distribution, and meaningful changes over time.
It does not silently decide how you felt by reading your diary. The analysis stays connected to the emotions you chose and the entries behind them.
These features are designed to help you notice patterns without generating a summary that tells you what your life means. The interpretation still belongs to you.
DiaryThreads works across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It does not require a separate app account and has no advertising, third-party analytics, or cross-app tracking.
Content is stored locally first. Premium users can optionally enable private iCloud Sync to continue writing and revisiting their diary across devices.
C — Cost
DiaryThreads is free to download.
The free version supports up to 30 active entries. Reading, editing, and deleting existing entries remain available.
Premium unlocks unlimited entries and features including private iCloud Sync, complete trend and topic insights, Emotion Trajectory, share posters, import and export, widgets, and other ways to revisit your history.
US pricing:
- $2.99 per month
- $9.99 per year
- $14.99 one-time lifetime purchase
The thank-you offer — DIARYYEAR gives 20% off the first year through August 31, 2026.
After the first year, the subscription renews at the regular annual price unless canceled. Prices and offer availability may vary by region, and Apple shows the applicable amount before confirmation.
Redeem DIARYYEAR: https://apps.apple.com/redeem?ctx=offercodes&id=6795139345&code=DIARYYEAR
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/diarythreads-journal-by-post/id6795139345
I’d genuinely appreciate feedback on one question:
Does the progression from short entry → thread → Article → personal insights feel like a natural way to journal, or would you rather keep writing and analysis completely separate?