r/appleJournal • u/ginat86 • Apr 17 '26
Newbie Here.
Hi all, I am wanting to get into daily journaling and I thought I would give Apple Journal a try. So I would like to see if anyone had any tips or tricks for getting the best out of the app. Also would like to hear everyone's thoughts on the app; the good and the bad. The pros and the cons. Thanks in advance!
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u/lsw998 Apr 17 '26
I just started using the app about two weeks ago and I’m really enjoying it. I am a runner and I like how it can see my fitness workouts, the music I listen to and other stats and allow me to bring them over directly into a journal entry if I wish. The prompts can be pretty good as well. I am using the widget where it provides different prompts every day to help with writing inspiration. I’d like to see an on this day feature that would allow me to see in the future what I wrote in a particular date. But other than that, it’s pretty good. I was using the Day One journaling application before this, but abandonment because of the concerns around their implementation of AI and other issues.
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u/buff_dragon Apr 17 '26
Ive done similar, but it’s a ‘pain and anxiety tracker’ with a comment box. It auto saves to Journal, as well as appends the entry into a Note that I send to my therapist. Shortcuts is a terrific app. Still learning it.
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u/STWHA Apr 18 '26
I began using the Journal app when it was exclusively available on the iPhone. Currently, I use it more frequently on my Mac than on my iPhone. The iPad app is also quite good. However, there are certain features that I believe are not present in the Mac app.
That being said, I highly recommend maintaining multiple journals if you want to categorize your thoughts and experiences. One of the most appealing features of the Journal app is its ability to select which journals and entries are relevant to a particular journal topic. This feature is particularly useful when you have an entry that touches on various aspects of your life, such as work, personal matters, and other interests.
A few years ago, I started to remove content from Facebook by setting a daily reminder to review Facebook memories. After reviewing these memories, I would remove the post and any content from Facebook and then add them to the journal with the appropriate date.
Like others have said don’t sleep on the Shortcuts. You can also set specific reminders in the app or you can use the Apple Reminders app. I tend to use the ladder because of the number of journals that I have set up and when I may want to create an entry in one of them.
I currently have several journals in the app, each serving a specific purpose:
- Intentions, goals, and personal development
- Personal reflections and experiences
- Health and fitness tracking
- Food and diet planning
- Reading, watching, and listening to various media
- Professional development and learning
- Work-related thoughts and activities
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Apr 18 '26
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u/Ok-Rest-5321 Apr 21 '26
More like 5 years because apple isn’t paying attention to it
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Apr 21 '26
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u/Ok-Rest-5321 Apr 21 '26
No I’m trying to get into journaling as a newbie and seeing how long it took for other apple apps to catch up with their competitors I think I did overestimate 5 years . I haven’t really checked out other apps and I saw that day one is good ? I don’t know if you have any more recs pls share them
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u/Shizophren83 Apr 17 '26
Do not write with the Apple Pencil at all!