What Is The iPhone Journal App, And How Do You Use It?

Apple's iOS 17 is scheduled for general rollout in fall 2023, and there are plenty of new features for iPhone users to look forward to. One of those features is a brand-new first-party app that will allow you to reflect on your day by composing diary-style entries right on your iPhone. While some Apple fans may argue that you can already sort of do that through the Notes app, those who will eventually update their devices to iOS 17 will be gifted with a much more enriched documenting experience.

Through the iOS 17 Journal app, not only are you free to compose and type a new entry, but you'll be aided by personalized recommendations generated by on-device machine learning. Journal is fully integrated with the iPhone and therefore has the ability to glean your location for the day as well as any photos or videos you've taken, contacts you've hung out with, songs or podcasts you've listened to, and even workouts you've done. All of this and more are referenced within Journal, which you can include with your text writeup.

Apple recently released the public beta version of iOS 17 enabling iPhone users to give some new features a try, but based on our own testing, Journal doesn't seem to be included in the pre-release. Although this means that people will likely have to wait for the official launch of iOS 17 to give Journal a proper hands-on, a brief run-through of the app during the 2023 Apple Worldwide Developers' Conference showed enough stuff to warrant some excitement.

Upon launching Journal, you will be able to hit New Entry and start on a fresh page. However, if you're having trouble getting started, some of your recent activity on your iPhone should be conveniently grouped together into moments. Just tap the small New Entry icon next to the moment title to automatically add all relevant content into a new post. There's a wide range of details that could be potentially added to an entry courtesy of integrated Apple apps like Photos, Apple Maps, Podcasts, Apple Music, Fitness, and Contacts. 

This means that if you spent the day going on a long drive to a national park with a friend, blasted Taylor Swift, and tracked a trail run once you arrived at your destination, all of those activities could be interspersed with your typewritten retelling of the day's events. You can add everything that's been deemed relevant, or merely select which ones you want to immortalize in your entry. Not sure what to write about, or what to say about your day? "Purpose" prompts are also automatically generated along with other suggested elements under the Moment section. 

In addition, when you start an entry through a recommended moment, a helpful question like "What will you remember most about your outing?" will auto-populate the text field, assisting your brain in formulating a more focused thought. If you wish to make documenting your days a habit, Journal will make it easier for you to keep it going by sending regular iPhone notifications and suggestions reminding you that it's time to write. It'll be easy to keep your entries private as well with the ability to lock your entries.