iOS 17.2 Brings Journal App That Encourages Regular Writing With A Focus On Wellness

With the latest iOS 17.2 update, iPhone users can now ditch drafting emails or scribbling in documents, courtesy of the Journal app, which was unveiled at this summer’s WWDC annual conference. The Journal app also aims to encourage regular writing while offering a perspective as you reflect on the past. The on-device machine learning (ML) in iOS 17.2 brings private, personalised suggestions for journal entries and customisable notifications support users in building writing habits.

Journal app simplifies the entry process, allowing users to start with a basic text entry, or enhance it with photos, videos, locations, or audio recordings for added context. One can also incorporate external content, such as news articles, music, or podcasts, by importing them into the Journal app as well as browse, bookmark and filter past entries based on details like photos, workouts, places, and more. Scheduled notifications also help with a consistent journaling practice.

Third-party journaling apps can now leverage the Journaling Suggestions API to recommend moments for users to write about and these features are accessible with the of iOS 17.2.

Personalised Suggestions And Reflection Prompts

Thoughtfully curated personalized suggestions aim to prompt users to recall and document meaningful moments, such as new places visited, captured photos, played songs, completed workouts, and more. Activity-driven suggestions encompass writing prompts for insightful reflections, and daily prompts encourage users to focus on gratitude, kindness, purpose, and beyond. Users have full control over the content types displayed in Suggestions, allowing them to craft journal entries based on their chosen prompts.

Furthermore, developers have the opportunity to integrate personalized journaling suggestions into their apps using the Journaling Suggestions API. This enables users to receive prompts to write about moments in a privacy-preserving manner, extending the benefits of journaling and the secure, personalized experience exclusive to the iPhone.

Looking at the structure of Journal, it’s evident that Apple designed this app with a focus on promoting wellness.

Focus Of Privacy

At the foundation of Journal is privacy. When an iPhone is passcode-locked, entries in the Journal app are encrypted. Users can enhance security by enabling secondary authentication, locking the Journal app with their device passcode, Face ID, or Touch ID. All Journal entries are end-to-end encrypted in iCloud, ensuring exclusive access for the user. On-device creation of journaling suggestions allows users to select which suggested moments are shared with the Journal app and incorporated into their entries.

Capturing Life’s Moments

With Journal, it’s easy to get started by logging a simple text entry, or adding rich details like photos, videos, locations, or audio recordings to add more context. It’s just as easy to add content like a news article, music, or a podcast from other apps by bringing it into the Journal app and writing about it. Users can browse past entries, bookmark them, or filter for details like photos, workouts, places, and more. Scheduled notifications can help make journaling a consistent practice.

“We are excited to bring the benefits of journaling to more people,” Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, said in a statement.

“Journal makes it easy to preserve rich and powerful memories, and practice gratitude by intelligently curating information that is personal to the user, right from their iPhone. And we’re making it possible for other journaling apps to offer the same personalized suggestions while maintaining the highest level of privacy.”