Keeping a diary of some kind, be it a physical book or Star Trek-style Captain’s Log, is a proven way to boost your mental health(opens in new tab), and Apple looks set to introduce its own journaling app with iOS 17.
According to documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal(opens in new tab), the app — internally codenamed Jurassic, will use on-device data such as call and text records to help users track their activity to remind them what they achieved each day and get them writing.
| It will even be able to tell when you’ve had a day out of the ordinary worth writing about. |
| Journaling is obviously a very private process so there is some concern about data privacy. |
| But by keeping analysis of users’ days to on-device data, it should be more secure. |
Whether this feature will also be coming to macOS 14 is unknown but it would be great for those who like to type longer entries to be able to use one of the best MacBooks to write and sync their digital diary to their iPhone.
- The journaling app looks to be pre-installed on iOS 17.
Is Apple Sherlocking?
While it’s great to see a company as big as Apple considering our mental well-being, Its decision to enter the journaling market has one App concerned.
- Day One is the market-leading journaling app with over 15 million downloads and its founder Paul Mayne told the Wall Street Journal of the incoming competitor that “It’s always the worst thing to have to hear that you’re about to be Sherlocked.”
Sherloocking originated more than twenty years ago when Apple, whose search tool was named after the detective, was trumped by another developer with a similar service called Watson.
- Apple then released a new version of Sherlock with Watson-style features built in, rendering Watson defunct.
Day One’s fears are elementary, but at least to start with, Apple will have to compete to win market share from its premium subscribers.
In summary, it seems Apple is taking a balanced and privacy-first approach with its journaling app. While there are certainly competitive concerns, especially from Day One, keeping analysis locked down to on-device may help allay fears. The software looks set to provide useful features for personal wellbeing without overreach, but time will tell whether that’s truly the case.