Paul Mayne, Creator of Day One, on Apple’s Journal App

Day One Creator Paul Mayne shared his thoughts on Journal, Apple’s new iOS app coming later this year.

From the Day One blog:

Rather than seeing this as competition, we embrace Apple’s entry into digital journaling as a testament to its growing importance. This evolution is not just beneficial for Day One, but also for our valued users.

Day One Logo

I’m thankful that Day One and other apps will be able to access the Suggestions API. I remain curious what exactly that will look like, but it’s always fun to see how app developers take these API’s and run with them in ways that best suit their users.

You can read Paul's whole post and what I wrote about Journal earlier this week. Apple releasing this app will get more people into journaling, and that's a win. Most people I've encountered who journal are better for it, and those who don't could find so much value in starting a practice.

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Apple Unveils Journal at WWDC 2023, Coming to iPhone Later this Year

During Monday's WWDC conference, Apple announced Journal, a new app coming to iPhone later this year.

From the iOS 17 feature page at Apple.com:

Using on-device machine learning, your iPhone creates personalized suggestions of moments for you to remember and write about based on your photos, music, workouts, and more.

Other highlights include:

  • Reflection and writing prompts

  • The ability to mark important or meaningful entries for review later

  • Scheduled notifications at the beginning and end of the day as well as reminders to record your thoughts about important events

  • Apple's typical and appreciated approach to security, including end-to-end encryption, on-device processing, and locked journals

Journal for iOS App

On Upgrade, co-host Jason Snell mentioned that other developers should be able to use the Suggestions API, giving tools like my favorite journaling app, Day One, an opportunity to integrate these features.

I’ll share more as Apple continues to release details.

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David Sparks on Journaling as a Maker, a Manager, and a Consumer

Last week I wrote a piece for the Finding Focus series about the benefits of waking up early and quoted podcast host and MacSparky Labs founder David Sparks' idea that, as creators, we should make before we manage.

David wrote more on this idea a few years ago and shared his thoughts about how being a maker, a manager, and a consumer impacts the purpose of his journaling process. He writes about the evolution of his journaling:

My purpose in journaling is tracking how I'm spending my time in these roles. I don't view any of them as inherently good or bad. The magic is in the balance. While making is most important to me, both managing and consuming enable making. I want to spend more time making than consuming. I need to spend time managing, but not go down the management/productivity rabbit hole so far that I don't make anything.

So with this in mind, I've been focusing my journaling lately not so much on what I had for lunch, but what I make, manage, and consume. Using tags, I can then see it on a daily, weekly, and even monthly basis. If I look at my week and realize I spent most of my time sharpening pencils and sorting tasks (manager) and not enough time producing content (maker), I know I need to make changes. You can get similar information by tracking your time, but I think there is something more concrete looking at a list of things you've made, managed, and consumed over a period of time.

David suggests using Day One and assigning a tag to each role as an effective way to aid in planning and review. More good advice from someone who, to quote another often used Sparks phrase, pays for his shoes as a self-employed creator.

A journaling practice is a powerful way to see where and what you've been doing. Of course, your journal cannot predict the future, but you can certainly use it to forecast where you might end up.

I’ll be doing more writing about journaling here and in the monthly newsletter. The April issue focused on the topic and offered some ideas on how to get started or stick with your own practice. You can subscribe here if you’re interested. Just be sure to check your email (and spam folder) for the opt-in confirmation that’ll get sent. If you're interested in the April issue, let me know and I’ll get it to you.

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Pen and Paper, Digitally: New iOS Journaling App Rumored for Launch with iOS 17

There was an interesting report from 9to5 Mac last week where they shared a story from The Wall Street Journal that says Apple will be releasing a native journaling app for the iPhone in the next release of iOS. The rumors include on-device integration with location information, physical activity, and other pertinent data to prompt the user to create relevant entries. In addition, there's talk of this potentially Sherlocking* the popular journaling app Day One.

When Apple creates apps that offer an alternative to what third-party developers are doing, they typically don't go as deep in terms of the specific feature set as the app developers do. An example is the Reminders app, which works for some people and has gotten even more functionality with recent updates. Despite that, there's still a set of users who need something like Todoist or OmniFocus. However, Apple does have the advantage of building the OS and can more easily benefit from deeper integration into system settings, so they can usually do some cool stuff that some third-party app developers may struggle with.

I've been subscribing to Day One for years and like the app. Of course, I'll check out what Apple does, but it's not an instant switch for me. I like the features and security that Day One offers right now.

I think journaling is something everyone should do, and I'd be happy if the rumors turned out to be accurate and Apple added this tool as a native app on the iPhone. I hope that Day One will co-exist successfully with whatever Apple creates, and I suspect they will. Many app developers, especially developers who have been working on their apps for years, have added many features people want, and that helps them differentiate themselves from what Apple does. I hope Day One sticks around and continues building a great feature-rich journaling app. The optimist in me thinks they may even see an increase in users if Apple popularizes journaling and more people explore other apps in the category. We'll have to wait until WWDC in June to know what's happening.

In the meantime, if you are interested in beginning a journaling practice, don't wait. Instead, start today, and use whatever format is most comfortable. Whether it's analog or digital, just get started. I'll write more about journaling in the newsletter this month, and you can click here to join and take a look at a few recent issues as well.

* Sherlocking is the term used when Apple creates an app that functions in the same way as a third-party app.

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The Daily Gratitude Shortcut: A Simple Solution for Efficient Journaling

I began using Shortcuts regularly on my Apple devices about a year and a half ago. I’ve found that they’re helpful and quite fun to use and create, especially when I can trigger them from a physical button on my Stream Deck while working on the Mac.

One of my favorite daily use shortcuts launches the Daily Gratitude Journal I keep in Day One. I like this shortcut because it brings me into the writing space quickly, and Day One is configured to create a new entry from a template with the prompt, “Today I’m Grateful For,” ready to go.


To further my intentionality around journaling, I’ve also connected a Focus mode that triggers automatically when Day One opens and turns off when I close the app. All I need to do is hit the shortcut and I’m able to write without distraction.

Shortcuts can get very complicated with multi-step actions, although the ones I create mostly just use one or two steps at most. Yet, despite their simplicity, they are delightful and can help build habits for the better. This shortcut was easy to make, thanks partly to Day One’s support of Automation and Shortcuts. You can download the shortcut here if you’d like to use it. Remember to change the name to match your own Day One journal names.

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PKM Toolkit: The Daily Review Journal in Day One

PKM Toolkit is a series featuring ideas, tools, and apps that help collect, organize, review, and share knowledge. You can learn more about personal knowledge management by reading the first entry of the series.


The latest addition to my journalingl practice is the daily review. If you read my post about returning to journaling, you’ll note that I was doing something like this at the beginning of this year, and things went a little sideways which made writing by hand challenging. I’m resurrecting the general idea but changing from paper to digital for the format and tweaking the prompts. I’ve been doing this for several weeks now, and here are a few details on how I’m doing it:

End of Day Routine

I start my day with a brief daily gratitude entry in the morning and try to end my day by doing the daily review and some reading. My total time on this routine is rarely more than thirty to forty-five minutes because there isn’t much day left once the kids are asleep and everything is finished.

Occasionally, I end up doing the review the next morning. I don’t mind adjusting the date for the intended day. I’m not gaming the streaks system. I just want an accounting for that specific day.

My Prompts

These continue to evolve, and I’ve changed them several times already. Right now, every entry has the following questions:

What happened today that went well?

It’s helpful to celebrate and consider the positive moments.

What happened today that could have gone better?

Conversely, the less-than-optimal deserve a quick review too. This is not an opportunity to blame or dwell but instead is a chance to just write it down and have an opportunity to learn from it.

How did I make a positive impact on those around me?

Both David Sparks and Jim Eagar, two of my favorite writers on this subject, have similar prompt in their journaling and review process. This is the most important question I ask. I want to help people, and I think a lot about how I can do that.

Is there anything unfinished that needs to be written down for tomorrow?

This helps to clear my mind. Then, as needed, I take a minute or two of action to create a reminder or maybe put something into Craft or a shared note.

This is not a sacred text

I write a sentence or three for each prompt and rarely more than that. I also try to write what comes to mind without much mental processing or editing. I want the purest consideration I can get, regardless of tone. The intention is not for anyone else to read this. It’s for me to put what’s in my head somewhere else.

Once I’m done, I review what I’ve written down. It helps to process the day and feel gratitude for the better parts or a sense of understanding about what went wrong.

Ignore the Streaks

I love streaks until I break them. Then, my brain starts saying some not-so-nice things. Streaks have their place, but I avoid focusing on them here. I want journaling to become a desirable habit, something I want to do every night, fully aware that I probably won’t always be able to do that.

My Tools

I use Day One for all of my journals. I like having prompts automatically populate when I start a new entry and being able to journal on my iPad, iPhone, or Mac.
 The backup features are helpful too.

I began the year using a print journal to do a version of this daily review, but it didn’t stick for me (mostly because of that pesky broken wrist). Ultimately, the specific tool of choice matters far less than finding the right tool that accomplishes the journaling practice.

Practice Makes Progress

The more I get back into journaling, the easier it is to have it as part of my daily routine. The Daily Review helps me put my day to bed, so I can sleep too. I have a chance to defer and organize lingering things, and if something went well or was not so great, I have a structured opportunity to think it all through.

As you can see by my recent changes, journaling is quite adaptive. You can try something out and change it if it doesn’t work. How you write your thoughts down doesn’t matter as long as you do it. It’s a helpful process in many aspects of my life and one that I recommend to everyone.


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PKM Toolkit: Using Day One for Higher-Level Personal Reflection

I keep several journals in Day One. I’ve had a general catch-all since I started using the app regularly in 2016, and I have a gratitude journal that I wrote about here. The newest one I’ve created is for higher-level personal reflection. It’s where I ponder big ideas.

The most recent entry is about focusing on the present and being in the moment, which I struggle with sometimes. Another topic I’m writing about is humility, looking at this concept through the lens of my relationship with various elements of my family, friends, and professional groups. I don’t write in this journal daily, although I have a reminder to look at it weekly and glance at the topics under review, sometimes contributing and writing further.

Journaling, in whatever form works for you, is worth doing for many reasons. It doesn’t have to be complicated or fancy, and while a prompt or theme can be helpful, it’s unnecessary. Just start writing your thoughts. It helps figure challenges out and better understand yourself and those that are closest and most important to you.

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