Apple will launch a logging app in iOS 17, but it’s bad news for some developers

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Apple plans to introduce a personal diary app at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June. The app will come preinstalled on all iPhones running iOS 17 and will be tightly integrated with location services, contacts, and more on the user’s phone.

The WSJ based its reporting on an analysis of Apple’s internal product documents. Apple plans to market the app (codenamed Jurassic) as a mental health tool, noting studies that show regular journaling can help with depression and anxiety.

Jurassic (name likely to be changed before launch) will be able to view data stored locally on your phone to determine what a typical day looks like, with access to your contacts, your location, workouts and more. It will give users guidance on what they can do about it, including when the app detects behavior that is out of the normal routine.

It will even offer “All Day People Detection”which will track a user’s proximity to others by distinguishing between work colleagues and friends.

This integration with other preinstalled apps and user data will set the app apart from other journaling options on the iPhone, making it difficult for them to compete. The WSJ report includes quotes from Paul Maine, founder of the popular third-party diary app for iPhone Day One, which was acquired by Automatic in 2021.

Apple’s documentation for Jurassic tries to put user privacy and security at the center of the design, and most or all of the tracking data of users who use the app will remain local on each user’s iPhone and, at least in some cases, will not be saved. for more than a few weeks.

Apple’s privacy-focused policies and messaging seem altruistic – the company has left money on the table before in its commitment to protecting privacy. But policies serve Apple in two key ways beyond happy customers: they provide a clear distinction from competitors like Google and Meta in the battle for public opinion in marketing and public relations, and they prevent third-party apps from having the same access. to user data that Apple does.

When Apple seeks to replace or compete with a third party application, it may sometimes have greater access to user data to support features than those third parties.

The documents seen by the magazine’s reporters did not indicate whether Apple would charge for the app. It’s unlikely to be a premium download or ad-supported, but in the past, Apple has charged users a recurring subscription fee for some features and services.