iOS 17 may bring a new journaling app for iPhone

Developers of diary apps like Day One should be concerned about Apple entering the digital diary market with iOS 17.

• The Apple iOS 17 update may add a new logging app to the home screen.
• Keeping a digital diary can reduce anxiety and increase self-awareness.
• Day One founder says it will block his diary app!

Apple diary and journaling app coming to iOS 17

According to a new Wall Street Journal report, Apple is working on a new standard logging app. The app, codenamed Jurassic, will reportedly ship with iOS 17. The report doesn’t mention this, but we’re betting that Apple will also bring Jurassic to iPadOS 17 and macOS 14 to complete.

“Apple is planning an iPhone app that will allow users to collect data about their daily activities,”it says.

Apple’s journaling app helps users keep track of their daily lives. The software is said to analyze user behavior to determine what a typical day is like, including how much time they spend at home compared to other places, and whether there was anything out of the ordinary on a particular day.

The Cupertino-based tech giant has allegedly decided to enter the digital diary market as part of its broader mental and physical health efforts. According to the medical website WebMD, research has shown that journaling can improve mental and physical well-being by reducing anxiety and increasing self-awareness.

It’s unclear if Apple plans to charge for the app.

All-Day People Search Function

One of Jurassic’s features is reportedly called All Day People Discovery. It will detect when you’re physically around other people, allowing Apple’s algorithm to automatically distinguish between friends outside of work and colleagues.

Another feature that sounds like it’s powered by machine learning will recommend potential topics for you to write about, like workout.

The Apple app will perform all on-device analysis to protect people’s privacy, ensuring that no data is transmitted or uploaded to Apple’s servers.

Death knell of the first day

Unfortunately, this development could easily mean the end of the road for logging software vendors. Bloom Built’s Day One is arguably the best diary app on Apple platforms, but it could be banned if the news turns out to be true.

“Hearing that you are about to be exposed is always unpleasant,” commented Day One founder Paul Maine in a WSJ article. He sold his company to Automattic, the owner of WordPress.com, which is now developing it.

Day one was recently presented by The Verge.

What does it mean to fall under “Sherlock”?

The verb “sherlocking”refers to Apple’s practice of building features into its operating systems that render third-party apps with the same functionality useless.

“When Apple shows interest in a company, it’s the kiss of death,”founder Massimo Corp. Joe Kiani in a separate Wall Street Journal article on Sherlock. “First of all, you are all excited,” he continued. “Then you realize the long-term plan is to do it yourself and take everything.”

The term was coined in the 2000s when Apple introduced a new Mac search tool called Sherlock that allowed users to search for files on their computers and the web. As a result, Karelia Software’s Watson application, which provided Mac users with almost the same functionality, slowly but surely began to lose popularity.

Will this news make you stop using Day One?

Of course, no one is saying that Apple should stop developing native apps just because they might disadvantage some third-party developers.

But it’s also undeniable that building a feature deep in the bowels of the operating system is an insurmountable advantage because there’s no friction for the user. You don’t need to download or install anything, everything works out of the box.

Besides, why would anyone pay for a diary app like Day One when Apple offers the same functionality for free? If you were a Day One user and Apple offered a migration tool, would you stop using the app and switch to Jurassic?