I’ve been waiting for the Journal app to be released since they announced it. I’ve never used any third-party apps because they’re either ad-filled, or I don’t trust them with my data.
I also don't like ad-filled apps, that is why I normally buy my apps.
I have used Diaro before and it was quite good. It could save your entries in iCloud or Dropbox and have apps for almost all platforms. I have also heard good things about Day One.
I played with the app for a bit and I think it is good enough to start with. If you don't have the baggage of trying to import from a different app I think it should be good to go from the get go.
I would have liked it if it could have shown my memories on a map and I could go look at my entries at a specific place etc. It currently only filters on if things are there. Not on the details of what is inside of those things.
But I think it is a good place to start from regardless. And the ability to share things directly with the journal is quite nice. I have already done it with some of the memories generated with the photos app, so I would assume anything can be shared with it.
Hmm. As I understood it the app is for mindfulness. It’s meant to actually just journal your thoughts and feelings throughout the day, nothing more.
The triggers, like workouts or recent activity are just a way to automatically get a prompt to journal about it. Say after a concert or maybe a hike up a mountain. If you allow journaling suggestions, that’s what you get.
When you customize it, you have the option to enable Activity, where it will suggest you journal after some kind of physical activity.
If you know all this and I misread something and the feature isn’t working… beta 1 🙂