Apple dropped iOS 17.2 for the iPhone and it comes with one of the most eagerly awaited app in recent memory: the Journal app.
Have you noticed that our iPhones have been trying to fix us? This little gadget in our pocket keeps track of so many aspects of our life, like our schedules, communications, money and health. It’s smart enough to suggest how to optimize our time spent using the device, remind us of when our music is too loud, or point out how much time we spend looking at its pretty screen while scrolling through TikTok.Â
Now Apple has another major selling point: Your iPhone can help you be a better you. There’s a new Journal app designed to help you reflect and practice gratitude by writing about moments in your day. I’ve been using it for the past month, and there are aspects of this app that aren’t what I expected.Â
Apple announced Journal back in June at WWDC. It’s part of iOS 17, but unlike other features, this app needed more time to bake and wasn’t included in the September release of the new iPhone software.Â
I’ve been testing it for a month, with the public beta version of iOS 17.2, and the Journal app is far more than just a place to jot down thoughts on blank pages. I have plenty of blank journals that I never write in (but for some reason I keep buying them). Obviously, when I’m burnt out after a long day, I don’t grab my paisley covered Moleskine.
Instead I do what any sane person does: scroll through my iPhone while in bed. Suddenly it makes sense to journal at night on my phone. I open the Journal app and click to make a post. There are personalized suggestions, called Moments, that give me something to write about. And when I say personalized, these suggestions from my iPhone get real detailed.
Reflections, suggestions, and that time I went to Wendy’s
Journal pulls from my recent activity, showing photos I took, people I texted with, a map of places I visited, music I’ve listened to, and, if I ever actually logged a workout on my Apple…
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