Apple’s AI-powered Journal app is finally available with the new iPhone update — nearly three months after the release of iOS 17 itself. After Apple released iOS 17.2, iPhone users can now access the Journal app, which allows users to jot down their thoughts in a digital diary. This guide will walk you through how to get started with the Journal app and personalize your experience.
When you open the Journal app, tap the + button at the bottom of the page to create a new entry. If you want to start with a blank slate, when you tap ‘New Entry’ an empty page will appear and from there you can start typing text. You can add in recent photos from your library when you tap the photos icon below the text space, take a photo in the moment and add it to your entry, or include a recorded voice memo when you tap the voice icon. You can also add locations to your entry when you tap the arrow icon at the bottom right of an entry page. If you’re not free to write when a suggestion is made, you can also save specific moments you want to journal about and write at a later time. Using the journaling schedule feature, you can set a specific time to be notified to create an entry, which will help a user make journaling a consistent practice. You can also organize your entries within the app using the bookmarking feature, so you can filter and find them at your own convenience. After creating an entry, tap the three dots at the bottom of your page and scroll down to tap the bookmark tab.
Using your streaming app of choice, you can integrate specific tracks or podcast episodes into your entries by tapping three buttons at the bottom of your screen that opens up the option to ‘share your music.’ The option to share a track to the Journal app should appear and it will sit at the top of a blank entry when you open the app. You can use the same method with other applications, like Apple’s Fitness app, to share and export a logged workout into your journal and start writing about that experience.
