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Apple’s iOS 17 includes boatloads of new features and improvements. One of the biggest additions you can expect from the update in September is the new Journal app. As the name suggests, the app should serve as your personal diary for your daily activities. However, knowing Apple, the app is expected to come with some interesting features.
At present, a multitude of iPhone users turn to third-party journaling applications to chronicle their day-to-day experiences and activities. Others make do with the basic features of the Notes app, which may not be entirely equipped to assist users in crafting comprehensive entries. Recognizing this gap, Apple is poised to introduce a novel journaling app called “Journal” as part of iOS 17, slated for an anticipated release in September.
While the concept of the app may initially appear straightforward or superfluous to some, Apple has ingeniously set Journal apart from its counterparts by incorporating a distinctive feature. According to Apple, the app will harness the capabilities of on-device machine learning, enabling it to offer insightful prompts for journal entries. By leveraging various data points stored on your device, such as music preferences and geographic locations, Journal can intelligently suggest compelling topics for your journaling endeavors. To illustrate, if you utilize your iPhone during a travel adventure, Journal might recommend incorporating this aspect into your journal entry. However, it’s important to emphasize that users retain full autonomy over these suggestions and can decide which contextual cues to include in their journals.
Furthermore, despite the Journal’s utilization of device data for generating prompts, Apple underscores that this data remains strictly localized and does not traverse beyond the confines of your device. As previously mentioned, all suggestions are formulated via on-device processing. Additionally, the data within Journal is safeguarded with end-to-end encryption, and users can opt to fortify the app’s security with a locking mechanism.
Journal will also encompass a notification feature, ensuring timely reminders for daily journaling sessions. Users can further personalize this functionality by establishing their own notification schedules.
Anticipated to be an integral component of iOS 17, the Journal app is currently accessible to members of the Apple Developer Program possessing eligible devices, who are now testing the update through the latest developer and public beta versions. In September, nonetheless, the official release of the update to compatible devices is expected. This will include the official release of the Journal app to iOS users.
