The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple plans to launch a new iPhone journaling app, further expanding its health initiatives. Journaling has been proven to improve mental and physical well-being, which aligns with Apple’s increasing focus on health-related features, especially for the Apple Watch.
The rumored journaling app, code-named “Jurassic,” follows a pattern where Apple creates apps with similar features to existing software, occasionally offering them for free to users. This practice, often referred to as “sherlocking,” has been a point of concern for some developers whose products may be directly competing with Apple’s offerings.
Apple’s upcoming journaling app aims to help users keep track of their daily lives by analyzing user behavior to determine typical daily patterns, such as time spent at home versus other locations. The app will also identify activities outside the norm, according to internal documents. A personalization feature will suggest potential topics for users to write about, like a workout or a meeting.
Furthermore, the app will offer “All Day People Discovery,” detecting a user’s proximity to other people and differentiating between friends and colleagues. While Apple has previously collected data about its users’ daily lives, the new app is expected to raise awareness about how this data can be used.
Privacy and security are central to the software’s design, with on-device analysis and data storage ensuring that information is not transmitted or shared. Journaling suggestions will be stored in the system for four weeks before being removed.
The app is set to work with all iPhone hardware compatible with Apple’s upcoming operating system, iOS 17, code-named “Dawn.” Jurassic could be announced as soon as Apple’s June developer conference, the Worldwide Developers Conference, or at a later date.
Apple’s entry into the journaling space will create competition for existing apps like Day One. Paul Mayne, founder of Day One, will need to differentiate his product from Apple’s offering. Day One, founded in 2011, has over 200,000 subscribers paying for the premium version of the app.
The introduction of Apple’s journaling app could impact the broader journaling software market, but the company’s emphasis on privacy and data security may make it more appealing to users concerned about the use of their personal information.
