User Reviews for Day One

0 out of 5

0 Ratings

2 years ago, BlairOutLoud

Templates save me

I would skip journaling for months, because coming up with something to say everyday started to seem artificial. But creating Templates to prompt my thinking really helps me to keep my journaling habit solid. Everyday I have a prompt asking me what I woke up thinking about. When we wake up things are always on our mind.. some personal, some business, random stuff that bothered you during the night.. whatever. In the afternoon I have a template that prompts me to report how the day went, or what could have been better. I don't always do this everyday, but somedays this prompt catches me at just the right moment and I share a little something. Another best practice is just to share one picture of the day, and talk about it. And of course, the reason you might do all of this, go back and review your entries from past months/years.. etc. You discover so much about yourself. "Why did I think like that?" "Oh look, I still think like this.." "Should I change that thing about my life.. here it is years later and I'm still 'working' on it".. These are the questions that you encounter that really helps you analyze your life, gives you an outlet for gratitude, creates and opportunity for growth. Do it! Journal! It's healthy and wonderful. Thanks Day One for a great product. I tried to switch back to paper, but my electronic journaling is a part of my life. I accept it, learn from it, and can't imagine a life without it.

7 years ago, Emsariel

Does what it says on the tin!

As someone a little too focused on productivity and self-realization tools, I’ve tried a lot of ways of journaling, blogging, publishing, and keeping it to myself. Day One is nice and clean - it’s pretty full-featured, but also lets you turn off, or even better, ignore, features that you don’t want. I’m appreciating being able to write in Markdown, but not having to, as that’s my mode in several wikis that I use for work. Several years and several versions in, I’m really appreciating the line that Day One walks. It has a lot of features, but they don’t get in the way of my fairly simple use. And yet, every few months, I find some feature that helps me write more consistently, more quickly, or expand what I’m writing. The latest discovery was coming to understand the different views, and how satisfying it is to see a long streak in the calendar view. I’d only used timeline view before, but when I looked at the calendar - boom! Easy to use and it helps me write more. I bought Day One (Classic) and wasn’t sure about the upgrade for a while. The new interface is a little more intuitive, and some of the new features are nice. I like multiple images, and I like having the “a year ago” feature without the data being in someone else’s—FB’s—control. I’m not keen on the switch to subscription, but as a developer I understand the tension between ongoing improvements and one-time purchases. The overall cost is still impressively low!

9 months ago, CowboyBill in TN

My favorite app!

December 2023 update: This is my favorite app. I use it daily and multiple times each day. I sometimes start on my iPhone and then continue on my Mac. It’s been updated frequently and has an active roadmap. Encryption was indeed added. You can also export your entries as a PDF that includes a map of locations and a summary sheet for each month. One of these days I’m going to print one of my journals. I do wish they updated that part of the app to allow some customization of image size so text could wrap around smaller images. I backup my journals often, just in case, but haven’t had a need to restore anything in the years I’ve been using it. It’s worth the premium upgrade to support the development of the app. Great active online community (Facebook group). I’m very happy with Day One! Original review (years ago): Sure, it’s missing encryption, a feature that is on their roadmap and from all of the comments here mentioning it, I bet is near the top of their list. It has good integration with lifelogging services like Swarm and Goodreads, via IFTTT. I saw from their Twitter feed that they’ve been demonstrating at tradeshows how the app can be used to print out a book of one’s life using journal entries from this app, so I suspect printing capabilities are coming soon as well. I love that you can already export to PDF. Sync between iPad, iPhone, and Mac apps so far work flawlessly.

7 years ago, westclox

Five Years Deep, Still Five Stars

I instantly thought it was the best when the app was first released some five years ago. Five years later, it is still the reigning champ in the world of journaling. Flexible, powerful, uncluttered user experience, great customer service, reliable and constantly tweeked and improved to make it better- these are all the reasons this is worth your money. I definitely don’t prefer the subscription model that is emerging as the app industry-standard, but that’s not necessarily Day One’s problem. I get it- you’ve got to figure out a way to keep the lights on in a fiercly competitive industry, but still, I clearly realize that this is a way to make more money off of me for a longer amount of time. As a consumer I would much rather pay a one time fee and own the app and it’s features out-right without having to use a slice of my monthly disposable income on an ongoing subscription. But alas it appears that this is where the industry is headed and nobody really cares what a Joe Shmoe like me thinks. But I seriously love Day One- get it now! And if it doesn’t have a feature to address your super obscure need that literally no one else needs or wants, please don’t get all bent out of shape and leave them a one star review. Also, if you’re going to leave them a one star review at least have the class to punctuate your tasteless review. Nothing says intelligence like a paragraph without periods.

2 years ago, RedEmily25

Security and Simpicity at its finest

I bought this app because it's THE result that came up in Google when I searched for "end to end encryption journal iOS". I love that it has security features that put my mind at ease to simply focus on what I want to write. The UI is fairly intuitive and I love that there's both a MacOS and iOS app, allowing me to write long form at home and jot things down on the go. There are just a few small things that I wish were a little different - when I click the plus to create a new entry, I wish it would show me all the templates I have enabled so I could pick one from there, instead of File > New Entry from Template. Also wish there was an Archive feature. I'm sure I'll think of other things, but they're small in the grand scheme of how awesome this app is! UPDATE: I've been using this app for about 6 weeks now and it's been a game changer. In tandem with Reminders and Calendar, I have cleared out a backlog of tasks I've wanted to get done for months/years, I'm writing plans for upcoming events and setting reminders and calendar events to execute them, I've put thoughts to paper that have been half-developed in my mind for a long time and it feels so great to get them down. My mind is clearer, my life is more organized, and I'm happier. Best app subscription I've ever had, hands down, worth every penny.

9 months ago, JohnathonSullinger

Suggestions API brought me back

I had used Day One a long time ago but always struggled with keeping a journal. When iOS 17.2 beta released I started using the Journal app and loved the Suggestions. The Journal app itself wasn't great and I wanted more but I kept using it because of the suggestions. After iOS 17.2 officially released and Day One updated to support the suggestions API I re-downloaded it. I've now been journaling for several weeks with it and love it. I want to write in Day One journal notebook but often have a hard time knowing what to write about. The daily writing prompt Day One has is nice but I much prefer the Suggestions provided by iOS within Day Ones integration. It gives me much more to reflect on. I love the Mindfulness integration the iOS version of Day One has as well. Syncing the time spent writing into HealthKit is great! My only annoyance is that I've started doing longer reflection write ups on my Mac but that doesn't count in the iOS Mindfulness app, despite the time spent typing is tracked on the note. I would love for the iOS app to sync my time spent typing into Apple Health, regardless of where the note typing was done. Once it syncs to my iPhone the iPhone Day One app should synci to Apple Health. Not a huge deal as I just manually create an Apple Health entry for Mindfulness; would love the automation though.

7 years ago, MaximoHemingway

For a person who doesn’t journal I blame this app for changing me.

I’m always told to write it down it will help in coping with issues of life or when you keep forgetting things. I had tried to work with those old composition books as they have been easy and cheap. I spent times writing and times not writing. I find that working with this older method works for some people but its doesn’t 100% work for me. I came across Day One by accident as I was looking for a good txt editor for my old Macbook pro. When I did my search I found a lot but noting that interest me. It wasn’t until I came across the Day One app and started to read over what it was. It was completly diffrent then what I was looking for but it was something that was diffrent then those old composition books a friend suggested I work with. On the technology spectrum I fall in a very rare group as I’m older then most when it comes to being tech savy but when I started using Day One I was kinda of blown away at how easy it was just to have items flow from my head onto the app. It wasn’t about writing with a keyboard over a pencil. It was just easy to get the thoughts from my head onto something I can save, review, and if something should happen a closing txt of what’s been on my mind for a while. I would highly recommend this app as my title points out I’m a person who doesn’t Journal until now.

6 years ago, Josh Fischer

So easy, you have no excuse for not keeping a journal

The interface of DayOne is very clean and easy to use. Exporting backups is great and adding entries is very streamlined. But having the daily reminder to add notes is the best! Every day I get a simple reminder (there is an app that pops open at a scheduled time on my laptop) to add an entry. I plug in a few sentences and click Save. I can snooze the reminder or even close it if I don’t have anything to say. That little feature keeps me in check. I always remember to at least jot down a brief explaination of what I want to journal, then when I have more time I can come back and clean up or expand on the entry. I went from someone saying, “Man, I should really keep a journal.” to becoming someone that has 2+years worth of at least weekly entries. Oh… and that is with the free version. I am about to upgrade because I find myself jotting notes into my phone just to copy/paste them into DayOne later. Having the ability to add entries, pictures and recordings from my phone will be great. Another feature I’m excited to experimnet with is exporting your entries into a physical book. Was very happy when I read about that service. My journal is about my young family, and one day, I’m hoping that this will add up to be a book that I can pass down through the generations.

6 years ago, chanellejoann

Six month user

I would truly love to keep a handwritten journal but unfortunately, I have never been able to make that habit stick. I started using Day One on December 31st (yes, it was a yet another New Year’s resolution to keep a journal). My dad referred me to the Day One app after he tried the trial. I’m happy to report that I have now been using it for 6 full months. I use it on my MacBook, iPhone, and I even used it on my apple watch the other day to quickly note something. Like other users have mentioned, there is some features that would make it even better but I love this app without those features. I pay for premium and I think that the annual fee is completey worth it and reasonable. Day One is a convient way to stick to journaling. It’s neat that it captures the time/place/weather as well. The tagging feature is really convient for me to go back and look at specific entries. Another reason I like it is because I really like to upload one photo a day but sometimes I forget. If you upload photos a few days later, it gives you the option to time stamp the journal entry with the date of the photo. If you have had trouble keeping a handwritten journal, I cannot recommend this app enough! Give it a try, you won’t be disappointed. I will be using this app for years to come. Thanks Day One!

6 years ago, thechrischia

Essential Life Tool

I have been using Day One since 2015. I started with the iOS app, which is fantastic and has gotten better over the years. I then moved to the Mac App which at the time was a stand alone purchase (now available through subscription). The app has constantly improved over the years and I find it essential in my day to day life. I use Day One to document every day of my life. I write something every day even if it is a non interesting day. I find that getting thoughts on paper is essential to my self care. We all have those stressful days and life will happen but Day One is there to pour out frustration, aggrevation and happiness. One of the best features is “on this day” feature. On this day shows previous entries for that day from previous years. Reflecting on the past is always fantastic. Take the time, invest in this app. Use Day One to document life events, free write, self care, stress relief, document your child’s life, keep a picture journal…. as you can see the applications are endless. Subscribe to their podcast to learn about the people who work and design this wonderful app/tool and to get tips directly from the people who are behind it. This isn’t a paid review, I’m just a fan and appreciate everything about this app and I know you will too.

4 years ago, Fefers

Dissapointed

One of my 2021 resolutions was to journal on the daily. I did my research on apps and liked what I read in regards to DayOn e. I decided to download the app and give it a try before purchasing the monthly subcriptions which I was fully going to do. The first week of using the app I was sold. I enjoyed it and appreciated the format and the daily questions it prompts you so that you can journal. I even raved about it to a few friends. One day, I was frustreated and decided to journal it. As I was jotting down my thoughts and on my second paragraph the app just FROZE. I waited a while exoecting it to start up but it never did. I basically lost that entry and was discouraged to re-write it all again. I took a few days to journal again as I was frustrated and didnt want it freeze up again. I decided to give it another shot and as I was writing an entry it froze mid entry. It very discouraging to want to open the app and journal given the constant glicthes. The point of journaling is to write down what is on your mind however, if the app is adding to your frustation there is no point in using it. I want to be able to journal without the app constantly freezing and me losing entries mid point. I really want to like this app given I have boasted about it to friends.

2 years ago, this us broken too

Simple the Best

I purchased Day One 365 days ago. I know that because I have journaled every day since I made my purchase. I use to write down my activities and thoughts about everything that is a part of my life. I also use it to journal the best books that I am reading. This would be an excellent tool for any student. You could organize journals for each of your courses of study. Of course, you must pay the premium to have multiple journals, but that's when the journalling process comes alive. I use my iphone, my macbook pro and my icloud to keep everthing within arm's reach, whenever an idea pops into my head. Some times I just post a note and come back later and flesh it out. I had been looking for a tool that would help me record and organize my independent study. I am 73 years old. When the memory begins to dim, Day One bridges the gap. I have entered more than 300,000 words this first year. And I can generally find anything that I have written in seconds or at least within a few minutes by using the tagging and key word searchs. Don't hesitate, just get it. It's easy, intuitive and integrates with your documents and photos and favorite websites. It does it all.

6 years ago, Verticaltakeoff

Subscription? no iCloud? Not for me.

I will not use this app because I don't believe it's safe to have such personal data on the servers of the app developers. If they bring back iCloud I will use this app again. They say the data can be better encrypted on their servers but if you google "iCloud encryption" it clearly states that the data is encrypted in transit and on the server. So, why not give us the option to use iCloud? I used iCloud sync on the previous version with no issues at all. In fact I was better able to secure my private data as it was automatically copied to my Mac and backed up with Time Machine. I couldn’t have asked for a more secure, fault tolerant way to store my private data. No thanks. I don't want to pay any more small monthly fees. Guess I'll just make a folder in the notes app and store my journals there. Too bad, this had potential to be a good app with a loyal following. For me any "subscription model" service is just a constant reminder to re-evaluate weather or not I really use a service enough to make it worth it. Usually the answer is "NO" after the first payment. I saved off my old journals to PDF files, encrypted them and stored them on iCloud. I won't be using this app again unless thy decide to bring back iCloud storage / synching. Hopefuly Apple adds a few more fetures to notes and this app will be irrelevant. I have found other apps that work as well if not better than this and no subscription and icloud works perfectly.

6 years ago, Yusuf Talal

Grand Dad Says Day One is Awesome

Day One, I’ll confess, has become my rock, my go-to, the app I use to weave together all the different threads of a complex life. In recent years, I’ve turned from finance and law to prose, historical fiction. So I do a lot of research, make lots of notes, and make sure I can recall whatever it was I was thinking when I jotted them down… in Day One. Over the years I have used a variety of apps and software programs, aids to productivity, but none has been more convenient or easy to use or downright useful as Day One. OK. So, I’m an old guy. When PCs came to offices in the 80s, I was there. I’m on a Mac now, and I’m still loving it. Maybe the coolest feature for an aging guy like myself, a grandfather, is that Day One can be produced in hard copy, in color, and hard bound, for posterity. If I can’t leave my grandkids a million bucks, I can leave them something to know me by, not just something to remember me, but something that will actually get them into my head, let them really know me. My life and my thoughts may not amount to a hill of beans, but to some people on the planet, like those who are close and would remember me, this is one of those gifts that keep on giving. In the meantime, I’m using the hell out of it.

7 years ago, tarik.guney

Not realiable anymore

I have been using Day One for quite a while and I have realized that the app is going downwards in terms of realiability. First, there is no explicit iCloud integration setting anywhere and they are simply pushing you to become a premium member of their application so that you can use a simply sync functionality. I have paid tons of money to this application iPhone and Mac combined. Apple has a powerful iCloud functionality for which you need to be a magician to figure out why the application is not syncing properly through iCloud. I hate companies who change their monitization techniques in the middle and leave you confused with what you can do with this application which cannot sync properly in the context of Day One. I have stopped using it and now looking for ways to migrate all of my notes to somewhere else. There are now different alternatives. I have been using Bear editor, which looks really promising and they have been very responsive to my feedbacks. They also use iCloud sync integration, in which I have more confident than Day One servers. Our writings are personal and I don’t want anyone to hack into my journal. Nevertheless, I am now getting errors when opening the application and it asks me to re-install it but does not tell me that it won’t work even after the reinstall. It seems that it is just another tactic of “have you tried to turn off and on it again?”...

6 years ago, ParisPoodle

Unreliable

I’ve been a user of Day One for almost 8 months, and when it works, it’s great. But every now and then, I’d lose an entry or two to some quirkiness in the system—and these entries, despite the efforts of a seemingly helpful support staff, remain lost. Then, just two days ago, after a system-wide upgrade, I lost ALL of my entries. I literally cannot get into my Day One account. Adam at the support staff is helping me at the moment, but based on prior experience, anything once lost seems to be forever irretrievable. I am very upset about this, as the last external back-up of the entries I made was over 3 months ago. I will wait another day or two, but if I can’t get back into my account, and the entries are AGAIN lost forever, people really ought to be warned against this unreliable journaling app. REVISION: Adam was able to successfully resuscitate my account; I don’t understand these things but it seems related to a Mac OS system issue. I give 5 stars to the support staff, and Adam in particular, who persisted; but can only give 4 stars to the app itself, because of the previous lost entries. My take-away: use this beautifully designed app, but back-up frequently by exporting the entries and saving them elsewhere.

7 years ago, Baloo1981

Only way I’ve kept a routine journal

I’ve struggled to maintain a written journal for, well, decades now. Unfortunately I rarely managed the discipline to maintain a long-hand form of the medium, as I simply could not write quickly enough to capture everything I wanted to record without dedicating excessive time to the task. Day One has completely transformed that aspect of journaling for me, allowing me to capture my thoughts about the day at 100 words a minute, drastically lowering the time commitment of journaling and making me far more likely to just do it. Further, I absolutely love the nice clean interface, the ease of importing the occasional photograph, automatic capture of the weather, etc. One other nice aspect is the Export/Import feature. I had to take an excessively long work trip where I would only have access to Windows machines. I found a nice web-based alternative that allowed me to import my Day One entries for a complete record to look back on, then exported the entire bundle back to Day One when I returned. Now that I’m back to Day One I much prefer it, of course, with its wealth of features from strong password protection to daily reminders that “It’s time to write!” All in all, I simply can’t praise Day One enough.

4 years ago, kcbonnell.art

Habit forming

I bought Day One on a whim for my MacBook and I am NOT regretting it. I have tried to develop the habit of keeping a journal for years to no avail, and the only thing to show for previous attempts is a stack of nice books with mostly blank pages. I've tried different methods including bullet journaling but nothing ever stuck until now. I love the Day One experience. The simple interface lets you focus on writing without getting caught up in bells and whistles. The password protection let's me feel like I can really open up, and I'm not just talking about being able to put down the "deep stuff". Every time I use the fingerprint ID or put in my pin on my iPad (the sync is great between the two) it's also a reminder that this is just for me. In turn that let's me write without worrying about everything being "good enough" if somebody were to see it. The best part in my opinion though is the daily prompts, simple questions that get you typing away. It also shows you how much of a streak you've been on. Even when I get home dead tired after my 12 hour shift this app gives me the urge to sit down and write before I got to sleep. All in all an AMAZING product!

5 years ago, Wdav

Subscriptions - BOOOOOOOO!!

A few years ago I paid $30 for this. Update, now unusable for all practical purposes without being strong-armed for more money. And every year I’m sure the prices will go up. Subscription services are lucrative for developers, I guess. But, for the user I have to decide which apps to subscribe to (if any) and which ones I have to quit using because I can’t afford a subscription for every app I use. I don’t mind buying an app at all, but having to pay an annual fee is just beyond my means. And so, I will switch my "DayOne" app to something else because they, at some point, will go to the next version (x.x or Y.x or whatever) and I will be left in the dust having to subscribe to keep up with the technology. If every developer ends up with subscription requirements I will just have to abandon my support for them all. How many $50, $20, $75, $20, $40, $20, $25 services can you afford? For me it’s not many and so I just stop using an app that thinks their product should charge me a monthly or annual fee to use it!! There are plenty of alternatives out there. The smart developer will appreciate their customer’s PURCHASE of an app and take into consideration that users will have to decide which apps to keep or which apps to abandon. The less used apps I have will be the first to go. And, DayOne falls into that category as there are many alternatives that don’t require a subscription fee after purchase.

7 years ago, PlanetMidgar

It’s a great app, but limited functionality.

I really enjoy this app and not only do I not mind supporting the developer with the $35 annual fee, I feel like it helps me keep on track to try and use it every day to keep a daily journal. It’s simple enough for the average consumer and deep enough for more advanced individuals for editing entries. Something that bothers me, however, is the lack of some features that I believe would truly make this a paper journal replacement. Speaking on it’s iOS counterpart, I feel like for me there is a missed opportunity of the “handwritten” note. I wouln’t say I’d use it often for the long, expressive entry, but for the quick, more intimate note, it would be a nice addition. Also, I believe I read somewhere that audio recording/files were something Day One was considering as a future feature; I cannot stress enough how important this fearture would be. Additionally, the ability to import more file types into a note would also be welcome. Do these things break the experience of Day One? Absolutely not. However, for me, this keeps me from giving it 5-stars and recommending it as a must-have app. It’s not entirely different from Apple’s stock Notes offering; lets make it the quintessential diary/notes app to justify the $35 price tag! :)

10 months ago, HuckleberryPie

The best!!

I use Day One for both work and personal. I love that you can create different journals for keeping track of different aspects of life. I use my work journals for my job working for a wildlife photographer and our travels. I track what we photographed, species, when, who we talked to, what follow up actions need to be taken, etc... I especially appreciate the ability to add photos, weather and auto locations. Months later when I'm looking through photos and wonder, "what was this bird we saw at 10:45am on March 1st in Botswana?" I can look in my Day One notes and easily find it. I tried a lot of journaling apps before finding DayOne but DayOne is hands down the best. I've been using it for six years now. Area for improvement. Printing or creating a pdf of a journal is painful. The formating is all screwy. An example, once we are returned from a trip, the office likes to have a copy of my trip journal to keyword photos and video. But the DayOne formats available to create a document are not intuitive and the formating is messy - some fonts very small, some too large. I hope this issue is addressed in future updates.

5 years ago, Yolizzles84

Great way to unwind

I am a full time, stay at home mom who is helping to look after my nephew while my sister works. My family and I just moved to a different state a few months ago and my entire life shifted gears immediately. Everything I already loved and cared about became a genuine reality that it seems I was missing out on. Writing and reading what I was experiencing about my real life reminds me to be constantly grateful; to be mindful, even. I began realizing how writing down what I want, and putting actual effort into making things happen, I hyperaccelerated my personal learning and growth path as an adult by changing my perspective about my own life. By acknowledging the great things about being alive, I have been able to live differently. I began learning Japanese about a year and a half ago and so far, I've learned over 500 words!!! I've also picked up Spanish, Greek, German, French, Swahili, Chinese, Klingon and Arabic. Treating each new language with the respect of being someone else to care about opened me up to a different way of thinking about mental health and what dealing with it looks like for some people. I'm so grateful for this very helpful tool.

5 years ago, OliverTwist78

Deeply Flawed from the Start

I have used Day One Classic since its inception in 2011 and love it. Then, the developers had a bright idea to retire Day One Classic and introduce a completely new Day One. That’s when the problem started for me. I have upgraded Day One app in my iOS device to Premium but would have to upgrade the Day One Classic to the new one for macOS if I want to edit whatever I wrote in iOS devices. The Day One 3.0.5 for macOS is dead on arrival from App Store and does not restore the Premium purchase without crashing and showing the error message that the app is damaged. I deleted everything and reinstalled it countless times. I have contacted the technical support who doesn’t know how to help me properly. The bandying between me and the technician went on for three hours with no improvements. I sent countless screenshots as well as video, showing that the Day One was buggy. The technician didn’t seem to grasp the whole issue and kept parroting the same instructions over and over to no avail. I give up and have started looking for Day One alternatives. I’ve been Day One user for more than six years and felt a big let-down.

4 years ago, jawfin21

This app is just how I wanted it

I came across this app only yesterday. I don't journal every single day, but when I did it was on the default notes app that was on iphone and mac. That worked for me, but this works much much better in my opinion. Everything about this app is so simple but so eloquent at the same time. I am currently writing this review as I found out that it is supported by Mac too and that just got me so stoked. I was a little scared that the premium version was going to take away too much from the free version of that app, meaning that it would be good if you had the premium, but when comparing the features, the free version is honestly just as solid. My main problem is that I don't necessarily keep up with my journalling and I might end up taking a break that could last a few weeks or even a few months before I get back to it. If I do keep up my journalling this time around, I will definitely be purchasing the premium version. I am excited for the future of this app and encourage anyone who enjoys journalling and is reading my review right now to at least try it out. You won't be disappointed.

1 year ago, scottgsmith62

Hate paying the fee, but you get what you pay for.

So, I truly hate paying a subscription fee for any kind of software. It just feels like I'm kind of being taken advantage of in some way. Maybe that's unreasonable, but that's the way it makes me feel. That being said, I have to say that I love Day One. I feel that my journal entries are secure, and I honestly have not found that in other journals. There are a few that I love the interface of, but either the sync capability and the limitations related to that are lacking, or the security feels like it is lacking. The layout of Day One is nice, the fact that you can have multiple journals (one that you keep private and a few that you share), the deceptively simple interface that does just about anything, and the robust security that they have for the journals you truly wish to be private... they have made me begrudgingly love it. Even though I hate paying for this every year, I can foresee that I will keep doing it just because this is a superior product. It is irritating, but the best is going to cost me a little.

3 years ago, tjroberts1

Great Journal App

I've tried a couple different types of journal apps and every time I keep coming back to this one. I like that I can send journal entries from an email directly to the app. If I am at work and I need to get something off my mind I will email it to my journal instead of picking up my phone. This way I look productive vs "why are you always on your phone". I also like that I can do voice recordings if I don't feel like typing them out on my mac or iphone. Another nice features is that I can create a short video and post it in my journal. Now I do wish it was a little longer but I understand why they put a limit on how long the videos can be. I spend more time on a PC than I do a mac these days and wish it had PC support but I guess that is what the email version is for. There are a couple things don't like: the email version is that doesn't formate very well. When I go into the mac version or on my phone the emailed entry will have odd spacing and random returns. I also wish I could attach pictures to the email entry. Overall I really like the app.

1 month ago, rawr_y

11 years in

This is my first, maybe second review of a product ever in the app store. I have been using DayOne for 11 years and it is the only app I never consider canceling the subscription on, that doesn't wax and wane in terms of usage. I was a little nervous when DayOne was purchased back in 2021 by Automatic. I have worked in tech long enough to know that a purchase for the creators and team is a good thing but for customers, it usually comes with strings and changes. However, Automatic has done some great things, made some interesting improvements and most importantly, kept the security of the platform. This was my biggest concern, that our entries and data would be used in a malicious way and/or used to train AI platforms but as of yet, I have not heard of any major breaches or egregious corporate over reach in to our personal information. I would recommend this tool to anyone who wants to keep a secure place for thoughts, pictures, and ideas. Is it a journal app? yes, but journaling is what you make of it. Keep up the great work and I look forward to advancements in the product.

5 years ago, MisstyMountains

Sync Details Could be Better

I lost my old computer about 3 weeks ago due to an unfortunate disaster in my home. I have been using Day One app for almost a year now instead of physically writing in a journal for the exact reason of being able to upload to the cloud/still have my entries if a physical journal would get lost/damaged. In the time I was using the app, I did really enjoy it and was even compelled to pay for the yearly premium subscription (so I could do things like adding more than one photo to a post and have multiple journals) but found the whole "sync" and backing up of journals not very clear. I thought I was all set, but when my previous computer was destroyed, so were all my entries. I was devastated and did reach out to the development team. While they were quite responsive, there was very little sympathy for my situation. I was not able to get my entries back. I see that in the new patch notes, they've added "more detailed sync status" and I think that's a good step on their part, as I believed I was all set with my posts in the cloud but apparently was not. Day One is not a bad application, but I wish the team had been more understanding to my situation and offered better help/options to keep me interested in using their application after the sync function did not work.

5 years ago, Lone Gunfighter

Good Journaling App ruined by import...

I was looking forward to using Day One exclusively for journaling. A year and a half ago, I exported from Day One and imported into Journey. That worked well, but Journey was missing Day One's polish. I tried to go back, but have zero luck importing JSON files from Journey to Day One. Customer Support basically told me I'd have to parse through the JSON differences and write my own importer. Can't believe I'm the only one with this issue. Be aware of importing issues if you want to bring along your old journals!! Update: The developer has stated they will push my request on to the dev team for an updated feature enhancement. I did spend my Sunday writing my own Python importer - which worked well enough to pull my entries from Journey to Day One. Pictures had to be transfered manually, tho. I think an official Journey to Day One importer would bring additional users to Day One. Day One has much more analytics (just from looking at their JSON export file) and the UI is much nicer. I look forward to awarding the additional two stars once my request is fulfilled.

7 years ago, Tom PS

Forget Facebook…Keep your own history

For years I kept a hand-written journal. I found myself thinking deeply about life and what I wanted out of it. For the past few years, I spent less and less time in my journal. Upon refleciton, it was because I was filling my deeper reflective space with Facebook posts and conversations. Then last year, after the ugly 2016 election, I found that I could no longer stand the petty, hateful comments that circulate on FB anymore. They did not stand up to the vapid self-revelations that mostly seemed, with few exceptions, to be public posturing for attention. In short, FB has drained civil discourse of any meaning and authenticity. So…now I have discovered Day One. I can still post my photos and daily history - but they are for me and shared with whomI want to share them with. It feels like I have re-discovered myself and I like what I have found. Day One lets me bring in photos and artwork, links and memories without using a corporate owned system to manage my ideas. I don’t need hundreds of “Likes” if I post something here. I just know it is real for me. Day One has been great for that.

6 years ago, Julk0ng

So far so good

I haven't been using Day One for years like some of the other reviewers but so far I've been enjoying it. I think the UI could be a little cleaner and managing photos in a post could be better—it's hard to organize them in the order I want. A feature I'd like to request would be to have a photo carousel option when an entry is accompanied by multiple photos. It would be great to be able to view all of the photos in one contained, scrollable (like the way Instagram does multi-photo posts) area rather than have them all spread out, making me have to scroll a lot to get through the entry. I can understand some people might want to intersperse text and photo, but for those want to keep it all together, a carousel would be nice. I also like to view my posts by photo and usually only need the first photo to identify the post I'm looking at so I was a little disappointed that in the photo view of the entries, every photo is visible. Meaning, instead of having one clean square per entry, there could be 3 squares for a given day (if I've added 3 photos that day). Not a huge deal, but would be nice to have those grouped so I don't see more than one square per day.

4 years ago, Madamé Cupcake

Best journal ever!

I absolutely LOVE this journal app!! I subscribed so I could sync/journal across my devices, and I am so glad I did. Can't beat $35/yr for something like this!I love having an electronic safe space to do all of my journaling. I love being able to include pictures and tags and such within journal entries. I love being able to create journals for different subjects (I currently have a "Daily Journal" and a "Gratitude Journal" set up, but I plan on adding more soon to have a separate space for blog writing, etc.). The seemless integration/sync across my Mac, iPhone, iPad, AND Apple Watch (although I haven't dove into the uses on the watch very much yet) is priceless. I can start something on my phone, keep going on my iPad, and finish on my Mac (or any combination thereof). I cannot recommend this enough!! Also, I know this is for the Mac version, but I want to include this fun feature for the iPhone app...you can change the color of the icon on the home screen!! Completely personalized! So many details went into making these apps, and I am so thankful for them. Day One journaler for life here!!

3 years ago, tmheasley

Twelve years of Day One

I have been using Day One every day for about five years now, or whenever it was in its infancy. I cannot overstate its importance to me and my family. I have documented daily happenings of my children, with photos and videos and sometimes audio recordings, and I've printed many books to have as beautiful hardcopies on my shelf. The fact that my children will have a record of my thoughts and impressions over so many years is a comforting thought indeed. Before Day One, I used MacJournal. A few years ago-ish (you can tell I lose track of time—it's why I journal!), I found that I could import my MacJournal into Day One. It was lightning fast, and suddenly I had seven-ish more years of journaling right on my phone! I could hardly believe it. Since I've been journaling every day for about 17 years, having so much of it digitally available in one app is priceless to me. It is my number one app of all time, and I am delighted that it gets the support it gets. I've seen its many iterations over the years and I look forward to many years to come.

2 years ago, Pletched

wonderful app but will it protect my journal?

I really love this app and highly recommend it to anyone trying to decide between all the many, many apps for this purposse. It's the one I chose after too much research. I'm only a little alarmed by my password suddenly not working when I tried to log in online. It's a password that was set by apple and it was confirmed in my password app, so I know it's not about me being forgetful. I solved the problem by resetting it, and it wouldn't be too alarming if it weren't for the fact that it had me wondering if they had locked my account for some reason that they decided not to alert me to? It's the only reason I can imagine that I couldn't get access, and yet, that's a pretty big deal for anyone who is looking for a long-term archive of their day-to-day journals. It would really bum me out to lose it all, and I have a feeling they know this. If they block access to my account, I really expect to be notified and to be informed as to the reasoning (data breach or whatever) so that I can be aware of what's going on and can feel confident that my journals haven't been lost forever.

4 years ago, Royal Acres

Excellent Journaling App

Ever since getting my first iPad (the iPad was blind, by the way, it didn't have a camera at all) I have search constantly for a Diary/Journal App that met my needs. Back then "App" was a new term...short for software application. I have been disappointed at the "Apps" that claimed to be for keeping a journal. The iPad was the ideal platform for digital journaling...why didn't one exist? I had given up...until 52 days ago, when I got the Day One App. It's AWESOME...a word that I rarely use. I know that it was 52 days ago, because I've used it ever day since purchasing it. I can collect just about anything you want it to. Twenty days ago I tried out the option to get a printed version of my digital Journal...it came a few days ago...receiving it was a Dream-Come-True!!! Although audio, video, and scans done in the digital version don't make it to the pdf-printed version, the photographs and drawings I added look professional. Encription and privacy are maintained to the highest standards...while syncing to all my devices without a hitch. I'm impressed.

7 years ago, shelbyfayy

Amazingly Useful App!!

I purchased this app several months ago in anticipation of a trip to Europe, as I figured it’s focus on quick but intelligent updates would serve well to memorialize. I severely underestimated it. I use this app on all my devices now. It’s so incredibly intelligent in its interface — you can have several journals going at once, it’s easy to add any images you like, locations are preprogrammed, and my personal favorite feature: it uses those locations to add a map of the places you’ve visited, as Instagram and other apps used to do. I use it every day, even when I’m not traveling or doing anything particularly noteworthy that day. It only takes seconds, less than the length of my average text message conversation — or, alternately, as long as a short essay — whatever I want it to be. Each entry into each journal is easy to edit after the fact, if I only had time to jot down a few words. They also now offer photo books put together and made of all the entries into certain journals over a specific time period! This app is so well worth the money I paid for it!!

5 years ago, @empoweredbelief

Long term user

I have been using Day One for over 6 years now. I have it on multiple devices and is a great win for the person who is a writer or a self evaluator. I love being able to click on a button and go back to my previous years to see how my thinking has changed or my life has changed. The interface is super easy to use. I also use it when I am on the go on my iphone or ipad to write my thoughts and then star it to turn it into a blog post or article for a magazine. The program has allowed me to organize my creativity and find it later. I do have to figure out how to combine all of them and then download onto a seperate drive. I have not tried the membership yet but I am most interested in having them one place physically. So this might be a problem. In my really early days I thought my computer was crashing so i converted them to pdf and that was not fruitful. it was hard to read and formatted weird. I have been pleased with this software to download it to all my new devices each time I buy a new apple product. And I do journal more becasue of it.

7 years ago, Perkygrubb

Far more than I expected

I had the legacy Day One Classic, which I enjoyed immensely. There were some features I had wished it had, such as including multiple photos. But I really enjoyed its simplicity and elegance. I didn’t upgrade to the newer versions becuase Classic was footing the bill. But then, I saw a notice about the new subcription version. Miffed, I wrote a note to the creators expecting my classic version to no longer function. I got a kind reply informing me my classic version would still work, but Adam also suggested I should look into the new version. I didn’t want to pay a subscription though. But I gave it a look anyway. Needless to say, I am a convert! The new version is spectacular. Far better than I imagined it would be. Indeed, I am finding more use for the new features than I thought, including having separate journals for my individual clients. I’m loving my new love affair with Day One and applaud not only the new features, but also the friendly, highly responsive crew over there at Bloom. Sorry to have been stingy guys! It’s definitely worth the subscription!

6 years ago, goodtutor

I've been journalling in Day One for years now.

I do all my journaling and a lot of my thinking in this app, synced across an iPhone, an iPad, and three or four computers. It is solid, predictable, and flexible. I can import images freely and create as many special purpose diaries as I want. I am reasonably confident that my data is secure now that DayOne offers end-to-end encryption, an option I did not hesitate to choose. I have some minor complaints. There have been occasional problems with the sync function, but they seem to have been cleared up. The app's navigation conventions are somewhat awkward and non-intuitive. I wish, for example, that I could keep all my diaries open at once, each in its own window, instead of having to close one to get to another. I don’t find it as easy as I think it could be correct metadata like entry dates and locations. The app’s use of markup codes for italics, boldface, and so on was clunky at first, but is now nearly a seamless as a high-end word processor, except for a bug that gets me stuck in italics, which the developers are working on. But never mind the quibbles. This is a very good journaling app, the best I know of.

2 years ago, yatneal

Love of my life

When I first purchased this app I begrudgingly used it to record my emotional state while starting a ketogenic diet regimen. Like the diet plan, it was difficult to implement into my daily routine. I just didn't think about it. Out of sight, out of mind. Then something magical happened in my life. I moved to another country with no new friends or family to talk to. Occasionally I would share my feelings and thoughts with friends over long-distance phone calls and someone finally said, "You know, you should write down your expreiences so that they can be read by others." So I opened Microsoft Word and began typing my journal, but it was a horrible experience and was not convenient to my needs in this situation. Then I remembered I had purchased "Day One" 3 months ago. As I started using the app, I quickly saw value in upgrading to get the extended features. Now there is not a day that does not go by that I don't use the app. Now I am using the app to help me create my first book. Great job to the development team. Job well done!

7 years ago, Captain-Dan

Great app so far

So far, I am loving this app. I have tried over the past 40 years, if not longer, to keep written journals with very limited success. I came across this app last week and decided to give it a try and I haven’t looked back. So far I’m 100% for writing something on a daily basis because it is just so easy to sit down with my iPad, iPone or Mac and make a journal entry. I like being able to add pictures and the location ability of the app will be awesome when I travel next. Still coming down the learning curve but all the features seem to be fairly intuitive . I really like how easily everything syncs across all my platforms. I miss not physically writing in a paper journal but I’m quickly getting over that aspect of journaling. Reckon if they get the Apple pencil working with the app I could start writing again….but I’m finding i’m very quickly liking the ability to type as my handwriting is getting hard to read. If on the fence, I would encourage anyone to give the app a try and I’d be willing to bet folks will fall in love with it, I have.

7 years ago, billymbus

Day One, Number One!

Well I'm new to the app and I've never had another journaling app prior to this one. That being said, so far I love it. It has really helped me to organize my thoughts. The format really helps me to get my thoughts out and also allows me the freedom and flexibility of being able to create and label my own journals and sync them to my phone. I actually had a problem with getting them to sync over to my iphone and I followed the support link and submitted a question and the guy (adam i think..??) was actually really fast to get back with me and helped me resolve my problem quickly and without guessing at the solution and making me “try” a bunch of different things. I really like how on my phone it will sync up with my pictures that I have taken and the places that I have been that day and it will give me the option to write about or include (the pictures or the places) those items in my daily entry. So far I'm really impressed with the structure of the app and the team that manages it. Keep up the good work! Wonderful app!

7 years ago, MarineRunner29

Returning Customer

I LOVE THIS APP. I very rarely rate a product but I am passionate about DayOne. It’s the perfect app for the beginning journalist and I say that with confidence because that is what I am. It’s intuitive and sharp, so while I can’t write a review that would maybe compare to someone who has a alot of journaling experience I would enourage anyone with the desire to journal to use this app; from my user experince DayOne actually draws you in more to want to journal which is extremely healthy; if that is at the heart of their mission it shows! If there are any issues I have with it I would say being able to accentuate things like bold, underline, or itatlice doesn’t seem to work well for me, usually it puts an asterix near before and after the text I want to accentuate…but I also feel maybe I am doing something wrong and it’s not the app. That is the only practical problem I can say negatively about the app and it may not even be the app. So I highly recommend this app to anyone and literally get excited talking about it to other people.

2 years ago, Angelina spence

Love this app

I use this all the time! I wanted a journal that I could keep my videos, pictures, and text on. It's so perfect. I have the app on my computer to make it easy to type but it's also on my phone to make the picture uploads and convienent journal entries easier. I have a reminder set on my phone so I remember to journal everyday. (You can customize the alerts) I even use it to take notes. You can add tags for easy searching, upload your steps, get daily quotes from famous people, and everything. I love the choose your view option. I can see posts done accross the world, scroll on text view (with small icon pictures), or I can look through my posts via the media I post (This is my favorite view-- the videos will start moving as you scroll the pictures and the dates add a cool effect to it). I made a bunch of templates (with tags), have different journals for different stuff, and I barely scratched the surface of this app. Seriously, it's my favorite app in the world!

6 years ago, JTW770

Beyond Brilliant-A Historical Diary In The Making

First time I have written a review and I am doing it because this app does everything it says it will do. The syncing is perfect between iPhone, Mac & iPad. Creating and sending PDF’s of entries is simple, in fact, everything is efficient, not complex, well organised and so easy to use. When I had an issue, the support was there immediately. The support was there until the matter was completed and sorted. The support staff were polite, provided well thought out and well explained articles which included photos for follow up. Unparalleled service. I love that I can add images from months and years ago and write about them. I can choose the correct date for that photo even though it was taken 3 years ago. The entry can be done chronologically correct. Amazing. Thankfully the updated version adds more photos per entry. Thank you Day One for allowing me to record the minor and major events in my life that I would surely forget over time. What a wonderful gift to give future generations.

7 years ago, thejeffreystone

Day One is the Journal for Life

I have never been good at keep a journal. I have tried many different apps and mediums. I can’t count how many paper-based journals I have laying around negleted. But I have always wanted to be better at keeping a record of my life. Then I came across Day One in 2015 and it all just clicked. I have been using Day One every day, sometimes multiple times a day since. I have more that 4200 entries and growing. Many of my entries are automated. Things like my health information from various sources, places I visit, and pictures I take get dropped into Day One without me even have to think about it. But then I also keep entries of books or movies I have read or seen, letters I write and mail to others, and even the normal diary entry detailing a day or event. None of the other apps came close to the elegance of Day One. On occasion I go back and read something, but generally I just love knowing that I have a record of my life. If you are looking for an app to record your life’s journey Day One is the app for you.

7 years ago, The Very Biggest Al

Great App, Not Cheap

I’ve used Day One Classic, and now the new update, for several years. I like how easy it is to use, and how easy it is to search. It also updates across devices. I had to pay $50 to switch from Day One Classic, which no longer updates, to Day One. That’s not cheap. (You can also subscribe for $25 a year.) If you’re new to using an electronic journal, you might want to download the basic version and experiment. Fifty bucks isn’t bad if Day One becomes a go-to space for keeping track of ideas, thinking through your days, and otherwise working and living like a writer whether that’s what you are or not. Since Thoreau is right when he says that the unexamined life is not worth living, this app will encourage you to stay true to the task each day. You can, of course, set up a word processing document as a journal, which is something I do in conjunction with particular writing projects to keep track of characters, themes, continuity, and so forth. For long term and therapeutic journal writing, I recommend Day One.

6 years ago, joebinis

I use it at work

As a grandfathered Day One app user, I recently upgraded to Day One Plus for $50. There was a problem with my account that prevented the Plus features from working on all my devices, but Adam at Bloom Built got it figured out and working the same day. I've had no problems since. As an IT supervisor for a large network, I have a barrage of information and events coming at me all day long. Phone calls and voice mail; Messages from my team and coworkers; Problems and solutions, but mostly projects notes and tasks. I needed a way to collect the information quickly regardless of what I'm doing or what apps I have running at the moment. Day One solved that problem for me. I click the menu bar entry to create a quick note and optionally give it a tag. Later on I can review the journals, make edits, Share with OneNote (or other apps) when I want. Best of all, the journals are searchable on all my devices, making it easy to quickly retrieve the information when I need it.

7 years ago, TigerSoul613

Very intrusive popups

I have been using this app on iPad for years and it has been amazing. I have only used the basic version, but it is a great way to journel about my day and help me to jot down memories that I’d like to keep fresh. I understand that a lot of the features are limited on the free portion of the app, but these featuers are all that I need and this is very usable in the iPad version. However, with the mac version, the popups are incessent. Switching entries? It reminds you to get premium. Saving your entry? Get premium. Opening the app? Get premium. Basically, any action you take asks you to get premium. I don’t need premium. The basic works for me. If I attempt to use a premium feature, feel free to remind me to get premium. Otherwise, allow me to use the basic featuers and leave me be. This app has been great on iPad, which is why I finally decided to move it to my computer, but if these premium popups don’t stop with the use of just the basic features, it will be deleted and I’ll only use this on my iPad.

7 years ago, ironicsushi

So Far, So Good

I’ve been using this app for less than a week, yet it makes it so easy for me to journal every single day! Better yet, I’m excited to journal. I grew up journaling every single day with a traditional notebook and pen, and something I’ve regretted as I’ve gotten older and busier is lacking the time to really reflect and journal every single day. But Day One has brought that back into my life, in a really clean and smooth way. Being able to integrate pictures and metadata has been amazing, because as a kid I always wanted to include things like the weather, my location, and the time. I had some qualms about switching from pen and paper to electronic, but Day One really has changed my mind. If anything, keeping it electronic will actually allow my memories to last longer! Also, as a developer myself, I see all of the hard work and thought that was put into this app. I just a year subscription because I want to continue supporting the high quality work that I see. Good work, team!

Description

Apple’s App of the Year with over 15 million downloads and 200,000 5-star ratings globally, Day One has reinvented journaling letting you record your life as you live it. Securely save audio, video, photos, notes, and more in the world’s most trusted digital journal. “Day One creates something so rare it feels almost sacred: A completely private digital space.” – New York Times “Day One makes keeping a journal delightfully easy.” – Wired “This superb journaling app remains pleasant to behold, easy to use, and a tough act for any rival to follow.” – Macworld WHY DAY ONE? Day One is the original journal app and a decade of updates and feature additions make it the most private, trusted, and easiest-to-use journaling platform in the world. SIMPLE TO USE, EASY TO LOVE • Beautiful, award-winning design • Unlimited text entries • Unlimited photos and videos* • Powerful rich text formatting with markdown • Different journals for every aspect of your life* PRIVATE AND SECURE • Automatic backups keep your journal entries safe • End-to-end encryption, which is a fancy way of saying your entries are 100% private • Journal entries stay secure with passcode or TouchID • Export options (pdf, plain text, JSON, etc.) ensure your entries always stay yours FORM A HABIT & STAY CONSISTENT • Programmable reminder notifications • Unique, daily journal prompts help eliminate writer’s cramp • Customizable templates save time and add organization to entries • Today view provides a summary of where you’ve been and what you’ve done JOURNAL FROM WHEREVER, WHENEVER • Cross-platform apps available on iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac • The ability to email entries straight to your journal BUILT FOR REMINISCING • On This Day feature allows you to revisit past memories • Tags, favorites, and search filters make it easy to find what you’re looking for • Map view quickly shows all the places you’ve journaled from *Day One is FREE to use forever with unlimited entries. Additional features, including unlimited photos, videos, and sync are available with a Day One Premium membership. Start a free trial today. Privacy Policy: https://dayoneapp.com/privacy-policy/ Terms of Use: https://dayoneapp.com/terms-of-use/ For technical assistance or other inquiries: https://dayoneapp.com/contact/