Are you still looking for a New Year's resolution for personal improvement? Consider journaling, which studies show could help with mental well-being and anxiety issues, while providing a creative outlet for self-expression.
If you want to go the screen-free sensory route, cute paper journals and notebooks are available, but if you prefer a more multimedia approach to journaling, activate your phone. Free apps that come with Apple's iOS software and Google's Android system let you add photos, audio clips, and more to organize your thoughts, and set electronic reminders to write regularly.
Here is an overview.
Getting started
Maintaining a digital journal requires a few basic steps: choosing an app, writing an entry, and adding new posts regularly. And don't let the fear of writing long contemplative dispatches on a small screen dissuade you. Simply dictate your thoughts to yourself. iPhone either Android phone with its transcription tools, although check its privacy policy if you're nervous about your data.
Using Apple Journal
Apple launched its Journal app in December 2023 and added new features last year in its iOS 18 update, including the ability to print tickets. (the application is not yet available for iPad.) For set it upsimply look for the Diary icon on your home screen or in the application library, Open it and follow the instructions on the screen.
To write a journal entryTap the plus (+) icon at the bottom of the screen and select the New Entry button at the top of the next screen or below a suggested topic. Go to the text field to title your entry and start typing, or tap the microphone icon in the bottom corner of the keyboard to dictate.
In the row of icons above the keyboard, you can format text in bold, italic, or other styles; get more topic suggestions; add photos from library or camera; add an audio recording; and note your location. You can describe your current mood with the Mood screenthat can be shared with health app (if you allow it).
With your permission, the app shows you a list of topic suggestions drawn from your photos, locations, and activities. You can turn off suggestions by opening the iPhone's Settings icon, selecting Apps, choosing Journal, and tapping the button next to Skip Journal Suggestions.
You can bookmark and edit your compositions by tapping the three-dot menu icon in the bottom right corner of each entry. The Diary app has a search function to search for older entries if you don't feel like going back in time.
Using Google Maintain
Google hasn't launched a similar dedicated diary app yet, but it's 12 years old Keep Google You can get the job done, organizing notes, audio clips, web pages, photographs and drawings. To use it you need a google account and the Keep app. The application is available for Android and iOS (including iPad) and Keep content is backed up online, where it can be viewed in a web browser.
Once you've installed the Keep app, open it and tap the plus (+) button in the bottom right corner to start an entry. Using the icons at the bottom of the text entry screen allows you to do things like add a photo or give the entry a background color.
Create and add a “journal” tag Filter your posts from other notes or lists that you can use within the app. And while Keep, unlike Apple's Journal, can't fill you with suggestions, you can ask Google Gemini or your favorite ai assistant for topic ideas.
Other options
Samsung Galaxy users have the Samsung Notes app as another diary option, and keep a diary in one of the company pen based tablets recreates the pencil-on-paper feel of the electronic age.
If you want a diary app with extra features (like automatically adding the day's weather conditions), you have plenty of other options, but you'll probably have to pay for the premium product. Among the many applications that work on most platforms are day one (about $3 a month), Diary ($10 to buy) and the ambitious, ai-powered Reflective (about $7 a month).
Journaling apps make it easier to write about your life without the performative aspect of social media. And paying less attention to what others are doing gives you more time to spend on yourself.
