I’m a fan of journaling. Taking the time to reflect on your thoughts and actions is a powerful way of learning from experience and moving along the road of self-improvement. Apple added its Journal app to iOS 17 back in December 2023, saying it was a tool “to reflect on everyday moments and life’s special events”. And it’s also part of iPadOS 26. But Apple Journal’s lack of integration means it’s not all it could be.
Apple Journal needs integrations. Today, if I use the Journal app on my iPad (it’s coming as part of iPadOS 26), I want to be able to use it for a few different things. And the good news is that Journal lets you maintain multiple journals. For example, I could have one called Reflections and another as a my exercise and training log. And Apple has made it easy to insert information from some apps directly to journal entries. I can easily add photos, music I’ve listened to through Apple Music and other bits and pieces.
The Journal Problem
The problem is that it’s hard to add data from other apps unless I go through the tedious process of screen capturing what I want to the system clipboard and then switching back to Journal to paste it in. For example, I went for a run yesterday and I like to use the Nike Run Club app for tracking my runs. Why can’t I easily put my run data into a journal entry? And even if I use Apple’s Fitness and Health apps, I can’t choose what data from there I record in my journal.
That lack of flexibility and the complexity of getting data easily into Journal means I simply don’t bother using it.
How Apple can solve it
Apple already has a mechanism that could simplify this process. The widgets that can be added to the Home Screen could be utilised as they provide easy to read summaries of many events. For example, the Nike Run Club widget can show details of a run from any date in a number of different formats. Or the Health app could have a widget for my VO2 max. My food tracking app, Foodnoms, could provide data on the volume of calories I’ve consumed as well as a summary of my macros (protein, carbs and fats).
I could easily insert these into a journal entry and then write/type my own comments along side them.
For a personal journal, bringing in photos, music I’ve listened to, books I’ve read, games I’ve played and other information could be similarly useful. And a further step forward could be templates that automatically bring the most recent information in so I can look at the data in a single view and then start reflecting and writing.
Apple Journal integration with more apps would make more useful.
Anthony is the founder of Australian Apple News. He is a long-time Apple user and former editor of Australian Macworld. He has contributed to many technology magazines and newspapers as well as appearing regularly on radio and occasionally on TV.