Another journal switch

For the two people that have read this blog on a consistent basis, you know that I’ve started journaling more consistent over the past couple of years. I like writing in a physical journal but, as I’ve stated before, I don’t feel like I’m as open and honest in a physical journal. I tend to hold back. I think I watched too many TV shows as a kid where someone stole the journal and read everything to their friends.

I was excited when Apple introduced the journaling app for the iPhone. It was great. A journal that’s always on you. I had been using Day One so I decided to make the switch to the Journal app. I’ve used it consistently for over a year. Like everyone else on the planet, I was shocked Apple didn’t introduce an iPad version of the app at WWDC last year. It seems like you would want an app like that available on a platform that is more conducive to long form writing. But, they did not.

Several weeks ago, I started contemplating something. I started to think about moving from iOS to Android. I haven’t made the switch and I’m not sure I’m going to. However, the thought has crossed my mind more than once. I’ve been in the iOS ecosystem for so long that I’m not sure it would be worth the trouble of converting everything. One of the things I was thinking about, though, is my journaling setup. I usually journal in the morning. Most of the time I’ll dictate to my phone while driving to work. This is how 90% of my journal entries are created each day. However, if I switch to Android, I would have to switch journaling platforms on the device.

The next thing that happened was I decided to start creating a journal entry at the end of each work day. I ask myself a series of questions about the day and journal about it. Of course this was harder than it needed to be. The reason, like I said, the the journal app is only on the iPhone. That means finding a workaround or typing on the phone. I did have a workaround. I used (my favorite app) Drafts. I could write on the iPad (or the web version at work). Thanks to iCloud sync, I could open the app on my phone, copy and paste into journal.

Like I said previously, most of my journal entries are done through dictation. So this isn’t a problem for the most part. But, that 10% became a nuisance. The friction of writing, copying, pasting was becoming an issue. Pair that with the idea of possibly moving to Android and I decided to switch back to Day One. 

I’ve always been a fan of Day One. Now I’m back. If Apple reintroduces the journal app on the iPad, I might would switch back but it would be hard. One of the things I forgot I missed in Day One was the ability to have multiple journals. So I have a personal journal but I also have a journal for work where my end of day stuff goes. I also have a book review journal. This is so convenient.  Perhaps the most convenient part is the fact it works on more than one device. I can use it on the iPad, the web, iPhone and Android if I decide to go that direction.  I did want everything in one place, so I did take some time and copy all my entries from the Journal app into Day One. So now everything is in one place.

Journaling has helped me get through some stuff over the last year. I plan on continuing the journey. I still write in my physical journals as well. I love pen and paper.