Apple announced a new Journal app in June at WWDC 2023 as part of iOS 17. At the time, the company said the app would be available later this year, and now we know it will arrive soon with iOS 17.2. One thing wasn’t clear, though: whether Journal would work with devices other than the iPhone. Now we know that is not the case.
Apple’s Journal app is only available on the iPhone
With the release of the first iOS 17.2 beta on Thursday, Apple made a preview of the Journal app available to developers. However, contrary to what some might have expected, Apple’s Journal app won’t be available on iPad and Mac at launch.
Users who have installed iPadOS 17.2 beta or macOS 14.2 beta will have noticed that the Journal app is not found on the iPad or Mac, only on the iPhone running iOS 17.2. By diving into the iOS 17.2 code, 9to5Mac can confirm that the Journal app is currently only compatible with the iPhone, and it seems unlikely that it will become available for other devices in the near future.
This is confirmed by Apple itself, as only the iOS 17 webpage mentions the existence of the Journal app. There’s nothing about the upcoming app on the iPadOS 17 and macOS Sonoma web pages.
There are some code remnants left that indicate Apple has developed iPad and Mac versions of the Journal app, but it all seems quite experimental and is unlikely to be ready in time for the release of iPadOS 17.2 and macOS 14.2 in the next months. If I had to guess, I’d say Apple will keep the iPad and Mac versions for iPadOS 18 and macOS 15.
More about the app and iOS 17.2
For those unfamiliar, the Journal app offers a “brand new way to appreciate life’s moments and preserve your memories.” The app offers suggestions for moments you might want to remember and write about based on your photos, music, workouts and more. All data is processed on the device and never sent to Apple.
Third-party apps can access a Journal app API to provide suggestions as well.
iOS 17.2 also brings some new features to Apple Music subscribers, like collaborative playlists and a new “Favorites” playlist that’s automatically generated from the songs you’ve marked as favorites. Additionally, the update comes with the Journal app, a new translation option for the action button, and some new home screen widgets.
The update is expected to be available to the public by the end of this year.
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