This free app makes journaling so easy that I've managed to do it for 3 months

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ZDNET key takeaways

• Diarly is the best journaling app I’ve ever used.
• It makes journaling easy and actually pleasant.
• The app is available for all Apple devices.

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It’s been a rough year for me. So much so that I found myself needing to do something I thought that I’d never do… journal.

Journaling for someone who writes for a living is like an auto mechanic working on their own car: they know they need to, but the idea of doing it, after a long day of working on other people’s cars, isn’t exactly their idea of fun.

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But my therapist said journaling would be good for me, so I decided to give it a go.

Initially, I struggled to do this, mostly because the journaling apps I’d tried might as well have just been glorified notepads or to-do lists. I wanted something that was not only dedicated to the art of journaling and included only the features I wanted.

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It took me a few weeks to find the perfect app for the task: Diarly.

Diarly is an app that’s available for Mac devices, iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches. There’s a free version, or you can drop $2/month for the Premium version, which adds AI, password/encryption, cross-device sync, unlimited journals, and advanced themes. 

If you don’t need those features, the free version is good enough. In fact, I’ve been using the free version of Diarly for the past three months, and it’s been all I need.

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Both versions include the following features:

• List/Calendar/Maps/Gallery/Stats views
• Image support
• Basic formatting
• Icons and moods
• Tags
• Templates
• Notifications
• Audio recordings
• Weather
• File/link support

Diarly has the perfect collection of features, so you don’t feel like it’s missing anything. Neither is the feature list overwhelming. You can install Diarly and immediately start journaling, which is exactly what I did.

Why Diarly is my go-to

First off, Diarly makes it very easy to journal. Yes, I know that many journaling apps could probably make the same claim, but Diarly really does this task better than most. It’s so easy to journal with Diarly that I’ve yet to feel it was a chore.

I open the app, click +, give the entry a title (I usually use the date), and start writing.

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Although those steps make Diarly seem basic, it’s not. For example, one of the first things you might do when adding an entry is to set your current mood. To do that, type / and then adjust the mood settings to reflect how you currently feel.

You can also then add tags to your entries by typing # and then typing the tag you want to add.

Both Moods and Tags make it easier for you to search for journal entries. For example, if you’re in the midst of a life-changing event, and you regularly journal about it, add a tag for that event, so you can easily find all related entries.

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Ultimately, the primary reason why I immediately took to Diarly is that it’s so effortless to use. There is no learning curve, so you can install the app and immediately jump into writing your first entry. Part of the reason Diarly has such a low learning curve is the well-designed user interface. It’s clean and as user-friendly as any app that I’ve ever used.

Yes, some features might take you a while to find (I discovered tags by accident), but you can jump right in and start doing basic journaling without having to read documentation or running a search to find out how the app is used.

Because Diarly is so easy and pleasant to use, I can jump in, write a quick blog, and jump out. I can go back and add more to that blog entry whenever something important comes to mind.

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Another feature that I appreciate with Diarly is the ability to add icons on a per-entry basis. For instance, whenever I write an entry I’ll want to go back and read at a later date, I’ll add a target icon. Those icons appear in the calendar, so all I have to do is click on that entry and give the post a read.

To add an icon for an entry, click the Start icon at the top center and select the icon you want from the dropdown.

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In short, Diarly is the best journaling app I’ve ever used. I only wish the developer would create a Linux version. Should the developer do that, you can bet I’d pay for the Premium version to sync my journals across platforms.

You can find Diarly in the Apple App Store. Install it, use it, and grow with it.