Scrolling through my suggestions, there's one of a Friday night hangout with friends, a photo of my son when he was little from three years ago, a question prompt and a photo of my family picking out a Christmas tree from this past weekend. Some of the Reflection prompts in the Journal app. These thought exercises help me zoom out to see the bigger picture a bit. The prompts aren't cheesy, and I find them interesting, which is, of course, the idea. There are Reflections that present prompts, ideas and questions to reflect on. It also weaves in photo memories from several years back. Journal pulls from my recent activity, showing photos I took, people I texted with, a map of places I visited, music I've listened to, and, if I ever actually logged a workout on my Apple Watch, it would show me that too. Reflections, suggestions, and that time I went to Wendy's

And when I say personalized, these suggestions from my iPhone get real detailed. There are personalized suggestions, called Moments, that give me something to write about. I open the Journal app and click to make a post. Suddenly it makes sense to journal at night on my phone. Instead I do what any sane person does: scroll through my iPhone while in bed. Obviously, when I'm burnt out after a long day, I don't grab my paisley covered Moleskine.

I have plenty of blank journals that I never write in (but for some reason I keep buying them). I've been testing it for a month, with the public beta version of iOS 17.2, and the Journal app is far more than just a place to jot down thoughts on blank pages.

Betjoe mobile app