Day One, by Bloom Built, LLC, is a journaling app. While there are other apps allowing you to share every waking moment with every single person on the internet, Day One doesn’t automatically share your entries with the world, giving you a portable diary.
Day One has a clean interface. Tap the “+” icon to add an entry. You can insert photos by either taking a photo or using one from your photo library. Adding tags is simple and gives you another way to organize your entries. In addition to tags, entries are organized by day, month, year, photo subject, and starred. If you want to read a previous entry, you can also scroll through or tap on the arrows.
You can share your entries with the world by checking in to Foursquare or sending your entry to Twitter. If you want to archive your entries, you can convert them into PDFs and email the PDFs to your account or print them if you have an AriPrint printer. Syncing with iCloud is available as is sending your entries to Dropbox.
On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be much to Day One, and I like that the app focuses on just one thing. When I was younger, I wrote in my diary almost every day, a habit I’ve lost. My iPad is next to my bed and I take it many places, so having an app that doesn’t need to be connected to the internet to use allows me to express thoughts I want to keep to myself, and I can use the app anywhere I go as long as my iPad is charged (my iPad is Wi-Fi only). Storing and organizing my thoughts is easier with the app. Writing in a regular diary I would have to flip through dozens of pages. With Day One, I can quickly go to any day, see entries with the same tag, and edit any entry. Day One stores all of your thoughts as long as you have the space. I can share my entries with the world, but I have to do so manually or adjust my preferences in the settings section. In this age of sharing everything to the world, an app that gives you the option of privacy is refreshing.
Day One is available for iPhone and iPad, is rated 4+, is suited for iOS 6.0 or higher, and is $4.99.
