Is the Apple Journal app safe?

Overview
Recommended Age: 13 and up

When Apple rolled out the iOS 17.2 update, it included a new Apple-made app called Journal. It’s exactly what it sounds like – think Notes app, but with the ability to add images and other media, it’s easier to create a journal of your memories and experiences. The app is now quasi-systematic upon launch and you can add entries and that’s about it.

Journal relies heavily on artificial intelligence to access information in your phone to create alerts. For example, if you go to the gym, browse a bookstore and listen to a ’90s nostalgia playlist on Spotify, it will present all of that information and motivate you to write about it.

Harmful content😲
There’s no objectionable content in the app itself – it only contains content you choose to add to it from your iPhone, such as notes, photos, audio files, songs, and other types of media. You can even take new photos in the app that won’t be saved to the camera roll – that’s the default setting it comes with. You can choose to save copies of photos taken in your diary to the camera roll as a security measure, but kids can easily turn this feature off as it’s not password protected.

This becomes doubly dangerous because in this sense, Journal is sort of like an open Vault app. Vault apps are often designed as calculators that don’t deal with numbers, but instead hide photos, documents, and even other apps. This doesn’t mean that Journal apps will always be clean and secure; it just depends on what someone wants to add.

Unfortunately, Journal allows users to lock entries using FaceID, which means parents may even be blocked from accessing it.

Predation🚨
Again, everything that can be put into the Journal app already exists elsewhere on your phone. But if your child is being manipulated by a predator to hide information or take photos, the Journal app may be an option, as it can be locked via FaceID.

Positive value 💙
There’s a lot to be said for journaling as a way to keep track of your life and express your emotions, and studies often show how beneficial it can be. Considering the average amount of screen time kids spend today and how easy it is for kids to store potentially dangerous information in apps, we’re just not sure the iPhone is the best place to perform this action.

Privacy 🔒.
There’s too much privacy in the Diary app, considering kids can lock photos, files, contact info, and more.

Parental Controls ✅
The diary app does not have built-in parental controls. In the phone’s settings, parents have the option to turn off the app’s FaceID lock protection, but kids can also quickly turn it off since there’s no way to protect this feature with a parental password.

So, should my child download it?
Maybe, for kids 13 and up. But that’s not even an option, since Apple automatically installed it on everyone’s phone in iOS 17.2. You can delete it, of course, but kids can re-download it.

It’s not the worst app out there, and it does provide an outlet for teens to express their creativity. But the ability of kids to lock down information behind the app is worrisome to say the least.