Apple dropped the Journal app onto the iPhone with iOS 17.2 late last year, but it still feels lacking.
Aside from being consigned to the smartphone (here's hoping it comes to other platforms soon), it just doesn't offer the same robust feature set you'll find in a competitor like Day One.
Thankfully a new patent filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (thanks, Mac Observer) may have suggested the next step for the Journal app, and it'll tie in nicely with Apple Intelligence to help recommend things to jot down to look back on later.
Is the Journal app about to get an AI upgrade?
According to the patent filing, Apple will expand on the current suggestions the app offers, where it pulls photos and locations to create entries.
New features could include push notifications for logging events, a new timeline-style entry, and AI prompts like "how was your run" based on what you've been doing on a given day.
We could also see a Journal widget on the iPhone home screen, and some of the images in the filing suggest we could get an iPad version, too, although this isn't outright discussed.
As always, it's worth remembering companies of Apple's size will regularly submit patents and not all are used, but here's hoping for a more robust Journal app experience in the coming years.
