At Journey, we are all about listening to our users and continuously striving to improve our offerings based on your feedback. We understand that the current desktop applications for Windows, Mac Classic, and Linux have room for improvement. These existing apps rely on outdated technology, making it unsustainable to continue their development. Moreover, they lack essential features that many of you have requested, such as Apple sign-in and Journey Cloud Sync.
To address these limitations and provide a more seamless, modern journaling experience, we are thrilled to introduce our new desktop application, Journey Desktop. This app will replace the existing Windows, Mac Classic, and Linux versions, incorporating improved functionality and a better overall user experience.
New Exciting Features in the Journey Desktop App
The Journey Desktop app has many new and exciting features that make your journaling experience better than ever.
New Colored Theme User Interface (UI)
One of the most noticeable improvements is the new colored theme UI, which brings a fresh and visually appealing interface, making the app more enjoyable to use.
Added Email & Apple Sign-in
The app now supports email, Google, and Apple login options, making it easier than ever to sign in and start journaling.
Support Journey Cloud Sync & Google Drive
Journey Cloud Sync and Google Drive ensure that your journal entries are seamlessly synchronized across all your devices, allowing you to create, edit and access your entries anytime, anywhere.
Sort Entries
You can sort them by chronological order or last modified date, allowing you to find your journal entries in the order you prefer.
Coach Programs & Custom Journal Template
For those seeking journaling guidance, the Coach and custom templates feature provides expert tips and customizable templates to help you get the most out of your journaling practice.
Encryption & Biometric Lock
Additionally, your data remains exceptionally secure with End-to-End Encryption (E2EE), offering robust protection for your sensitive journal entries.
The Journey Desktop app further enhances security by supporting passcode lock and biometric authentication. Currently, biometric lock is available only for Mac users but will soon be extended to support Windows Hello.
Shared Journal & Web Links
Sharing your favorite moments is also a breeze with the ability to create shared web links and shared journals, allowing you to effortlessly share selected entries with friends, family, or collaborators.
Export to PDF, Docx & ePub
The Journey Desktop app also offers various export options to cater to your different needs. If you want to preserve your entries in a physical format, the Print to PDF feature is at your service. Alternatively, you can export your journal to DOCX and EPUB formats for editing or electronic reading purposes.
Chat with Your Journal in Odyssey AI
Odyssey AI makes your journaling even better by using artificial intelligence to give you helpful suggestions, making your entries more meaningful. You can also chat with your journal and ask about trends and questions related to your entries. You can even ask about your photos!
Smart Photo Organization
Managing your photos within your journal has never been easier. The smart photo organization feature helps you to conveniently categorize and manage your photos.
The Journey Desktop app has also upgraded its search capability. You can now search for specific entries and even photos! For example, if you search for "Christmas," it will display entries with the search term and your photos of "Christmas."
You can also refine your search results with multiple tag filters option, ensuring you find exactly what you're looking for.
Favorite a Place
The Journey Desktop app automatically detects your current address when you create a new entry. If you wish to modify the detected location, you can simply drag the pin to a different spot on the map, search for a specific place using the search function, or even mark frequently visited places as favorites for quick access.
Immersive Stories Mode
One standout feature of the Journey Desktop app is the Stories spotlight in full-screen immersive mode. In the Stories spotlight, you'll see journal statistics that provide summaries of your journaling habits, a mood tracker to monitor your emotions over time, and coach journal prompts to inspire your writing. Additionally, it showcases throwbacks, allowing you to relive past entries. The full-screen dark mode beautifully highlights your journal, adding to the overall aesthetic and immersive experience.
Alpha Release Date
We are thrilled to announce that the alpha release of Journey Desktop 2024 will be available for Mac, Windows, and Linux on 19 August 2024. This initial launch marks an exciting step forward in delivering a more modern and feature-rich journaling experience. While it's just the beginning, we are eager for you to try out the new app and share your valuable feedback as we continue to refine and enhance the app.
However, please note that the alpha release will not include some features that are still under development. These features include:
- Import capabilities
- Self-hosting support
- Legacy backup
- Zapier integration
- Email reminders and journal notifications
- Windows Hello
These functionalities will be added in subsequent updates as we move closer to the full release.
How to Download Journey Desktop App
Initially, the Journey Desktop app will be self-distributed, allowing users to download it directly from our website. For Linux users, the app will be available on the Snap Store. As we progress, our goal is to make the app accessible through the Microsoft Store and the Mac App Store.
Membership users will enjoy seamless access to the app across all these platforms, unlocking the full range of features regardless of their operating system.
Future Support For Catalyst Mac App on the Mac Store
The current Journey Mac app on the Mac App Store is built with a technology called Catalyst, which is different from the one used for Journey Desktop. Rest assured, the Journey Mac Catalyst app will continue to be maintained and improved, as it shares the same code base as the iPad app. You can expect to receive consistent updates and enhancements, keeping the app aligned with the latest features and improvements offered on other platforms.
TL;DR: This means that you can choose which Journey app you wish to install on your Mac: Journey Desktop or Journey Mac Catalyst!
We are excited for you to experience the new Journey Desktop and can't wait to hear your feedback on the alpha release. Your feedback and suggestions will help us refine and enhance the app to become the ultimate journaling tool. If you encounter any bugs or issues, please file them in the Journey forum. Your contributions are invaluable in helping us create a seamless and enjoyable journaling experience for everyone.