Apple’s (AAPL) Journal app officially launched with iOS 17.2 in December 2023, so if you updated your iPhone, you likely saw the app appear on your device’s home screen. It’s designed to encourage journaling and is accessible anytime on your iPhone.
You can add a photo link to a workout you tracked, and to help encourage journaling, it will also suggest daily “reflection prompts.” Recently, though, there’s been a bit of a storm on Facebook and TikTok, with users reporting that the app is sharing your name, among other details, with entries.
Related: 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air with M3 review: Apple’s best gets better
In social media posts, folks are calling out the feature “Discoverable by Others,” stating, “It lets anyone near your FULL NAME and EXACTLY where you’re geolocated.” This is false, though, and there really isn’t a reason to worry.
iPhone updates can sneak in new features that you may not want on your phone. In the latest iPhone update, there is a new feature in settings, under privacy and security, titled Journaling. Once you click on privacy and security, and then journaling, scroll all the way down and tap on journaling suggestions. if the toggle switch is on it allows anyone in close proximity to you to find out your full name and geographic location. If you don’t want anyone to have this information press on the toggle switch and it will turn off. If you learn something from this post Share it with your friends and family, so they too can benefit. Follow me for more tips, tricks and hacks to make your family life and work balance easier. #iphoneonly #iphoneupdate #sneaky #security #iphone #apple #appleupdates #mompreneur #momlife #mompreneursecrets #mom #fyp #tiktok @followers
♬ Scars To Your Beautiful – 🎶🫶🏾
The Journal app on your iPhone does not share your personal information.
Rather, “Discoverable by Others” uses Bluetooth on your iPhone to determine and detect if other devices are near you and if they are one of your contacts. It doesn’t know which contact, though, and it doesn’t store any of this information and processes it on the device. Simply, it doesn’t reveal your information or give you access to anyone else’s information.
The feature is designed to help prioritize journaling prompts. If it detects your device at a coffee shop with another device rather than alone, you may have more thoughts and a higher desire to journal. We’ll note that the Journal app doesn’t know who you were with; it simply wants to have an idea of what you were doing to help encourage journaling.
For instance, you may get a prompt saying, “Afternoon visit to Starbucks” or “Evening visit to Wegmans.” When the appropriate permissions are given, these suggestions sit next to photos, workouts, and even music tracks.
On a support page for the Journal app, as well as within Settings on your iPhone, Apple describes it as:
“Journaling Suggestions may use contextual information to determine which suggestions may be more meaningful or relevant to the user. Journaling Suggestions uses Bluetooth to detect the number of devices and contacts around the user without storing which of these specific contacts were around. This information is used to improve and prioritize their suggestions. It is stored on device, and is not shared with Apple.” — Journaling Suggestions & Privacy on Apple.com
A guide to accessing “Journaling Suggestions” settings under Privacy & Security on iPhone.
Jacob Krol/TheStreet
Furthermore, you can turn this off in Settings entirely by disabling “Discoverable by Others,” meaning that your device won’t be detected; here’s how to do that:
Open Settings on your iPhone and tap “Privacy & Security”Click on “Journaling Suggestions”Turn off “Discoverable by Others.”
You also have the option to turn off getting suggested prompts when you’re detected with nearby devices or contacts. If you turn off “Discoverable by Others” entirely, it will also shut off “Prefer Suggestions with Others.”
Open Settings on your iPhone and tap “Privacy & Security”Click on “Journaling Suggestions”Turn off “Prefer Suggestions with Others.”
Within the same Settings page, you can also turn off all aspects of “Journaling Suggestions.” The Journal app and any entries you may write are encrypted on the iPhone and have the same security level when stored in iCloud. You can also lock your Journal app with multiple levels of security, including a dedicated passcode on top of Face ID, Touch ID, or your iPhone passcode.
If you aren’t using the Journal app, you can turn off the features by heading to Settings, and if you’re uncomfortable, you can disable them as well. But at least we can debunk the myth that the Journal app isn’t sharing your name and location with anyone.
Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024
Apple’s iPhone 15 Plus in Pink.
