Curious if anyone here is using Diarly and if so, what their thoughts are. A LONG time ago, I used Day One for a short time. But I think I’m interested in restarting a diary. Nothing too fancy.
I had set up something basic in Obsidian but I was a little directionless and don’t love using that app.
I do have Setapp so that’s a plus since Diarly is on that.
I’ve been using Diarly seriously for about 18 months in total. I have over ten years and a dozen journals in it imported without problem a while ago from Day One. I have a daily journal used every single day and the others are for particular purposes (e.g. piano practice and learning, quarterly review, a holiday in California)
It took me a little while to set the editor (font, size, line length) etc. to preferences that work for me and a while longer to set the prompts I wanted in some journals (e.g. a weekly review journal) as there has to be some trial and error, but I now don’t think about Diarly at all: just about what I want to write. The sync is rock solid and fast for me and I use the encryption it provides - it took quite a while to do the initial sync to encrypt but it works fast and smooth now between my Mac, iPhone and iPad. I occasionally dictate from my watch too.
It looks and feels a bit less polished than Day One, but I can’t say I have ever missed anything from that app and I haven’t had the niggling issues (e.g. weather disappearing, web access suddenly being added) that I had with Day One. Development is still active and the developer responsive. Give it a try.
I use it sporadically. I, too, moved from Day One. I gave up Day One after realizing I was wasting my money (journaling is one of those things I always think I should do, but I always re-discover that it’s just not my thing). I occasionally get on a spurt and use it for a week or so, usually for ski trips to memorize things or remember tips/tricks I pick up, and then stop using it. So for that limited purpose, I’ve noticed no difference between Diarly and Day One, except for when I used an IFTTT recipe to save my social media likes and posts to Day One. I’ve lost the ability to do that.
Thank you, @chrisecurtis and @Evan. I’m going to give it a whirl. Need to not do too much at first.
I use it, it is one of the apps I re-signed onto after leaving Setapp.
I agree with what others have said - I like it, although I am a sporadic diarist.
It is simple and easy to use. it does all that I want a journal app to do. The developer is also improving the app - I noticed recently that it can now transcribe notes.
Enjoy
Nick
I’ve made the switch from Day One (subscription fatigue) as a sporadic journaler since I saw it in SetApp. To be honest, I like the UI of Day One “a bit” better, but I’ve been very happy with the features and useability of Diarly. I’m not sure why I haven’t heard it mentioned on MPU lately when they’ve been talking about journaling.
Hopefully when they review Apple’s Journaling app, they’ll include a comparison to Diarly as well. @MacSparky
I have been using Diarly for a couple of years now. In fact, I took on the task of writing in my journal every day in 2023, and have done so thus far (a few days left). I used Day One prior to moving to Diarly, and have liked the way it works.
I like its use of Markdown, and yet still have ability to use drawing and add tables. I like how the prompts work. I have been using them all year. I like that it has access to AI, if you need it. And my favorite feature is the calendar view.
The other thing I enjoy is the ability to add pictures. I have been adding more of them this year as I track my year.
Now, of course, Day One can do all of this too. For me, I like the fact that Diarly stores its files locally and via CloudKit rather than in another cloud site. And I like that when I found a bug, I was able to connect with the developer and they fixed it right away.
All in all, I have found I like Diarly and will continue to use them in 2024. In fact, I look forward to finally being able to take advantage of the “On This Day” feature because I will have something there on the past days.
For anyone using Diarly’s premium version, do you know if it’s possible to disable the AI Assistant altogether? It’s a little unclear in the non-premium settings and help whether that’s possible.
If you are referring to the /ask command - then yes it can be disabled. I am honestly not sure why a diary journal would have an AI assistant - each to their own I guess!
Thanks! I had the same reaction.