Apple’s Powerful New Tool Helps You Remember It All
iPhone users have enjoyed recording their lives with the Journal app for quite some time now, which launched with iOS 17. Over a year later, Apple is expanding the smart diary app to larger-screen devices. The app for iPad and Mac also ships with new features, giving users even more reasons to log and track their activities.
Support for iPad and Mac was announced with the release of iPadOS 26 and macOS 26 betas, which are available to developers and testers. If you’re interested in testing the upcoming software on your iPad before the public launch, you can follow the guide here.
iPad and Mac Get Better Journaling Tools
The Journal app for these larger form factors will offer unique features tailored to their displays. As showcased, the app’s main screen features two columns: a collapsible sidebar displaying insights, places, and journal categories, while the main content column displays activity entries, images, and videos in reverse chronological order.
Beyond gaining extra screen real estate, iPad users can now use a stylus or Apple Pencil to sketch or draw ideas and objects directly into their entries—a capability notably absent on the iPhone version. This offers the advantage of enriching and highlighting your timeline with doodles and drawings, in addition to photos and text.
On the other hand, Apple states that Mac users can “type long, thoughtful entries and view them on a map.” The company also added that users can manage their journals seamlessly across different Apple devices signed in with the same account.
More Reasons to Use the Journal App
Apple is also enhancing the Journal app with the upcoming iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26. Primarily, creating multiple journals is now supported, and users can insert images inline with text, which previously had a separate section. It’s also easier to search for content within the app, thanks to an enhanced search function. More importantly, deleted entries can now be recovered through a dedicated bin.
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With these new app features and expanded availability, this may encourage more users to start journaling. As Apple continues to improve the app, we may even see more meaningful in-app tools in the future, such as the ability to share activities with family and friends.
What other features would you like to see added to the Journal app? Let us know your best suggestions in the comments.
