by Contrary to what people on Facebook and TikTok are saying, Apple doesn’t want to share your diary entries with strangers.
After Apple rolled out its latest iOS software update in late February, users noticed that the update automatically downloads Journal, the new app that Apple announced in December 2023. The app is designed to resemble a digital journal, with the option for users to pin sites and upload photos alongside their writing, as well as daily writing and reflection prompts.
But iPhone users across social media have started sounding the alarm about the app by sharing warnings about its default settings. In a description widely shared and being copied and pasted on social media (aka “copypasta”), people alleged that the “Discoverable by Others” feature in the Journal app’s settings would notify “someone near you of ‘full name and where exactly you are geo located.”
No, the iPhone Journal app will not give out your personal information
Part of what the Journal app does is provide curated ideas for its “Journal Recommendations” section using Bluetooth. The suggestions are for Journal users who may have writer’s block or need prompts for their entries. rather than taking up freelance writing.
Recommendations include User Activity (workouts and exercise), Media (podcasts and music), Contacts (people you message or call regularly), Photos (from the iPhone’s photo library and shared photos) and Important Sites (recurring sites or spots you spend the most time i). By analyzing these fields, Journal is able to produce hyperspecific entry prompts.
“Incoverable by Others”, a feature in the Journal app that is enabled by default, picks up the number of devices you are near as well as any safe contacts you come within Bluetooth range of. However, it does not save any data about the contacts or people you are near to your phone, and it does not reveal any information to anyone else.
In fact, it is similar to the AirDrop feature, which allows nearby users to share information wirelessly. As with AirDrop, the recipient must “allow” any sharing.
The goal, basically, is for Journal to have some idea of what you did that day. If you were close to a safe contact, you may have been with friends that day (the magazine won’t know or share exactly which contact you were with but will admit that you spent time with “one of your contacts”). If you were surrounded by a ton of other devices at some point, the app could show that you were out doing something that day instead of just at home. With that information, the Journal can come up with tips for you to write about your day.
On its site, Apple writes that the Journaling Tips are to “help you remember and reflect on your experiences.” The information collected from Bluetooth is stored on the individual’s iPhone and is not shared with Apple.
Journal does not share your personal information – name or location – with anyone.
Misinformation about the safety of iPhone apps is nothing new
The dream and fear recall the reactions to another misunderstood Apple iPhone feature: NameDrop.
Released in September 2023, NameDrop is similar to the AirDrop feature, where iPhone users can exchange basic data with each other as long as their devices are nearby. AirDrop is used to share and receive photos and documents; NameDrop allows users to share each other’s contact information without handing over the device to the other person and asking them to input the information themselves.
Warnings went viral across social media, with people claiming the feature “allowed sharing of your contact information just by bringing your phones close together” and said parents should “consider changing these settings later after the update on your children’s phones” to “help keep them safe.”
Apple reiterated that for NameDrop to work, both devices must be unlocked and “within a few centimeters” of each other, and users must tap a “Share” button to complete the exchange. No contact information is automatically shared if two iPhones are next to each other.
How to turn off ‘Incoverable by Others’ on the iPhone Journal app
Users can control whether they are discoverable by other users of Journal apps by disabling the feature.
-
To turn it off, go to “Settings,” then “Privacy & Security.” Click on “Journalism Suggestions” and toggle “Available by Others”.
Users can also turn off Journal’s ability to use the number of nearby devices and contacts to generate writing suggestions.
-
Go to “Settings,” then “Privacy & Security.” Click on “Journalism Recommendations,” and then tap “Preferred Recommendations by Others.”
However, if both features are turned off, Journal Suggestions will not be as accurate or specific in providing tips.
Another privacy concern with the Journal app
Under Apple’s Journaling Recommendations & Privacy page, the company emphasizes that Journal entries are encrypted when the iPhone is locked and are encrypted and stored on the user’s iCloud. There is no specific denial that Apple collects data from Journal, although most of the data used in Journal – the user’s photos and location, for example – is already on their iPhone.
In addition to encryption, users can also enable secondary authentication to open the Iris app, as well as lock the app with the iPhone’s passcode, Face ID or Touch ID.
