Apple Journal vs Encrypted Diary

Apple Journal is a free journaling app for recording everyday moments and special events. Entries can combine text, photos, videos, audio, places, drawings, and a logged state of mind. On-device intelligence groups outings, workouts, photos, and media into suggestions, while reflection prompts and scheduled notifications support regular writing. You can create multiple journals, search and sort entries, browse a calendar, and view entries by location. Writing tools include formatting, inline attachments, drawings, and audio recording with transcription; Apple says transcription in English excludes Singapore and India locales. State-of-mind entries can be saved to Health, and writing time can become Mindful Minutes. Suggestions are processed on device, with sharing controlled by the user. Device passcodes encrypt entries; iCloud entries receive end-to-end encryption with default two-factor authentication and a passcode. iCloud sync covers iPhone, iPad, and Mac, but Journal entries are not included in iCloud backups.

Encrypted Diary is a private journal with an optional on-device AI companion and a vault for documents and media. The Companion can discuss entries, offer prompts, transcribe speech, summarize writing, and compose a memoir locally. News Reporter Mode interviews the writer over time and assembles responses into a profile. The vault can hold wills, final wishes, secrets, photos, voice recordings, and video alongside entries. The maker describes legacy-sharing options such as scheduled or inactivity-triggered release, contact- or milestone-based release, per-entry sharing, and QR memorial access; these features are rolling out after launch. A FamilyTreesAI integration for posthumous publishing of selected entries is marked as coming. The app is listed for Android, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows, and supports offline access, a privacy lock, media attachments, and end-to-end encryption. The maker says encryption happens on the device and that a lost passphrase cannot be recovered. Optional cloud plans include encrypted backup and cross-device sync. Prices range from $2.99 a month to 499.00 USD once, with a 14-day trial and no free plan.