Day One, the simple journal app for recording your daily doings, is achieving cult status among the blogerati. Latest enthusiast is Brett Terpstra who has developed a quick script which allows a basic syntax for starring entries and defining dates, in natural language. I recommend it if you are a Day One user and have good geek credentials.
I was an early convert to Day One. I reviewed the trio of apps (iPhone, iPad, Mac) last September when I was on my 62nd Day One. I’m now on Day 193 and still going strong. I make a point of writing something every day and, so far, I haven’t missed once.
What a lot of rubbish and routine I’ve committed to memory in this time. But there are sufficient nuggets to make the task worthwhile. Throughout my life I have aspired to keeping a journal and I’ve lost count of all the diaries I started with enthusiasm on January 1 and discarded on January 10. I have also started more than my fair share of computerised journals and I have lots of entries in MacJournal and Momo Note which I need to import into Day One when I have time.
Day One ticks all the boxes for convenience and for encouragement. The Mac and the two iOS apps synchronise perfectly via Dropbox so wherever you are you can open your journal and add a few words. The latest version also supports iCloud sync, although I haven’t yet tried it. Text entry is straightforward and you have no decisions to make. Markdown is supported but you don’t have to use it.
About the only thing I really would like is tagging. It is useful to be able to tag significant dates and events, such as a medical event or a vacation, and then be able to view a summary of all similar information. Tags are promised in a future update.