#Macjournal diary mac how to#

#Macjournal diary mac how to#

Apple, Meta, Google, and the zillions of other companies that use our data have yet to figure out how to compassionately curate memories. I had to delete Timehop because it kept showing me pictures of anniversaries with an ex - I’ve long been over it, but why do I need an AI to prompt me to revisit those photos? If I want to remember those times fondly, I know where to find them. Mothers who have miscarried are haunted by ads for baby products because the algorithms think the baby was born. Social media will suggest you friend your ex’s new squeeze simply because you both run in the same circles. As this Wired story beautifully illustrates, algorithms unintentionally repackage the worst parts of people’s lives every day in the name of personalization. I doubt it because I’m not the first one to bring up this issue. I don’t doubt it because I think Apple’s willfully ignoring the problem. Maybe it’ll note that despite all evidence pointing toward death, I keep her as a pinned contact and in my favorites because she’s my mom, and she’ll always be number one in my phone. Perhaps, it’ll put two and two together from the above facts and realize I’ll be more likely to appreciate the prompt during Korean holidays like Chuseok or Parents’ Day. Maybe the AI is capable of recognizing my mom’s portrait next to a grave, cross-referencing that with photos of my mom’s casket, running That’s Okay’s bittersweet lyrics through Google Translate, and coming to the conclusion that this is probably not a suitable journaling prompt for weeks surrounding my mom’s birthday and during holidays like Mother’s Day. Maybe the iOS 17 developers anticipated this and taught the on-device machine-learning model how to interpret complex context clues. The Journal app isn’t out of beta yet, and it’s entirely possible that the final version will include tools that grant users a bigger say in how this app can best work for them. Right now, my concerns are solely based on my previous experiences with Memories and other “On This Day” features from social media and journaling apps. In my experience, it comes from sitting with your worst moments and practicing how to reframe that ugliness into a lesson you can learn from. But even if it wasn’t great, at least Sarah was with me.” The thing about cultivating gratitude is it doesn’t only come from commemorating or reliving happy times. I wish the conditions had been better, but thems the breaks. Things mellowed out around 7AM, though, and hey, I got one or two good waves in. When Sarah picked me up around 5AM, the waves were choppy, and I just kept wiping out. Usually when that happens I have a great day on the water, but today wasn’t my day.

It’d be surprising (though, in my opinion, comforting) if the example above said, “I dreamed about surfing last night. The problem is it gives the app a phony air - and inauthenticity is poison to any kind of journaling. No one wants to dwell on sad or unpleasant things. It doesn’t help that all the Journal app screenshots Apple provided only feature Pollyanna-ish entries.