You write about the same people again and again. In Ember, each of them gets a page.
Get Ember on your iPhoneScan with your iPhone or iPad camera to open it on the App Store.
Free on Mac, iPhone and iPad. Your Apple Journal stays where it is.
Think back ten years. You don't remember a Tuesday. You remember who was there.
Apple Journal keeps your entries by day, and that is a fine way to keep days. But a name in Apple Journal is a word in the text. Write about your sister fifty times, and search can find the word, but there is no place that is hers.
In Ember, you type @ and her name. That's all. The entry lands on her page, beside every other moment you've written about her, in order. Open it in ten years and it is all there, in your own words.
Apple Journal can start you off with suggestions from your photos, workouts and places: what your phone noticed.
Ember opens to a blank page with one gentle question, and no AI that writes, summarises or suggests your words. What ends up on the page is what mattered to you.
And if you like Apple's suggestions, start from one in Ember too. On iPhone, pick a moment in Apple's own picker: its photos, place and people come into a new entry, and anyone already in Ember is mentioned, so the moment lands on their page. Ember only sees the moment you pick.
A year ago today, you met someone. Ember remembers, and brings the moment back on the right day, in the words you wrote then.
When someone you're keeping close starts to drift, Ember quietly lets you know.
Choose a theme, and the type and spacing you like to write in. Three themes are free; Plus opens all thirteen.
When you write about someone, the entry goes onto their profile, so you can scroll back through every moment you've shared or written about them in order.
We'd rather you pick the right journal than ours.
Apple Journal syncs free through iCloud. Ember is free on every device, and keeping them in step is Ember Plus, through your own iCloud. There is no Ember server, so Plus doesn't pay for storage; it keeps a one-person app going. Prices follow purchasing power, so in many countries it costs less.
Apple Journal is already on your iPhone, iPad and Mac. Ember is one free download, and it brings everything you've written in Apple Journal with it.
Apple Journal logs your state of mind to Apple Health. Ember doesn't track moods; it keeps people.
Then Apple Journal already does the job well.
| Feature | Apple Journal | Ember |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, built into your devices | Free, with no limits on what you write. Ember Plus adds sync and every theme, from $4.99 a month in the US. |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad and Mac | iPhone, iPad and Mac |
| Sync | Free, through iCloud | With Ember Plus, through your own iCloud |
| People | Names are part of the text | Type @ to mention someone. Each person has a page with every entry, story and conversation you have kept about them. |
| Organising | Multiple journals | Worlds, stories and tags |
| Starting an entry | Journaling Suggestions from your photos, workouts and places | A blank page with one gentle question, or a moment from Apple's Journaling Suggestions. No AI. |
| Mood | Log your state of mind, saved to Apple Health | Not a feature |
| Staying in touch | Not a feature | A quiet nudge when someone you keep close starts to drift |
| Search | Search your entries | Search the way you remember: a person, a place, a time and a few words, all in one box |
| Lock | Yes | Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode |
| Export | All entries as a ZIP file, or entries as PDF | A full backup as one .zip of plain JSON with your original photos and media, readable without Ember. PDFs of entries and stories, and your whole journal as a printed book. All free. |
| Import from other apps | Not a feature | Apple Journal, Day One, Diarium and Contacts |
Apple Journal details checked on October 28, 2026 against Apple's Journal User Guide for Mac and Apple Support. Apps change, so check there for the latest. Written by Nandha, updated November 9, 2026. More comparisons: all five side by side, Day One, Journey, Diarly, Diarium.
Yes. Your writing, dates, photos, drawings, voice recordings and places come across. Apple's export does not say which journal an entry came from, so entries from several journals arrive together.
Ember is free on every device, with no limits on what you write. Syncing between your devices needs Ember Plus, while Apple Journal syncs through iCloud for free. Prices follow purchasing power, so in many countries Plus costs less than in the US.
Yes, on iPhone. Start an entry from Apple's Journaling Suggestions, and the moment's photos, place and people come in, with anyone already in Ember mentioned by name. Apple's journaling reminders can open Ember too. Ember only ever sees the moment you pick.
No. No AI in Ember writes, summarises or suggests your words. Every sentence in your journal is yours.
Yes, at any time and for free. Back up everything as one .zip of plain JSON with your original media, readable without Ember. You can also save entries and stories as PDFs and print your whole journal as a book. Exports keep working if you never subscribe, or stop.
Import your Apple Journal and pick up where you left off.
Ember