The iOS 18 update finally brought search to the Journal app. At the top of the Home screen, there is a magnifying glass icon. Tap it to see recent searches and filters. You can look up entries by date, mood, or any word or phrase you used. The app also lets you limit results to text-only posts or those with photos, audio, or videos. Additional filters like Bookmarked Places and Reflections help you find exactly what you need.
Sort by Moment Date or Entry Date
When you write about past events, you can now set the Moment Date to the actual day the event occurred. Entries still default to the day you write them, but switching to Moment Date gives a true timeline of your life. When you sort by Moment Date, your journal flows in the order events happened rather than the order you recorded them. This makes it easy to look back at vacations, celebrations, or milestones in chronological order.
Insights to Track Your Writing Habits
Journal in iOS 18 offers Insights that show your average word count per entry, places you have visited, and how often you write. The app highlights your longest writing streak and any gaps in your habit. These statistics help you stay motivated and spot patterns in your journaling. You can see how many entries you made this week, this month, or over custom time periods.
Calendar View for Quick Reference
A new calendar view marks days with entries and shows your writing streaks at a glance. Tap a date to open the day in the entry for that date. The calendar is also connected to Insights, where you may see the statistics of a certain month or week. This combined view helps you balance reflection with planning and keeps your journal organized by date.
Widgets for Home and Lock Screens
Journal provides Home Screen widgets for Streaks and New Entry prompts. The Streaks widget shows your current streak or your best daily and weekly streaks. Tap it to open Insights for more details. The New Entry widget displays a random writing prompt so you can start your entry with fresh ideas. Lock Screen widgets let you record audio, choose a photo, add mood or location, and open a new entry without unlocking your phone. iOS 18 Journal makes it simpler to find, sort, and track your writing.
The addition of search filters, Moment Date, and rich statistics gives you control over your entries. Widgets and calendar views keep your habit front and center. Many core features like the entry summary and tone rewrite will appear on devices that have the updated versions of Apple products, as well as in the future as the company implements even more tools that those in AI. The combination of all those improvements will assist you in making clear and easy-to-revisit life memories.
