An Apple Journal alternative, for a diary with its own lock

If you’re looking for an Apple Journal alternative, you probably like journaling on your iPhone and want something Journal doesn’t quite do. This page lays out what each app is built for, using what each one says about itself, so you can pick the one that fits.

What Apple Journal is built for

Journal is Apple’s own journaling app. Based on Apple’s support guides and its App Store listing, it includes:

Photos, music, drawings, audio recordings and your state of mind in an entry
Journaling suggestions and reflection prompts
Search, a calendar view and categories like Photos and Drawings
Sync across iPhone, iPad and Mac with iCloud
A lock with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode
Export of all your entries

If you want your days recorded alongside the rest of your Apple devices, with photos and prompts close at hand, Journal is built for exactly that.

What Diary BFF is built for

Diary BFF is narrower on purpose. It’s a night diary for when your head won’t settle: the conversation you keep replaying, the message you didn’t send, tomorrow’s list that keeps rewriting itself.

Its own PIN, apart from your phone’s

This is the biggest difference. Apple’s guide says Journal locks with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode, the same ways you can unlock your iPhone.

Diary BFF opens with its own PIN, apart from your phone’s passcode. There’s no Face ID or Touch ID unlock, by design. Knowing your phone passcode doesn’t open your diary, and neither does picking up your phone while it’s unlocked.

Wrong tries count down, then the diary makes you wait before trying again.
If you forget your PIN, you can start a reset with your phone’s device authentication. The new PIN only unlocks after a waiting period, and your entries stay intact.
Notifications never show what you wrote.

It writes back, when you ask

Your diary BFF stays quiet while you write. When you ask, it answers in a few sentences, with at most one question and no advice unless you ask for it. The replies aren’t written by a person; your diary BFF is an AI that lives in your diary. It remembers what you wrote, with the date.

Your entries are not used to train AI.

Bring your Apple Journal entries with you

You don’t have to start from a blank diary. In Diary BFF, go to Settings, then Export and import, and pick Apple Journal under From another app. The app shows you how to export from Journal: in Journal, tap the More button and choose Export (on iOS 18, go to Settings, then Apps, Journal, Export All Journal Entries). Save the zip to Files, then choose it in Diary BFF. It tells you how many entries it found before you import them.

Side by side

	Apple Journal	Diary BFF
Built for	Recording your days across Apple devices	Nights when your head won’t settle
Lock	Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode	Its own PIN, apart from your phone’s
Replies	—	A few sentences back, only when you ask
Devices	iPhone, iPad, Mac	iPhone

Features change; check each app’s current listing before you decide.

Which one should you pick?

Pick Apple Journal if you want your days recorded across your Apple devices, with photos and suggestions built in.

Pick Diary BFF if you mostly write at night, want a lock that’s separate from your phone, and want your diary to write back when you ask.

Try it tonight

Download Diary BFF, set a PIN, and bring your Journal entries over, or start a new page tonight. Your first reply comes with the app; more replies and the full Sunday letter are part of the full version.

Apple Journal details are from Apple Support (“Get started with Journal on iPhone”, “Protect your journal entries on iPhone”) and Journal’s App Store listing, checked October 2026. Journal and Apple are trademarks of Apple Inc.; Diary BFF is not affiliated with Apple.