Apple Journal vs Twos: Which is the Best Journaling App for You?
by Parker · 78 things on NewTwos
- A comparison of two simple journaling apps
- In our increasingly fast-paced world, taking time to slow down and reflect can be hard.
- We speed through life not appreciating our experiences and the people around us.
- "If you want to find happiness, find gratitude." - Steve Maraboli
- Reflecting can help us learn from our experiences so we can improve in the future.
- Also, many of our experiences are forgotten if we don't write them down. This becomes especially apparent as we age.
- Journaling and writing things down gives us the time and space to capture our memories, learn from our experiences, and appreciate the life we are privileged to live.
- My experience journaling
- I started journaling when I was a freshman in college. At the time, I suffered from depression and used writing as a way to empty my mind.
- I journaled in a single Google Doc and used Apple Notes for lists and random notes.
- As time went on, my Google Doc got slower to open and took longer to add to. My Apple Notes became more unorganized and was harder to find what I had written down.
- My frustration led to a new platform, Twos, to capture thoughts and experiences throughout the day but stay organized over time.
- I also wanted a social side to share some of the things I wrote down privately. This would allow people to connect with people they cared about over what was meaningful to them. It was like a private-first Twitter with no character limits.
- For the past 8 years, I've been building and using Twos to journal and organize my thoughts and ideas every day.
- Apple Journal vs Twos
- Recently, Apple released its own journaling app, Apple Journal, to help people reflect on their experiences and promote mindfulness in our hyper-connected world.
- Today, I will compare these two journaling tools, Apple Journal and Twos, to explain the pros and cons of each, and help you decide which is best for you.
- Apple Journal
- For people who have a hard time knowing how to start journaling, Apple Journal is a great solution.
- Apple Journal thrives as a smart, guided journaling experience. It integrates with many of Apple's other apps (Health, Maps, Music, Photos, Phone, etc.), and uses your activity to start journaling.
- It has some simple formatting options, but its main value add is the smart suggestions, questions to reflect on, and a clean design.
- Apple Journal is free, but limited to the Apple ecosystem.
- Twos
- For people who like to write things down, Twos is revolutionary.
- Twos replaces many of the apps in the Apple ecosystem (Calendar, Reminders, Notes, and now Journal), in one, simple program for writing *things* down.
- Twos' new technology, *things*, allows you to journal, capture thoughts and ideas, set reminders, manage tasks, keep track of calendar events, and more.
- Twos is also free and available on all devices (iOS, Android, web, Windows, and Linux). Plus, it is quick and easy to access on personal and work devices because of Twos' browser access.
- How do they differ?
- While Apple Journal is strictly a journal, Twos offers days to journal and lists to organize and share different types of information.
- Apple Journals leans heavily into AI and suggested experiences and prompts. These prompts are super helpful to know where to start and what to write about.
- Twos is a choose-your-own-adventure depending on what’s on your mind and what's happening that Apple may not know about.
- It’s still too early to tell how Apple Journal will be organized and help resurface past journals (there isn’t even a search). Twos offers a few different views to revisit past entries (review, memories, home) and allows you to share and collaborate on entries with other people.
- Apple Journal focuses on smart suggestions
- Getting started is one of the biggest hurdles for building a journaling habit.
- Apple Journal solves this issue with smart suggestions.
- Apple has access to all of your activity so when you start journaling, it shows you songs you’ve listened to, places you’ve gone, exercises you completed, and conversations you’ve had.
- You can start with a blank page, but the main focus is on the experiences they know you’ve had that you may want to reflect on.
- Apple Journal is privacy focused
- Twos is encrypted in transit and at rest, but Apple is one of the most privacy-focused companies in the world. While they may know everything you’re doing, they aren’t sharing any of this information with other companies or people.
- Apple Journal provides no sharing options. Twos allows you to share individual *things* you write down, links to lists, and allows you to collaborate on lists with friends and family.
- Apple Journal is limited
- Beyond the AI smart suggestions, Apple Journal is limited.
- You can add photos, your location, and your voice, but besides that, there aren’t any features for sharing, searching, or organizing your entries.
- I’m sure they will continue to improve this application as they’ve done with Apple Notes, Reminders, Maps, and more. But, as a new app, it is still fairly limited.
- Twos is more than a journal
- While you can use Twos solely as a journal, its unique technology of *things* allows you to capture and organize any*thing* you want to remember in one place.
- You can turn *things* into to-dos, add reminders, and organize *things* with tags, and manage lists to save and share information.
- Twos can be your notes, reminders, task manager, list manager, journal, and calendar in one place. This saves you time and energy switching between apps and searching for the information you're looking for.
- Twos is everywhere
- Twos is not limited to the Apple ecosystem. Twos is supported on Android, Windows, Linux, and has a web app, so you can journal and access Twos wherever you go.
- Twos also supports Siri integration for capturing *things* with your voice. You can text (833-920-0404), email (save@twosapp.com), and WhatsApp *things* to say organized. Twos also has a Chrome extension to save links and write *things* down while browsing the internet.
- The ability to access your *things* on any device outside of the Apple ecosystem is a major selling point for people who use Windows or Linux computers at work or for people who have an Android device or a spouse with an Android device.
- Sharing with Twos
- While journaling is mainly a private activity, if you're anything like me, sometimes you'll capture thoughts and ideas that you'll want to share.
- We're taking time to be mindful and capture meaningful information to us, and sharing with other people strengthens our relationships.
- Sharing and collaborating is easy on Twos since lists can be shared with a universal link accessible on any device.
- The last difference in Twos is the ability to share lists and *thing* via Twos World. Twos World is a public side of the private-first platform to share, learn, and save information. It’s a new sharing experience that creates deeper connections around the *things* you originally captured privately.
- Quick breakdown
- Difficulty
- Since Twos has many use cases for writing, remembering, and sharing *things*, and with Apple Journal's smart suggestions to get started, Apple Journal will be the easier program.
- Price
- Both applications are free to use.
- Power
- Although Apple Journal has great AI smart suggestions, Twos is a much more powerful, all-in-one application.
- With days, AI auto-detect reminders, calendar integration, task management, templates, and much more, Twos can organize your life in one place.
- Speed
- Even with Apple Journal's clean design, Twos is faster for capturing thoughts and ideas.
- With Twos, you just start writing *things* down. With Apple Journal you need to decide what experience you'll write about or if you just want to start a blank entry.
- While it is not a big hurdle, with Apple Journal, you still need to make decisions before you start writing.
- Which journaling app is best for you?
- If you don't know where to start and are looking for help on what to write about, Apple Journal's AI smart suggestions may be what you're looking for.
- If you just want a quick and easy place to write *things* down, give Twos a try.
- Twos will also help you find, review, and revisit old entries, which is half of the joy of journaling in the first place.
- I hope this provided a bit more context to each platform and helped make your choice to journal with Twos or Apple Journal.
- Please let me know what you use to journal in the comments below.
- Happy Twosday
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