Apple's Journal app, released in December, aims to encourage the habit of digital journaling with its straightforward interface. Despite its simplicity, it has not garnered significant popularity, partly due to the absence of iPad support. A potentially concerning feature for some users is the "Discoverable by Others" setting, which is activated by default. Misinterpretations of this setting might suggest privacy invasions, but in reality, it functions differently.
Identified by The Wall Street Journal, the "Discoverable by Others" setting is part of the Journaling Suggestions feature. This feature proposes journaling topics based on various personal data points like phone activity, music preferences, visited locations, call history, and photographs. Despite its name, the "Discoverable by Others" setting does not share your journal entries or suggestions with nearby users. Instead, it's designed to enhance the relevance of journaling prompts by considering your interactions and locations in relation to your contacts.
An Apple spokesperson clarified to WSJ that this functionality aims to improve the journaling experience. For example, if you host a dinner party with friends listed in your contacts, the app might highlight this event in your journaling suggestions, recognizing it as an unusual gathering based on the number of people present. The app leverages location data to infer such interactions but does not explicitly share or store details about which contacts were nearby. Apple reassures users that the feature is designed solely to prompt more meaningful journal entries without disclosing personal information to others.
However, if you're uncomfortable with the "Discoverable by Others" setting, you can easily deactivate it. To do so, navigate to your iPhone's Settings, scroll down to Privacy and Safety, and select Journaling Suggestions. From there, you can toggle off the "Discoverable by Others" option to disable this feature. This action ensures your location and interactions do not influence journaling suggestions, providing peace of mind for those concerned about privacy.