JournalBuddy turns what you say into a written, timestamped journal — entirely on your iPhone. If something isn't working, or you have a question this page doesn't answer, get in touch.
Email: basarasp@gmail.com
JournalBuddy needs two separate permissions: Microphone and Speech Recognition. iOS asks for them the first time you record, and if either was declined, recording will fail silently. To fix it, open Settings → JournalBuddy and switch both on.
Dictation is currently English (US) only. You can type or edit an entry in any language, but speech recognition will not transcribe other languages accurately yet.
Each recording runs up to three minutes, which keeps transcription accurate and reliable. It isn't a limit on entry length — tap Record more and keep talking, and the new dictation is added to the same entry. You can do this as many times as you like.
No. Speech is transcribed by your iPhone's on-device recognition, and entries are stored in local storage on your device. There is no account, no server, and no sync. Nothing is uploaded.
The app lock skips itself if your iPhone has no passcode, Face ID, or Touch ID configured — locking would provide no protection. Set a passcode in Settings → Face ID & Passcode and the lock will start working. The lock also allows a short grace period, so reopening the app within about 30 seconds won't prompt again.
Use Export on the journal list to save entries as a plain text file through the iOS share sheet — Mail, Files, Messages, or AirDrop. You can export everything, a single folder, or just the entries you select. Because entries are stored only on your device, exporting is also how you keep a copy somewhere else.
They are permanently deleted along with it. Entries live only on your device, so there is no copy anywhere for us to restore. Export anything you want to keep before deleting the app.
There is nothing to request — we never receive your data in the first place. Deleting an entry in the app removes it from your device immediately.
Speech recognition isn't perfect, especially with names, unusual words, or background noise. After you stop recording, the text becomes editable — fix anything before you save. You can also edit a saved entry later from its detail screen.
Please email me. Including your iPhone model, iOS version, and what you were doing when it happened makes it much faster to track down.
JournalBuddy collects no data of any kind. Read the full Privacy Policy.