Just like everyone, I had the journaling or diary habit, from previous handwritten to modern digital journaling app, end of DayOne Journal, my personal journaling experience and below is the reason why as a user.
I have used the DayOne journal app since Day One on the iPhone 3 (then 4,5 and Mac, ipad) and bought all the perpetual versions at that time, for iphone, ipad and Mac. Then came Day One version 2, and DayOne became “classic” and later on “retired” it. Again, I bought the iPhone and Mac version, at that time it was still the “perpetual version”, that can be bought off.
Then it starts a “subscription model”, makes my existing version become “Day One Plus”, keeps the dayone version 2 feature where 10 notebooks can sync. At that time they started the Android version. Just like everyone expected, the Apple empire started to fall after Steve Jobs passed away, no more innovation and so do I just like everyone, migrated over to Android smartphones, from Sony z3 and then Samsung S9+ . At that time, Android versions of DayOne do not have perpetual anymore, if you want to use it, and for sync, you have to pay for “subscription model”, that is, continue to pay for it.
Since I have had years of dayone diary data written since Day One, and without sync, it is pointless to use it in the first place, so I end up from being a “perpetual customer” who bought it before and commit to the continuous subscription plan. I write this not to say I am loyal to it, it’s just a logic I think most of the users will do.
I have bought JourneyApp (perpetual license) for Android and Mac, Evernote (ended the subscription a few months back since Atlas feature is no more offered) and OneNote. I would like to say that with those real user experiences, DayOne version 1 is indeed classic, the best so far – elegant and minimalist. DayOne version 2 support for multiple notebooks and multiple pictures in one post, is improving. No mind to pay for the subscription for it as well. But when this version 3 and force all customers move to DayOne version 3, and end the DayOne version 2, the new format becomes the problem. All the write up generated from the DayOne version 3 (from my Mac) if sync over to Android, it can not be edited. The reason being it is an old version, and can not edit new version content. As being paid subscriber had make support inquiry twice, the standard response basically give me the feeling of “you are nobody (and we are now somebody, since we are no need to work hard to improve anything and we got the continuous subscription revenue), you just wait for our future new version come to dayone android, it had no timeline”.
As you can expect I make the decision just like everyone will do. I terminated my continuous yearly subscription plan, that is, End of DayOne Journal, despite already terminating but since I pay yearly in advance, so even if I do not use it for those balance of months, I am just fine, because I strongly understand it will fall soon. The reason is simple, no company in the world can be sustained when they are forgotten in the very beginning for the reason why people use their product in the first place. When you suddenly develop a product and do not sync with your own product and it seems like they are aware of the problem for the user, it does not have a timeline for closing the gap for the product. Do not get me wrong, their Mac I would say works just fine, the problem is on their weak link – the Android platform does not support or in sync for the format change that cause users can only do one way editing. Unless you do all your work in android, then just fine, if that is my case, I do not need the Mac version and what for I paid for the subscription for the sync to take place. Because I need to edit on my Mac and sync it back. Anyhow, I am not here to write about something I do not use more, just tell my true user experience.
Understood nowadays all developers want to transition to a subscription model due to its real challenge to build perpetual products and not get continuous revenue streaming. This is why developers are not really in the data sync business, to make sure they can lock you in, they only support their very own way for sync, regardless if the world got other better technology. This is why few sync disasters happen and users can not be sync for multiple days. From a business point of view, fully understood. But what I can not do is not have a plan for action, despite being fully aware of the issue in hand, but not acting on the issue. As a user, I can only say, before the ship sinks, make sure to migrate all the data out, as it is better to do it sooner than later.
For those who are still in a happy use case and do not be encouraged with my own experience and sum it for End of DayOne Journal. I think for those who are still in the pure Apple ecosystem it will be just fine (or just use a single product). But for users like me who migrated out to other platforms, they are not yet really ready for cross platform support. But since I made the switch decision, it does not concern me anymore.
I found it handy by export and import into journeyapp without data loss, but off course, it is different product, it had it strengths and weakness. Once you are develop your habit and know how to use it, and I had very smooth sync from Android to Mac via Google Drive technology. What I want is just to make 2 way editing possible. Do not make me wrong, I do not say JourneyApp is much better than DayOne or whatever. I used Evernote for note taking and making needs as a subscription customer before, but I stopped it since a lot of core features they can not keep anymore, so I decided to end it, and I now get used to OneNote for note taking and making purposes. At the moment still coexist note taking and making, and journaling needs with both app approaches. Maybe in the future I will consolidate into a single platform, obviously it is where OneNote has an edge due to multiple book, division, section approaches being more flexible. But in that future direction maybe it will go, but for this post the main theme is just for me to express my good time and memory with DayOne is over. This concludes the end of DayOne Journal, my personal experience as a user.
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2021-May-27 Thursday.
I search something in Google and point me back by the link to my own post. I had read it, a two years back post I made at that time.
Last year around March 2020 the COIVD-19 Pandemic happened. I spend a lot of time reading and writing, via old fashioned handwritten journals by using Japanese Hobonichi Techo, from A6 size to now I use A5 size, almost everyday, I will write at least something. It become part of my daily habit already, despite I know the future will go for digitalization, but for handwritten journaling and once you write it become final product, that kind of accomplishment is not any kind of digital journaling can be provided.
I am certain handwritten journaling will survive. In the past two years, I ended Journeyapp (despite the fact that I have the perpetual license), I migrate all data out. Its Android phone experience is good, but really, despite it being cross platform, the rest of the platform, not really its strengths. The DayOne classic clone I do not think meets my needs now.
From time to time, I make use of the Notion app, spend some time making my very own workflow, and just use it, it become one of the platforms I use, where I believe it is the future proof technology as far as current technology offers. As a user, for what I can see, most of them are considered legacy to some extent, focusing on journaling, but for Notion is doing more than just journaling, notebook and it can be almost anything for anyone, it’s up to your imagination.
Back to the topic, Day One version 1 or what being called Classic, really, solid and gets all the things just done right, and being the product for it times.
Orignal post: 2019-Apr-13 (Version 1.0), Update on 2021-May-27.
