Introduction ​

In the spirit of the great Steve Jobs, it is the most sacred design principle of Journalistic to make our app as intuitive as possible, rendering a manual virtually obsolete.

However, we're not quite there yet, and now and then you might overlook something or have questions about how a more complex feature works in detail. We, therefore, recommend you do the following.

Just start using the app and play around with it, it's really easy and intuitive, and you'll playfully learn how it works. It's designed that way. Once you're familiar with the basics, or if you encounter any problems along the way, come back and consult this documentation to explore the details.

Finish reading this page though, it contains some useful information.

Concepts ​

The idea behind Journalistic is to have a single place – the app – to store all your relevant thoughts and to provide dedicated tools to organize and recover the latter.

For more information about design principles, etc., have a look at the About page.

Modularity ​

Journalistic is designed to be completely modular, meaning, you can completely customize it to your liking and select which modules you want to use and which ones should disappear from view.

Main pages:

• Write
• Journal
• Reflect
• Insights PRO

Optional modules:

• Dreams
• Highlights
• Tags
• People
• Notes
• Focus PRO
• Wisdom
• Ideas

Progressive Web App ​

Journalistic is a Progressive Web App (PWA). PWAs have some advantages, but also some disadvantages compared to traditional apps, which you should be aware of.

The ups ​

First, the good news. PWAs work on all devices with a modern browser (Android, iOS, Chrome OS, Mac, Windows, Linux, etc.) and they are always up to date, meaning you almost never need to download any updates. PWAs also need significantly less storage on your device than a native app and you will also always get the same experience, no matter if you open the app on a Google Pixel or an iPhone.

A shared codebase between all apps allows us to innovate and ship features much faster than if we would build apps for all operating systems independently.

In general, PWA technology evolves quite fast and gets better while the problems get resolved, slowly but steadily.

The downs ​

And now the downside. PWAs are a rather new technology and while Google is driving innovation in the field, Apple yet has to catch up and currently provides only limited support for PWAs on their devices. Therefore, you have to go through a slightly different installation process if you use an iPhone.

Furthermore, PWAs leverage the system browser to operate. Be aware of that, because if you clear your browser cache, you also clear the cache of all your PWAs. In the case of Journalistic, this means you will reset your device-specific settings (see Settings section). Entries and data are not affected, since they are stored and synced via our servers.

You also might run into problems if you use an exotic default browser that doesn't support Progressive Web Apps yet.

Status badges ​

PRO

Features marked with the PRO badge will be exclusive to users with a PRO subscription, once the PRO plan is officially released. For more information have a look at the PRO version section and the latest pricing information on the website, but note that it might be subject to change.

Features marked with the flask badge are experimental and should only be visible if you have Guinea Pig Mode enabled.

Data privacy and -safety ​

Have a look at our "Talking Privacy of Journaling Apps" post, which discusses the topic in detail – regarding Journalistic, but also in general.

Development updates ​

You can find a version history and a changelog of all development updates on the Updates page, or under Menu › Updates.

Please note that if you use the Journalistic Android app, the version number you see in the PlayStore does not correspond to the actual app version you see in Updates, but to the version of the Trusted Web Activity wrapper that is used to load the app (that one is only updated rarely and has its own version number).

How to get help? ​

If you experience problems with the Journalistic app, please consult the troubleshooting section first, it might have all the answers you need.

For feedback, bug reports, and feature requests, have a look at the feedback section, some of the most frequently requested features are discussed there.

Regarding questions and all other matters take a look at the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) or send us an email, we'll gladly help you out.

Join the community ​

The development of Journalistic depends heavily on feedback from users like you. Join one of our online communities on Discord (community), Reddit (public), or Twitter (public), and be part of the journey.

Please enjoy and have fun with Journalistic ✌🏽