Daniel Hruska In every category of the Apple Store, there are apps that stand out from the rest. In the category of diaries and notebooks, it is an application Day One. From review, which we released almost two years ago, a lot has changed. Day One was in its infancy at the time, unable to insert images, determine location, show weather - all entries were purely text. But there have been a number of updates since then, so now is the right time to re-imagine Day One.
Before we get into the actual description of the application, it's good to ask yourself why you should use a digital notebook at all. After all, only teenage girls write diaries. And that's embarrassing... But how your notes will look is up to you. Today's technology elevates the classic notebook diary to a completely different level. I admit that I would never write a classic diary, but I enjoy inserting photos, location on the map, current weather, playing music, hyperlinks and other interactive elements.
In addition, as a user of the Apple ecosystem, I have the advantage that whether I pick up my iPhone, iPad or sit down at my Mac, I always have Day One immediately available with current data. Synchronization takes place via iCloud, additionally you can also switch to synchronization via Dropbox. In the two years I've been using Day One, I've also changed the way I write notes. At first it was just plain text, nowadays I mostly just insert photos and add as short a description as possible. In addition, memories are better attached to a photograph than to plain text. And among other things, I'm also lazy. But let's move on to the application itself.
Creating a note
The main menu cleverly features two large buttons for creating a new note, since that's most likely what you'll do when you open the app. Press the plus button to create a new note, that's not surprising. You can also create a new note with the camera button, but a photo will be inserted into it immediately. You can either take a picture, choose from the gallery or choose the last photo taken - smart.
Text formatting
The formatting of the text itself has not changed at all. Day One uses markup language Markdown, which at first glance looks threatening, but there is nothing to be afraid of - the language is really simple. In addition, the application itself offers formatting marks in the sliding bar above the keyboard. If you would prefer to write them by hand, you can see a brief overview in the application review iA Writer for Mac.
What's new is the ability to add links from YouTube and Vimeo services, which will appear as a video after saving the note, which can be played directly in Day One. You can also link to the given user profile by simply entering "from" in front of the nickname from Twitter. (You can turn this option off in the settings.) Of course, other links can also be opened, and in addition, they can be added to the Reading List in Safari.
other functions
So that there is no m name of the currently playing song for the note. It may seem like an eyesore, but when you add a photo to the moment, preserving the memory couldn't be easier.
Full support is also new in the current version of the application of the M7 coprocessor, which debuted this year in iPhone 5s, iPad Air a iPad mini with Retina display. Thanks to it, Day One can record the number of steps taken daily. If you own older versions of your phone or tablet, you can at least manually select the type of activity for individual notes - walking, running, driving, etc.
Since the application stores information of a personal nature, we should not neglect security. Day One solves it with the option to lock the application with a code. It always consists of four numbers, and the time interval after which it will be required can be set. I personally use one minute, but you can set the option to request it immediately, after three, five or ten minutes.
Sorting
Just like the main menu items, notes can also be sorted by an axis that arranges the notes chronologically. If it contains an image, its preview can be seen, as well as the description of the location and weather. There is also a special mode that only displays notes with an attached photo or image. Sorting by calendar or favorite items probably doesn't need to be detailed.
In Day One, it is possible to sort content in one more way, with the help of tags. Although many people don't use tags (I'm one of them), sorting using them can be a really big help. To properly test this feature, I created a few tags; it's possible that Day One will make me learn to use them regularly. Tags can be easily added by clicking on the label icon or automatically using hashtags in the note text.
Sharing and exporting
Under the share button, there is a fairly wide range of options for further working with the zip as a text or PDF attachment. The note can also be opened directly in a text editor or PDF viewer. That's why I used these cases iA Writer a dropbox. In addition to a single entry, all entries can be exported to PDF at once, selected entries for a given time period or according to certain tags. It is represented in sharing from social networks Twitter or the already mentioned Foursquare.
Appearance settings
In Day One, there is an option to slightly modify the appearance of the note, specifically their font. You can set the size from 11 to 42 points or full Avenir, which I personally quickly got used to and have subconsciously associated with the application. In addition to font adjustments, Markdown and automatic first line bolding can also be completely turned off.
Other ways to use Day One
How you will use the application depends only on your imagination and desire to find a moment of your time to create a note. On some real stories of people who took that moment:
- Watched movies: I'll write the name of the movie on the first line, then sometimes I'll add my review and rate it from 1 to 10. If I've been to the movie theater, I'll add its location using Foursqare, and usually add a photo as well. Finally, I add the "movie" tag and this creates my database of watched movies.
- Food: I don't record every meal, but if one is out of the ordinary or if I tried something new in a restaurant, I add a short description with a photo and add the tags #breakfast, #lunch or #dinner. This can be useful if you want to return to a given restaurant and can't remember what you ordered last time.
- Travel notes: For each trip or vacation, I create a specific tag such as "Trip: Praděd 2013" and add it to each note from this trip. (Event support that will include additional metadata such as time slot, location, and more is in the works for future versions.)
- Word processor: Since Day One supports printing and exporting, I create all my documents in Day One. Thanks to Markdown formatting, I don't need another text editor.
- Recording ideas: Our brains only have a limited amount of space for everything we do or think about. The solution is to get your ideas out of your head quickly enough and write them down somewhere. I use Day One to jot down my ideas, always tagging them as "idea". Then I go back to them and add more details because I don't have to worry about maintaining the initial idea itself. I know I wrote it down, which allowed me to think about it more deeply. This helps me focus more.
- Writing an email: When I write an important email, I see it as an important part of my day, life, and actually everything I do. That's why I want to keep a journal that helps me tell the story of my life without having to go through a giant Gmail archive. I also prefer writing an email in Day One thanks to the Markdown support, because it feels kind of natural to me.
- Location recording/Foursquare check-in: Rather than "checking in" through the official Foursquare apps, I keep my data in Day One because I can add more details to the location, including a photo.
- Work log: I record every call, meeting or decision regarding my business. This has worked well for me due to the fact that I can easily find the dates, times and results of meetings.
- An unconventional child's diary: I am writing my five-year-old daughter's diary. We take photos and write down the past days, family trips, what is happening at school, etc. We write everything from her point of view by asking her questions about the past day. When she's older, maybe she'll have a good laugh at herself.
These are just a few examples of how Day One helps people preserve their memories and ideas. I myself cannot imagine my Apple devices without the presence of Day One at all. If you own both an iPhone and an iPad, you'll be delighted - the app is universal. For the full price of 4,49 euros, i.e. 120 CZK, you get an unrivaled tool that will help make your life easier or richer.
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The wonderful version for OSX is also worth mentioning, of course with support for synchronization to iCloud or dropbox.
So I have to say that, unlike the author, I am not very satisfied with the Day One application. Please note that I am using (or tried for 14 days) the iPad version. It looks nice on the screenshots, but the work in it is unnecessarily rigid. Every little thing requires too much clicking. And that gets tiring/annoying for daily records. It is necessary for everything to work itself, in a seamless way, fluidly. And that is far from happening. The individual views of the sorting are somehow "hard", it is not very connected for an easy click, the offers have to be confirmed unnecessarily, few things are offered in the right places by themselves, just for confirmation. Selections and leaves are made in a not very convenient way. Rather, ordinary unfriendly lists, without trying to "slip into the user's fingers". I'm not a journalist to accurately and pictorially document individual cases, but that's how it is... :(
I couldn't find an option to share with another user… maybe with my wife or friends who have this nice app installed. Don't know if it's possible?
First, in the concrete "note" you can see the sharing icon in the lower left corner (an arrow from a square going up).
I have 2 questions: Is it possible to insert more than one photo in one post?
And the second, more important for me: Is it possible to change the date of the photo? For example, if after a few days I edit a photo in another application in a different place than it was taken, I can't place it correctly. Tested on iPhone and iPad. Thanks