Life is difficult and in times where I feel unrest, I have often looked towards journaling. Because by writing it all down, I could understand what I was going through. And so, journaling became a big part of my life.
And so I journaled for years and eventually I decided I wanted something better. I want to go further into my thoughts, ideas and problems but that simply wasn't possible within the current market.
And so, a year ago, I started working on Jadebook. A journaling platform that I personally use, but one that I have always hoped for.
The problem with the old ways
Making journaling apps isn't hard. At least, the core idea isn't. You simply write some thoughts and store those thoughts in a way where you can revisit them in the future. And so there have been many apps that meet this requirement including the simple notes app that comes with any device you have.
But you want a little more. A good experience. You want to write in an accessible way, you want to be able to sort your entries, or store them for as long as possible. And so, we have digital journaling apps.
There have been many, and a lot of them do as promised. But as the world has advanced, these apps feel outdated now, in their UI, in their experience, in their features.
The problem with the new ways
So, you have newer apps. Think of Daybook or the new AI-focused ones like Rosebud. But these come with their own issues.
Many of the apps lock a lot of features behind paywalls. Or they have a cool mobile app but the web app sucks.
Or you have new apps like Rosebud but they go so hard on the AI that it's almost suffocating the actual point of a journal.
What I wanted
I wanted to retain the original idea of journaling. You sit with your thoughts and you write about them.
I wanted to have all the features around the journal experience that realistically, should be free. So, tags, covers, rich-text, icons, theming etc.
I also wanted a way to talk to my journal, so an AI chat with the context of me and my entries.
That's the point of Jadebook. To have create a journaling experience where you have all the features and even the AI, but just enough so that you don't feel overwhelmed.
And honestly, I reckon I've done a pretty good job.