Now that I’ve discovered this amazing new journaling app, I know plenty of parents can make up for lost time without going out of their way. In fact, it might be the very best baby book app I’ve found.
I pretty much ditched the baby book after my oldest daughter turned six months, and now, four kids later, the only record I have is on my personal blog, which is scattered with photos and stories, but not the everyday bits that I’d love to have kept. The DayOne app saves the day. It’s one of the easiest and most intuitive journaling apps for Apple mobile gadgets and computers I’ve ever seen, allowing you to snap photos and add tidbits about absolutely anything, all of which you can then tag and search for easily.
Once you download the app to your iPhone or laptop, you simply click the camera to take a photo or click the “+” to stick with text. You then type your entry, add a location if you choose, and add a category. Once you hit done, you’ve officially created a searchable entry that can be found in myriad ways: By searching keywords, tags, starred entries, photos or even just by clicking on the month-view calendar.
The app even records the weather that day, a cool little detail I just love. And you can customize the appearance, the font and the size too.
Truly, if you spend just one minute with this app you’ll see all the possibilities. For me, I’ve got tags for each of my four kids, as well as birthdays, travel, activities, and school. And while it’s fun to be able to flip through them all right on the app, I think the icing on the cake is that you can export all your entries to a PDF by tag–which means printing individual books for each child whenever you want.
And before you gawk at the $4.99 price, keep in mind that this is way cheaper than a paper journal, or if you’re like me, the shelves full of baby books and moleskines I’ve bought and never kept up with. In fact, it’s a downright bargain.
You can download DayOne for iPhone and iPad at iTunes.com. You’ll need to pay separately if you want it on your Mac computer as well.
Thanks for the review of this. I am thinking about it for just this purpose, but I would love to see a screenshot of what the PDF looks like. I would definitely plan to print out my journal entries for each child but only if looks “pretty” when it’s in its final format. Would you be willing to follow-up this post with a screenshot of a sample PDF?
Also – since I’m new to this app and printing – where would you recommend getting a book printed using this?
Thanks!
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Hi Emily, the export function is not really for making the most “gorgeous” baby books; this is at its core an app for journaling digitally. Still, the printing looks nice and clean, but basic. Not like a scrapbook.
If what you’re really looking for is a printable baby book from an iPhone journal, there might be better options for you like Baby Book app https://coolmomtech.com/2013/07/best-baby-book-apps-ios/
Hope that helps. – Eds
Kristen,
I am looking for a journal app for the purpose of ending with a photobook. I don’t need anything fancy – I just know there is no other way I will ever make photobooks for my family!
Is it a complicated process to get from PDF to photobook? What photobook service/website do you use?