I think there are a few MacJournal users on this forum. For those of you interested, I tweeted to Mariner Software and asked if MacJournal was still being developed. I got a short and not very detailed reply saying, "Yes, we are working on a new update now."

That's good news for a really terrific writing app. MJ hasn't had an update in almost two years, and the developer, Dan Schimpf (Mariner distributes), hasn't updated his blog, which was updated frequently, in almost two years also. So I was beginning to worry the software was abandoned. I thought other MJ users would be glad to get this news, even if it is a bit vague.

Steve Z.

Thanks for the update, Steve. Although in the macOS journal market MacJournal has been somewhat eclipsed by the relative newcomer Day One, I strongly agree with you that MacJournal is a good product, and not just for journaling. I would not wish to see it disappear.

Thanks for the note, Steve. I too hope Mariner or Dan continue maintaining and offering MacJournal.

I only recently appreciated how MacJournal is such an advanced journaling software.

I love the fact that I can directly attach family videos into my journals.

Good grief! I hadn't realised just how powerful MacJournal is!

You can effectively use it as a full-scale info management app. There's rich text and markdown, tagging, templates, "smart" journals (= smart folders), entry (= document/note) aliases, a timeline view, a calendar view, flagging, sorting, hierarchical journal view that includes entries for sub-journals, customisable info bars, word count, attachments, labels, due dates, priorities, status, powerful search function that includes saved searches, geolocation, even ratings and mood...

Well. Rather than me giving a full rundown of all the features, I'd recommend a quick read of the user manual, which is nice and streamlined (http://marinersoftware.com/wp-content/themes/euston/userguides/mjr-userguide.pdf

Having thought I was downloading a relatively simple piece of journaling software, I've discovered something that in its own way, is as powerful as most dedicated info management apps. It looks as if this is going to replace a whole bunch of note-taking apps. Not least because as well as all these lovely features, it's very fast to load, and has a very neat QuickNote facility that allows you to take rich-text notes whenever you want to.

Frankly, I'm somewhat blown away.

Oh, and encryption, too.

Welcome to MacJournal, Bill. I agree with everything you wrote. Though I am still concerned that there seems to have been silence from Dan since 2 years ago. (Maybe he started a new blog some place different than the old one?)

With Mojave looming, I hope we see assurance that all will be well under 10.14. MacJournal is 64-bit, so that box is checked. I've used MJ for its entire lifespan, and I'm satisfied with the features, interface, services, quick notes, etc., and just want to hear from Dan that the app will continue sailing on.

I abandoned MacJournal when it seemed to be "abandonware". In fact, other than a few writing apps for authors, Mariner seemed to be winding down to nothing. DayOne has been scooping up
customers, but I think some would be willing to ditch it now that DayOne is a subscription.

MadaboutDana wrote:

Oh, and encryption, too.

Very fluid application as well; extremely fast.

Have you checked the hidden settings? There are so many experimental features hidden as well.

Very powerful software.

The only issue I have with MJ is the Spotlight part. Only one Main Document (database) can be searched in Spotlight. All other databases (documents) are invisible to Spotlight.

well, I am wrong actually. I just tested it now, Spotlight can index all documents.

Yup, that was my understanding.

You can also instantly import web pages (as well as any other kind of file) by printing them to MacJournal - it automatically creates a suitable entry for Safari.

And the range of export formats is positively overwhelming - there's no danger of not being able to get your data out of the thing!

I'm doing something I told myself I really wouldn't do after settling on Pagico as my preferred task manager - I'm experimenting with task management in MacJournal. Of course it doesn't have the powerful sharing capabilities of Pagico, which means it's only ideal for personal task management, but it has everything you could possibly need to manage your own to-dos.

It's also set up for writing books and publishing them to Lulu.com (it includes things like writing goals, word counts, templated book sections and so on), and can be used as a blog editor for a variety of popular platforms (including WordPress). Oh, and you can open entries up in separate windows (or tabs, if you prefer). And the QuickNote facility "stays on top" of other apps while you're jotting down a quick note.

Plus I confess I find the interface a good deal more appealing that e.g. KeepIt's...

Oh dear. What a CRIMPed afternoon.

And finally, it has a whole bunch of formatting tricks I normally associate with programmers' text editors in a special "Clean Up" menu, including

- removal of multiple spaces (turning them into one space)
- removal of line breaks
- removal of lead spaces
- removal of styles
- removal of links

and various others. I can't believe you can get this for $25 (if you take advantage of one of Mariner Software's many regular discount offers).

It also syncs very rapidly with my iPad and iPhone, apparently by direct WiFi (although it appears you can also use iCloud and Dropbox - but I prefer direct WiFi when it works as well as this).

The amount of meta-data you can pack onto an entry is very impressive. And you can customize the info bar so you can see additional pieces of meta data. One word of caution: If you open the info panel (by clicking the little italic i button), clicking on the button for changing the icon for the entry results in a crash. I reported this to Mariner and was told they are aware of it. (Clock is still ticking on their promised update.)

Steve

And, the Timeline view and the Calander view.

Very neat

Entry templates are in my top 5 MacJournal goodies list. I use these for daybook entries and other categories.

Dellu's spot on about the hidden preferences -- I doubt there is much consumer software that is so configurable. And not just tweaks (like "red" versus "blue"), but rich features that can be activated or not. I imagine the codebase for MacJournal is very complex, which is maybe why we see only rare and incremental change from Dan.

BTW, WiFi sync does not always work on mesh networks. I find it is more reliable to create a network on my laptop, connect the iPad to that network, and then sync MJ on both machines.

MacJournal has been getting so much love here in the past few days that I felt compelled to download and try for the first time yesterday. I have to admit that I wasn’t that imprssed. I put it through its paces and managed to crash it three times within ten minutes. Is it stable? Seems to be a problem with changing icons for an entry.
Steve

steve-rogers wrote:

MacJournal has been getting so much love here in the past few days that
I felt compelled to download and try for the first time yesterday. I
have to admit that I wasn’t that imprssed. I put it through its
paces and managed to crash it three times within ten minutes. Is it
stable? Seems to be a problem with changing icons for an entry.
Steve

I have been using it for a couple of months now (since Day One went subscription), it never crashed on me.

steve-rogers wrote:

MacJournal has been getting so much love here in the past few days that
I felt compelled to download and try for the first time yesterday. I
have to admit that I wasn’t that imprssed. I put it through its
paces and managed to crash it three times within ten minutes. Is it
stable? Seems to be a problem with changing icons for an entry.
Steve

I can crash it 100% of the time by trying to change the icon for an entry. I'm intrigued, but feel as Cap does--worried about stability and longevity.

MacJournal seems to have been in maintenance mode for many years, with little beyond periodic bugfixes to the app. (We've seen the dev Mariner Software do this with MacGourmet as well.) From what I can tell it was last updated for the Mac in November 2016. (MacGourmet was last updated April 2016, MacGournet Deluxe got a bugfix in July 2017, and Mariner Write hasn't seen an update since September 2015).

In the mean time Mariner bundles MacJournal with other apps on a regular basis so it barely costs anything to buy -- which should worry users who want to see devs paid enough to continue to work on the app. Most recently it sold as part of a $29 bundle along with Montage, Storymill, Narrator, Contour 2, Persona and Mariner Write.

This seems more and more like a shell of a software company milking its products than developing and building up and on software.

Finally, there's a question of whether you're being tracked while using this software. On MacUpdate someone wrote that after installing the developer's MacGourmet app "Simply launching the program when connected to the internet will immediately connect the user to close on 100 (yes ONE HUNDRED) monetising advertising, tagging and tracking servers."

https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/15128/macgourmet

satis wrote:

MacJournal seems to have been in maintenance mode for many years, with
little beyond periodic bugfixes to the app. (We've seen the dev Mariner
Software do this with MacGourmet as well.) From what I can tell it was
last updated for the Mac in November 2016. (MacGourmet was last updated
April 2016, MacGournet Deluxe got a bugfix in July 2017, and Mariner
Write hasn't seen an update since September 2015).

In the mean time Mariner bundles MacJournal with other apps on a regular
basis so it barely costs anything to buy -- which should worry users who
want to see devs paid enough to continue to work on the app. Most
recently it sold as part of a $29 bundle along with Montage, Storymill,
Narrator, Contour 2, Persona and Mariner Write.

This seems more and more like a shell of a software company milking its
products than developing and building up and on software.

Finally, there's a question of whether you're being tracked while using
this software. On MacUpdate someone wrote that after installing the
developer's MacGourmet app "Simply launching the program when connected
to the internet will immediately connect the user to close on 100 (yes
ONE HUNDRED) monetising advertising, tagging and tracking servers."

https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/15128/macgourmet

Aaaand uninstalling MacJournal now. Thanks for the heads-up!

Hm, yes, it appears to be older than I thought (2016, to be precise).

And yes, I've had precisely the same 100%-crash record whenever I try to change icons (for either journals or entries).

But I haven't noticed any massive network activity when running MacJournal (as in: phoning home to base, checking in with dozens of naughty trackers etc.).

There are annoying aspects, sure. But so far, the good ones seriously outweigh them! Not least, the sheer speed (compare e.g. Ulysses, which still takes a surprisingly long time to load for something that is effectively a text editor...).

Cheers!
Bill

If there's fear of anyone tracking anything, then Little Snitch or similar is a good idea. Using Snitch, I've never noticed anything untoward about MJ.

I've used MacJournal steadily for over a decade, and still due. Yes, no update since 2016 (as reported well before the last post, above). So use it until it breaks. It's not broken today. It's 64 bit. I think the warnings are minor.

I've been too hasty multiple times in my recent CRIMPing binge! Fortunately, I got a refund on Outlinely. I realized that OmniOutliner 5 does basically the same things, but better, with a first-class iOS experience. So I'm glad of that.

Still searching for The Perfect Notetaking Software, but since I have a live subscription to Day One, I don't know why I would use MacJournal if it's basically abandonware. Are there are any particular good reasons to get into it now under these circumstances? (I fully recognize why you'd keep using it if you've been using it for a decade plus!)

Thanks!

Paul Korm wrote:

If there's fear of anyone tracking anything, then Little Snitch or
similar is a good idea. Using Snitch, I've never noticed anything
untoward about MJ.

I've used MacJournal steadily for over a decade, and still due. Yes, no
update since 2016 (as reported well before the last post, above). So
use it until it breaks. It's not broken today. It's 64 bit. I think
the warnings are minor.

JakeBernsteinWA wrote:

Still searching for The Perfect Notetaking Software, but since I have a
live subscription to Day One, I don't know why I would use MacJournal if
it's basically abandonware. Are there are any particular good reasons to
get into it now under these circumstances? (I fully recognize why you'd
keep using it if you've been using it for a decade plus!)

Yes, Day One uses an internal database. You cannot search those journals with Spotlight unless you export them. The notes stored in MJ is searchable with Spotlight and other tools; the database can also be indexed in Devonthink.

That is the major plus for me.

But, there are also other features of MJ: depends on what you want, really.

I still find the Quick Entry of Day One better than the Quick Entry of MJ because (a) you can template it, (b) it can insert an entry into an encrypted journal.