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Changelog

What's new in Ikigai Journal. All updates are free for existing customers.

Version 1.5.1

15 July 2026

Added

  • Unified backup list — Settings now shows all your backups — manual, automatic, and safety snapshots — in one place with colour-coded badges. Download or restore any of them.
  • Manual backups saved in the app — when you click “Create & export backup”, the backup is also kept inside the app (up to 15), so you can re-download or restore it later without hunting for the file.

Changed

  • The backup reminder now distinguishes between in-app backups and exported files — it only nudges you when you haven’t saved a copy outside the app.

Version 1.5.0

13 July 2026

Added

  • Backdate journal entries — when creating or editing an entry, you can now choose the date it belongs to. Catch up on a day you missed without it landing in the wrong place on your purpose map.
  • Automatic backups — the app now quietly snapshots your data each time it starts, keeping your last 10 backups. It's a safety net alongside manual export, not a replacement for it.
  • Backup reminder — once you've built up a few entries, a gentle banner reminds you to export a backup if you haven't in a while, so your reflections are never one lost laptop away from gone.
  • Reminder to store backups safely — after exporting, the app now suggests keeping your backup file somewhere durable, like iCloud, Google Drive, or an external drive.

Changed

  • Journal entries and trashed entries now show the date the entry belongs to, not the date it was created — matters more once you can backdate entries.

Version 1.4.2

5 July 2026

Fixed

  • Your ikigai portrait now displays correctly on the profile page alongside your generated profile

Version 1.4.1

5 July 2026

Fixed

  • Discovery progress now correctly preserved when restoring from a backup

Version 1.4.0

5 July 2026

Changed

  • Clearer language: "friction" instead of "weed" — the daily prompt and purpose map now use "friction" to describe what gets in your way. The meaning is the same, but the word lands better. Older entries still read correctly.
  • UI polish — consistent content widths across all views, and entry prompts trimmed to fit single-line display without wrapping.

Version 1.3.0

27 June 2026

Added

  • Connection field — note who you spent time with or have on your mind. This field is private and never sent to AI; it shows in the purpose map as "people on your mind", ranked by how often they appear.
  • "Other thoughts" field — capture insights, things you've read, or thoughts that don't fit anywhere else. Included in AI reviews and reflections.
  • "Questions to sit with" in reviews — each review now includes honest questions about relationships, avoidance, courage, and time. A mirror, not advice.
  • Drift detection — when you return after a week or more, a quiet message greets you (the tone shifts with the gap). A gentle nudge, not judgment.
  • Gap-aware reviews — if your entries are sparse during the review period, the review acknowledges the gap instead of pretending the data is complete.
  • Dual API key storage — store both Anthropic and OpenAI keys at the same time and switch between them. You can delete either independently.
  • Search all entries — search across all your journal entries by keyword, and browse them in a dedicated view. Directly accessible from the navigation bar.

Changed

  • "Something you'll do" instead of "One small step" — the commitment field now invites promises and courage, not just productivity habits.

Version 1.2.1

13 June 2026

Fixed

  • Backup export now confirms it saved — exporting a backup saves straight to your Downloads folder, and the app now confirms the save with the filename. Previously the save happened silently, so the button could feel like it did nothing.

Version 1.2.0

9 June 2026 — Initial release

Everything in the first release

  • One-minute daily journaling — each entry captures a friction (what got in your way), a spark (what gave you energy), and an optional "if–then" commitment. No streak pressure, no blank-page dread.
  • A living purpose map — your entries accrue into a map of what recurs: the sparks that keep lifting you, the weeds that keep costing you, and the commitments you've made to remove them.
  • Built on ikigai, both ways — the everyday meaning (a reason to get up in the morning) through daily journaling, and the four ikigai lenses (what you love, do well, can offer, and are valued for) through discovery and the optional AI portrait.
  • Optional discovery — a deeper self-discovery across ten areas of life, one question at a time, that you can pause and return to anytime.
  • Ikigai portrait — an optional AI synthesis of where your four lenses cross (passion, mission, profession, vocation), with an include/exclude-journal toggle.
  • Gentle reviews — look back over a period, since your last review or by month, to see the patterns in your sparks, weeds, and follow-through. Works with or without AI.
  • Highlights — star the entries worth remembering for easy recall.
  • AI as a reflection partner — optional, bring-your-own-key (Claude or OpenAI). The AI runs through your own account with your chosen provider and is there to reflect your own words back. Nothing is sent unless you choose to.
  • Runs locally — no account, no cloud, no tracking. API keys are encrypted at rest on your machine.
  • Full backup & restore — export your whole profile as a single file, with an automatic safety backup saved before any restore.
  • macOS desktop app — signed and notarized for Intel and Apple Silicon.