It’s the start of a new year, and many of us are trying to establish new habits. Here’s why recent changes to the Journal and Fitness apps merit you giving Apple’s apps another try.

Underused Fitness and Journal apps got big Apple upgrades

Apple doesn’t share usage data, but I would expect that Journal and Fitness are two of the least used pre-installed apps on iPhone.

But each app has a lot to offer, especially for users trying to build healthier habits and practices for the new year.

Just a few months ago in iOS 18, Apple upgraded each app with a variety of strong improvements.

Here’s everything new, based on Apple’s own release notes and my personal findings.

Journal app’s new features

Journal first launched in iOS 17.2 with several notable omissions, but the app got a lot better in iOS 18.

New features include:

• State of Mind: Log your State of Mind right from within Journal, and emotions or mood logged in the Health app are included in Journaling Suggestions
• Insights: Shows your writing streaks, a calendar, and other fun stats that help you track your journaling goals
• Search: Easily find past entries, and the ability to sort shows your entries in your preferred order
• Widgets: Available on your Home Screen and Lock Screen, Journal can show your current streak or writing prompts that change throughout the day, so you can reflect in the moment
• Rich text: Expanded text formatting options now include text colors, bulleted, dash, or numbered lists, and block quotes
• Transcripts: Audio transcripts are now available for recordings saved in the app
• Sort: New sort option to sort by chronological moment rather than date written
• Print: You can now export your journal entries as a PDF ready for printing

I personally prefer to use a physical keyboard when journaling, so I’m still waiting for an iPad app before fully committing to the Journal app. But these changes have made the app more appealing than ever.

Redesign and upgrades to Apple’s Fitness app

Fitness got a big redesign in iOS 18 that not only makes the app more customizable, but it also greatly bulked up the Fitness+ features and navigation.

Following a broader customization trend in iOS 18, the Fitness summary screen now includes a variety of content cards that you can remove, add to, and move around to your liking.

To customize your view, just scroll to the bottom and hit ‘Edit Summary.’ From there, hit the ’Add’ button in the corner to add new cards, or just move and remove the existing ones. It’s easy to do and makes the Fitness app more of a hub for all your activity.

Fitness+ benefits from new navigation options. There are now four dedicated Fitness+ tabs:

• For You
• Explore
• Library
• Search

These can all be found within the single Fitness+ tab on iPhone, while on iPad they make up your main tab bar options.

Within these various new screens you can more easily find personalized suggestions, motivating award reminders, and a lot more.

I’ve used Fitness+ a lot since it first debuted as part of Apple One, and find it really well done. If you’re looking to start new fitness habits, now’s a good time to check it out.

Do you use the Journal or Fitness apps often? What changes have been your favorites? Let us know in the comments.

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