We stand with Ukraine to help keep people safe. Join us
All Apps
Best AppsReviewsComparisonsHow-To
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission

Diarly for Mac

Personal private note-taking application.

Free
In English
Version 2.5.11
5.0
Based on 3 user rates

Diarly overview

Diarly is a journal, diary and notes app available for Mac. It allows you to track personal milestones, record fun moments, and hone your writing skills.

Features:
  • Import entries from other journaling apps to make Diarly your new home
  • Add your own images, drawings, emoji's, heading labels and website links
  • Sort your ideas with bullet points, line separators, symbols, and highlighted text
  • Keep your important files in one place by importing them directly into your entries
  • Jump between past entries with ease using the Calendar tool
  • Use Time Separators to create a distinction between multiple daily entries
  • Filter and find your ideas with your own hashtags, lists or tags
  • Locate untagged thoughts in a list using the handy Word Finder tool
  • Customize and resize the font to suit your needs and save to favorites
  • Access a light or a dark theme (upgrade to Premium for access to 100+ themes!)
  • Pinpoint your memories by location with Map View
  • Track your daily writing goals with word and character counts and targets
  • Check off your accomplished goals with useful Checklists
  • Export to Markdown for minimalist writing without formatting
  • Create thought-cue templates to kickstart your writing entries or use or pre-sets
  • Play embedded movies and audio-notes
  • Use the automatic weather and location feature in your template
  • Customize the built-in spelling and grammar checker to your preferences
  • Dictate your written entries for quick, handsfree journaling
Premium Features:
  • Secure your ideas with encryption and password protection.
  • Access your notes on multiple devices, with seamless, secure sync via iCloud.
  • Personalize your journaling experience with over 100 beautiful custom themes.
  • Create and import your own design themes (tutorial available)
  • Create and categorize unlimited journals that open in separate interfaces.
  • View statistics on your writing achievements over the last 90 days or more.
  • Export your journal to PDF, RichText or Print it

What’s new in version 2.5.11

  • You can now add captions below images (Click on ... menu and select "Add caption")
  • PDF exporter lets you choose image size
  • You can disable AI Assistant (Chat GPT)

Diarly for Mac

Free
In English
Version 2.5.11

What users say about Diarly

Robio
By Robio on Jul 31 2021 for v.2.2.0

Value: 4.0

I've tried over a dozen journaling apps and have yet to find one that fits all my criteria, but Diarly comes closest. It has the simplest, clearest, cleanest UI (with some exceptions below). I like the ability to use a template, import from the calendar, have multiple journals and reminders, attach audio and other files, and CMD+N for creating time stamps within the same day. I *LOVE* the option of having any entry before 02:00 be considered part of the previous day (night owl), and really like the ability to pin an emoji to each day for at-a-glance of how the day went. The autocompletion of tags is a must-have, and Diarly has it. But there's room for improvement: • The UI is inconsistent — Tags/Filters, Timeline, Notes and Calendar should all be tabs in the sidebar instead of being accessed by different methods • There's no tag manager, so it's impossible to edit all occurrences of a tag, or even quickly select one • There's no #nested/tags • Tags don't stand out enough from the body text • Tags have to be manually cleared after selecting them from the Filter (would prefer Bear.app-like tags) • Lots of features have no keyboard shortcuts (Timeline, Notes, Filter) • Cannot make Formatting toolbar permanent (appears only when text is selected) • Cannot resize photos I'm going to keep using this app and hope for these improvements because there's nothing else out there I like nearly as much as Diarly.

Customer support: 5.0

This is a *required* field in MacUpdate's new Review format, even though *not everyone has had a reason to contact customer support for every app!* Since I was forced to rate customer support that I haven't received, I gave them 5 start so I don't sell them short, but I have NOT contact support for this app.

Other user ratings:

Ease of use | 4.0
Features | 4.0
Reliability | 5.0
Write a detailed review about Diarly

What customer like

Price
Design

What needs improvements

User Experience

Diarly qualities

Value
4.0
Ease of use
4.0
Features
4.0
Reliability
5.0
Customer support
5.0

Write your thoughts in our old-fashioned comment

MacUpdate Comment Policy. We strongly recommend leaving comments, however comments with abusive words, bullying, personal attacks of any type will be moderated.
5.0

(10 Reviews of Diarly)

  • Comments

  • User Ratings

tronbrat
tronbrat
May 24 2021
2.1.2
5.0
May 24 2021
5.0
Version: 2.1.2
This is a great free app. I've tried many different similar apps, but it's easy to use, looks nice, and doesn't require a lot of resources.
britinokinawa
britinokinawa
Aug 1 2020
1.4.13
0.0
Aug 1 2020
0.0
Version: 1.4.13
"Note: This application contains in-app and/or external module purchases." Then it's NOT free then, is it?
Gazman
Gazman
Jul 11 2020
1.4.12
5.0
Jul 11 2020
5.0
Version: 1.4.12
This is a great journalling app that continues to get more refined with each release. I was a long time user of viJournal before it got discontinued, and I think I like Diarly even better than viJournal. For those people complaining of subscriptions, there is also the option of a one time purchase. I chose the subscription model because this app is so good I want to continue supporting it going forward.
Derekcurrie
Derekcurrie
Jul 6 2020
1.4.12
0.0
Jul 6 2020
0.0
Version: 1.4.12
Initial free trial period.
pl-svn
pl-svn
Jun 15 2020
1.4.9
0.0
Jun 15 2020
0.0
Version: 1.4.9
give me shout the day entries can (also) be deleted and the app doesn't create a new one at every launch. or... these are premium only feature? :rolleyes:
tronbrat
tronbrat
May 24 2021
2.1.2
5.0
May 24 2021
5.0
Version: 2.1.2
DS9 Software
DS9 Software
Apr 26 2020
5.0
Apr 26 2020
5.0
Version: null
Gazman
Gazman
Jan 11 2030
2.0.19
5.0
Jan 11 2030
5.0
Version: 2.0.19