For a journaling app (or any app for the matter), Day One already had an unsurpassed feature set. Now it is even better. Developer Bloom has now added an additional feature called Publish, which provides a way to share individual diary entries with a select few, or the whole world.

I have written previously about one way I have used Day One, however the use case possibilities are endless. Along with a very clean, distraction free writing environment, Day One will also automatically add temperature, weather, location information, time and date, activity data (iPhone 5s) and even what music you have playing. A key feature for me has been the ability to tag entries, allowing use of the app for specific holidays, events, or themes running through the various unique individual entries.

Now, with Publish, users are able to do just that – publish individual entries to the Day One webpage, where those who have the unique URL, can view the shared entry. Social media accounts can be linked should you wish to share beyond a simple few, with data such as views, likes and total shares available to you in relation to each published entry. Or if you prefer to share entriesmore privately, the usual iOS share sheet options of messaging, mail, or copying the unique URL can be used.

Although most will likely use this feature as a means to share entries to social media, I cannot help but think this type of service would also be useful in sharing (read – sending) things such as health data with medical practitioners (e.g. home blood pressure monitoring, blood sugar levels, food intake); tracking and sending exercise data to your personal trainer (particularly for iPhone 5s users to track overall activity also); recording moods and feelings shared with a psychologist; or even time tracking / job details completed and sent to an employer. There really are endless possibilities with this type of service, however understandably many may be nervous about sharing such information in this way from a security point of view[1]. In any event, there are certainly emerging possibilities here.

Personally, I plan on using this on my next holiday, to share some of the craziness we get up to with other family members. For example a three day trip last year generated 43 Day One entries, most with photos. Given our family sharing occurs privately on Path, rather than posting entries to two services (or even a third in Twitter), a copied and shared URL via Publish is looking increasingly attractive as a simple, elegant means of sharing these experiences at whatever level I choose.

Day One is available through the respective App Stores for Mac and iOS, with the sharing feature currently available only on iPhone, though iPad support is coming soon.

Other reviews of Publish can be found on The Sweet Setup and Macstories, and was discussed recently on Episode 39 of The Prompt podcast.