Last December, Apple introduced a new Journal app in iOS 17.2, offering a built-in solution for jotting down thoughts with AI-powered suggestions for inspiration. These Journaling Suggestions are a core feature in iOS 17.2 that are available not only to Apple’s Journal, but also popular third-party apps like Day One.
However, these new features have also sparked privacy concerns that Apple’s Journal app may be secretly sharing personal information with other nearby iPhones. The controversy stems from a setting in Apple’s Journalling Suggestions, Discoverable by Others, which is switched on by default. Fortunately, the worries surrounding this feature are largely unfounded and seem to be based on a misunderstanding of its purpose and how it works.
The problem is that this feature’s functionality is rather nuanced, and it’s worth understanding more about it even if you’re not using a journaling app and don’t plan to in the future. Here’s a breakdown of what the feature does and how it works.
What is ‘Discoverable by Others?’
Discoverable by Others is part of Journaling Suggestions, but it’s enabled even if Journaling Suggestions isn’t. That’s because this feature is about letting other people help inspire the Journaling Suggestions that you receive.
As the name implies, Journaling Suggestions provides you with ideas for topics to write about. As Apple describes it, “Journaling Suggestions intelligently group outings, photos, workouts, and more to help you remember and reflect on your experiences.”
Most of this information can be gleaned from the data on your iPhone. For example, photos, workouts, emails, messages, calls, and your listening history are all there in the appropriate apps.
However, your iPhone has no way of knowing when you’re alone or if you’re around other people. This is where Discoverable by Others comes in.
With this setting enabled, your iPhone will let others know it’s nearby, and their iPhones will do the same for yours, but it does so securely, privately, and mostly anonymously.
Discoverable by Others does not share your journal entries or suggestions with anyone. Nor does it share your name or exact location with others. Instead, the feature recognizes when you’re in the vicinity of other people in your contacts using Bluetooth to help recommend relevant journal topics. This is somewhat similar to how AirDrop works — and it’s likely based on some of the same underlying technologies that let you filter out AirDrop requests from folks who aren’t in your contacts.
So, the feature kind of shares your location and does the same for those contacts around you. However, this information isn’t stored, nor does it provide any specific details on which contacts are around. It’s more about figuring out when you’re around a group of people you know than detecting the specific people around you.
The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern (Apple News+) asked Apple about this and got some additional clarification:
A company spokeswoman said claims on social media that Apple is sharing your name and location with others are inaccurate. The phone can use Bluetooth to detect the number of devices nearby that are in your contacts. It doesn’t store which of these specific contacts were around but instead may use this as context to improve and prioritize journaling suggestions, the spokeswoman said.
Joanna Stern, The Wall Street Journal
Here’s an example provided by Apple: Say, you hosted a dinner party at your house, with friends who are in your contacts. The system might prioritize that in the suggestions, as it knows from the head count that there was something different about that event. It wasn’t just your average night at home with your family.
As to why it’s on by default? The Apple spokeswoman said this is so those who are using Journaling Suggestions can benefit from knowing their friends are around them, even if those friends aren’t using the Journal app. Stern adds, “Basically, Apple knows this new app isn’t likely to be used by the masses right away, so it turned on this service to give its earliest users a journaling boost.”
Remember that Discoverable by Others is there so you can help your friends with their journaling suggestions. Apple points that out below the setting, stating that it will “Allow others to detect you are nearby to help prioritize their suggestions.” Having it enabled on your iPhone has no effect on the suggestions you receive.
How to Disable Discoverable By Others (and Turn on Journaling Suggestions)
It’s understandable that some people may prefer to disable this feature. Especially those folks that prefer to stay on top of their digital privacy and security. Thankfully, it’s easy to do so. Here’s how:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and tap Privacy & Security.
- Scroll down to Journaling Suggestions and tap it.
- From this screen, you can toggle off Discoverable by Others.
You’ll also find a button here to enable Journalling Suggestions (if it’s not already on) or settings to turn individual categories of Journalling Suggestions on or off. A Prefer Suggestions with Others toggle works as the flip side of Discoverable by Others.
It’s also worth mentioning that your iPhone broadcasts the same information with Discoverable by Others as it does with AirDrop. So, if you’re concerned enough about privacy to turn off Discoverable by Others, you’ll also want to head to Settings > General > AirDrop and turn that off as well.
In a sense, this toggle exists because of Apple’s strong focus on privacy. It would have been relatively easy for the company to build this discoverability into the iPhone without any way to turn it off, but that would go against Apple’s policy of transparency and putting you in control of your privacy.
The initial alarm around the Discoverable by Others feature seems to have originated due to uncertainty around its functionality and purpose. Its goal is to improve the journaling experience for your friends and family, and like everything else Apple does, it’s designed with privacy in mind.