PJ is on the App Store

After a lot of late nights and forty test builds, PJ, the journal app I’ve been building, is on the App Store for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch.

Why I built it

The last couple of years brought a lot of change to my family, the kind a lot of families go through. There were plenty of nights with a lot on my mind and nobody to talk it through with. I wanted somewhere to put it all, somewhere I could just talk and have it written down, and know that nobody else would ever read it. Nothing I tried felt private enough or simple enough, so I built it.

Getting back to my roots

I’ve spent 30 years in IT and about 15 of them in software, but this is the first app I’ve put out entirely on my own. It was a lot of fun to get back to building, this time with AI working alongside me. The speed is real. Things that would have taken me weeks took days: the code, the testing, the screenshots, even the website.

But AI didn’t replace experience. Knowing what to ask for, what good looks like, and when the AI was confidently wrong made all the difference. It’s a great tool in the hands of someone who knows the work, and that’s how PJ got built.

What it does

PJ is a private place to think out loud. Talk or type, and it writes it down for you, right on your device. Your journal is encrypted and stays in your own iCloud, with PJ’s own lock on top. There are no ads, no tracking, and no account to sign up for. Nobody else can read it, including me.

The part that matters most

I use it almost every day, and so do friends and family. Some use it at the end of the day to clear their head. Some keep track of a loved one’s health, the good days and bad days and what the doctor said. Some hand the phone to a parent and record their stories in their own voice. That’s what this was about for me: doing what I love, building things, but with a purpose.

Getting PJ

PJ is $2.99, one time, with no subscription, and one purchase covers your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. Get PJ on the App Store. You can learn more at pjjournal.com.

If you helped test it, thank you. You can keep using the beta free, or reach out and I’ll send you a free code for the App Store version. And if the cost is what’s standing in your way, write to support@pjjournal.com and tell me a little about your situation. I read every request personally.