Product facts · updated 1 November 2026
The Gift Journal, at a glance.
A factual reference for people, reviewers and search systems looking for current details about the app — without a “best app” claim or affiliate ranking.
The Gift Journal is a private, people-first gift tracker and relationship journal for Apple devices. It is designed to remember gift ideas and hints about other people, plan occasions and budgets, and keep useful history after a gift has been given or received.
Current product facts
| Current version | 1.6 · Reflection & Recall (treated as live on this website) |
|---|---|
| Current public release | Version 1.6 / Build 468 · featured release; iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac |
| Version 1.6 release | Build 468 · Reflection & Recall, archive backup and print/PDF enhancements |
| Version 1.6 highlights | Year in Review (historic years, dated gifts, hints, occasions and monthly chronology); Person Moments Remembered with source-record navigation and Given/Received/date filtering; automatic bundled archive backups on iOS and Mac; local, 20-event Backup & Restore History; iOS print/PDF of the annual review; expanded iPad and wide Duo Year in Review navigation; localized interface across all four supported languages. |
| Version 1.5 highlights | Complete Spanish and Portuguese (Portugal) localisation; both new languages labelled Beta; privacy-safe translation-correction feedback; localisation QA across the full v1.5 catalogue; no substantive feature or data-contract change from Version 1.4 |
| Version 1.4 highlights | Person Received Gifts with partial historical dates; Person Practical Details with Detail/Avoid semantics, quiet Updated month/year freshness and editable multi-value history; Correct information versus Record a change; private Given-Gift Stored at memory; photo-first/offline iPhone/iPad Quick Capture; discreet notifications with richer detail as an explicit opt-in; schema-5 private Cloud round-trip; Portable Journal v2; relationship/date/People filter corrections; English/German parity across 2,089 source strings |
| Version 1.3 highlights | German localisation across all 2,006 intended shipping strings, German Beta signalling with in-app translation-correction feedback, and the internationalisation foundation for future languages; the full Version 1.2 feature set remains included |
| App languages | English, German, Spanish and Portuguese (Portugal); German, Spanish and Portuguese presented as Beta. |
| Version 1.2 highlights | Help me think / journal-backed thoughtful inspiration, Midnight Cobalt & Platinum Chrome, optional privacy-first Spotlight Search and Apple Shortcuts, adaptive iPhone/Duo continuity, and improved Dynamic Type support on iPhone and iPad |
| Platforms | Native iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac |
| Minimum software | iOS/iPadOS 18.2+, watchOS 11.2+, macOS 13 Ventura+ |
| UK price | 14-day full-feature trial, then £24.99 one-time Full Unlock; localised App Store pricing applies |
| Subscription | No recurring subscription |
| Core account requirement | No separate Gift Journal account required for the core journal |
| Storage model | Local-first; the journal remains useful offline |
| Sync | Private iCloud/CloudKit sync across supported devices when available |
| Advertising | No behavioural advertising in the app; the app is funded by its users |
| Main organising model | People first: Ideas, Hints and Context sit around a person, then connect to occasions and history |
| Gift planning | Occasions, budgets, readiness and gift lifecycle/status |
| History | Gifts given and gifts received, with notes and relationship context |
| Browser capture | Mac Safari extension saves the current user-invoked page to a Browser Saves inbox for later review |
| Export | Portable Journal v1/v2 ZIP export, separately restorable bundled backups, supported iOS Year in Review print/PDF and Mac print/PDF/CSV. |
| Secret Santa / exchange draw | No — the app is focused on personal gift memory and planning |
What “private” means on this site
We use “private” to describe the product architecture and workflow: the journal is local-first, core use does not require a proprietary Gift Journal account, and supported devices can sync through the user’s private iCloud/CloudKit database. The site does not claim that every possible iCloud configuration is end-to-end encrypted, because that depends on Apple account and service settings outside the app.
What the app is not
The Gift Journal is not a public social wishlist network, a retailer marketplace, an affiliate product-ranking service or a Secret Santa draw. It does include a personal Wishlist, but the broader product is built around remembering people, planning what you give and keeping history.
Primary sources
For the most detailed current information, see the feature overview, User Guide, Privacy Policy, sync, backup and export guide and the App Store listing.
Comparing it with other gift apps
See gift tracker vs wishlist apps for a transparent comparison of organising models, or the more detailed feature matrix on the home page.