The private journal
that can't read you back.
Daylume encrypts every entry on your phone with a key only you hold. No cloud. No account. Not even we can open it.
One payment. Yours forever. No subscription, no ads, no in-app purchases.
You can't write honestly in a notebook
someone else has a key to.
In US courts, personal journals have been subpoenaed, read aloud in cross‑examination, and admitted as evidence.
It is more ordinary than most people expect. In federal employment lawsuits following the standard discovery protocols, plaintiffs must hand over their diary and journal entries automatically, without waiting to be asked and without the usual right to object. In 1994 a US senator fought a subpoena for his private diaries as far as the Supreme Court, which declined to block it. He handed over more than 2,600 pages. Courts have ordered ordinary people to produce journals over their privacy objections, and in one case awarded the other side's legal fees against a plaintiff who tried to keep hers private.
There is no diary privilege in American law. Unlike a conversation with your lawyer or your doctor, a personal journal is not protected as a category. It is simply private, until somebody asks for it.
Sources: Initial Discovery Protocols for Employment Cases (adopted across US federal districts); Packwood v. Senate Select Committee on Ethics, 510 U.S. 1319 (1994); Simpson v. University of Colorado, 220 F.R.D. 354 (D. Colo. 2004); Herrera v. Santa Fe Public Schools (D.N.M. 2013); Knotts v. Knotts (Ind. Ct. App. 1998). General information, not legal advice.
Built so we can't read it
Plenty of apps say your journal is private. The question worth asking is a narrower one: could the company read it if it wanted to? For most, the answer is yes.
Comparison describes the common pattern across mainstream journaling apps, not any one product. Check any app's current terms for yourself. We'd encourage it.
A journal worth keeping
Privacy is the foundation here. It still has to be a good place to write.
You hold the key
A 24-word recovery phrase, the same idea a crypto wallet uses, is the root of your encryption. Only you ever see it.
Speak or type
Record a voice note and it's transcribed on your phone. The audio never leaves the device, and you can delete the recording afterwards and keep just the words.
Duress PIN
Forced to unlock in front of someone? A second PIN opens a separate, ordinary-looking journal instead. They never learn the real one exists.
Capture in one tap
A home-screen widget and icon shortcut record a voice note without unlocking. It gets sealed straight away and lands in your journal next time you open the app.
Yours to keep
Export an encrypted backup any time. Restore it on a new phone with your phrase. No lock-in, no servers involved.
Locked down by default
Fingerprint unlock, auto-lock, screenshots blocked, hidden from the app switcher, excluded from phone backups. Nothing to configure.
Three steps, then it's just journaling
Save your phrase
Daylume generates 24 words on first launch. That is your master key. Write them down and keep them somewhere safe.
Pick a PIN
Unlock day to day with a PIN or your fingerprint. Add a duress PIN if you want a decoy journal.
Write freely
Type or talk. Everything is encrypted the moment you save it, before it touches storage.
Five dollars. That's the whole thing.
Your journal shouldn't be a subscription you're afraid to cancel. Pay once and it is yours, including every privacy feature.
- Unlimited entries, voice and text
- On-device encryption & transcription
- Duress PIN and decoy journal
- Widget & one-tap capture while locked
- Encrypted backup and restore
- Future updates included
- No subscription
- No ads, ever
- No account, no tracking
What we won't claim
The duress PIN is harm reduction, not a force field.
It is built for the everyday case: a partner looking over your shoulder, or someone demanding you open the app. It is not designed to defeat a trained forensic examiner with lab tools, and we won't pretend otherwise.
If you lose your recovery phrase, your journal is gone.
That's the direct consequence of us not holding a key. There's no reset email, because there's no account and no copy on our side. Write the words down.
The design is published, and not yet independently audited.
We document exactly how the encryption works so it can be checked rather than taken on faith. An external audit is on the roadmap. Until that happens, we say so plainly.
Common questions
Can you read my journal? +
No, and not because of a policy choice. Entries are encrypted on your device with a key derived from your recovery phrase and PIN. That key never leaves your phone and we have no servers holding your entries, so there is nothing for us to read, hand over, or lose in a breach.
What if I lose my phone? +
Export an encrypted backup and keep it wherever you like. On a new phone, install Daylume, choose "I already have a backup," and restore it with your 24-word phrase. Both pieces are required. The file on its own is useless.
How does the duress PIN work? +
You set a second PIN that opens a completely separate journal. If you're forced to unlock, you enter that one instead. The person watching sees an ordinary journal and never learns the real one exists. You can optionally have it wipe the real journal at the same time.
Does voice really stay on my phone? +
Yes. Transcription runs on-device, so a voice note works in airplane mode. The recording is encrypted at rest, and you can delete the audio afterwards and keep only the transcript.
Why $5 and not free? +
Free apps are usually paid for with data. We'd rather charge once and have nothing to monetise. Five dollars covers development without turning you into the product. There is no subscription because there is no server cost to pass on.
Is it open source? +
The cryptographic design is published in full so it can be scrutinised. Wider source availability and a third-party audit are on the roadmap; we'll say clearly when each happens rather than implying it now.
When can I get it? +
Android is built and in final testing; iOS follows. Leave your email below and you will get one message the day it lands on the Play Store. Nothing else.
Somewhere to be honest with yourself.
Daylume launches on Google Play shortly, at $5 one-time. Drop your email and we'll tell you the day it's live.