Tomefold › A private journal app
What makes a journal app private?
Updated October 17, 2026
A journal holds the things you would not post anywhere. Before trusting an app with years of them, ask four questions: where do my entries live, who can read them, what leaves my device, and can I take them with me? Here are the answers for Tomefold, limits included.
Where your entries live
On your device. Tomefold has no account and no server of its own: the developer does not receive your entries and could not read them. If you buy Pro and turn on sync, your entries are also stored in your own iCloud (a private CloudKit database tied to your Apple ID), under Apple's terms and using your iCloud storage.
What leaves your device
- Nothing, by default. There is no analytics, no advertising and no tracking in the app.
- iCloud, only if you turn on sync or share a journal.
- Text to Anthropic, only if you add your own Anthropic API key, tap the sparkle button on an entry and have agreed in the dialog that appears the first time. The text of that one entry goes straight from your device to Anthropic with your key; it does not pass through Tomefold. You can withdraw the consent in the settings.
Locking the app
You can lock Tomefold with Face ID or Touch ID, and with your device passcode as the fallback. The text-only automatic backups are stored with iOS file protection.
Sharing, only on invitation
You can invite one person to a single journal through iCloud, so you can read and write it together from different Apple IDs. Your other journals stay private. There are no public links.
An honest limit
Tomefold does not add its own encryption layer on top of Apple's. Your entries are protected by your device's protection, the Face ID lock, and, when you sync, by iCloud's. If you need an app that encrypts entries with a key only you hold, look for one that says so explicitly.
Taking your journal with you
Export is free and always available: a JSON file compatible with Day One and one Markdown file per entry, with your photos and videos as normal files. You can also make a PDF book of a year, or of the whole journal. Entries you delete go to the Trash for 30 days before they are removed for good.
Frequently asked questions
Does Tomefold collect my data?
No. The developer does not collect any data: there is no account, no server of ours, no analytics and no advertising. The app's privacy label on the App Store says Data Not Collected.
Is my journal encrypted?
Tomefold relies on iOS device protection, the Face ID lock and, if you sync, iCloud's protection. It does not add its own encryption layer on top of Apple's.
Does the Claude cleanup send my journal anywhere?
Only the text of one entry, only when you tap the sparkle button, only if you added your own Anthropic API key and agreed to it, and straight from your device to Anthropic. Nothing is sent otherwise.
Can I use Tomefold without iCloud?
Yes. Without sync your journals stay on the device. Export them now and then; the app also makes automatic text backups.
Can someone else read my journal if I share one?
Only the person you invite, and only that journal. Sharing is by invitation through iCloud, with no public link.
Keep your journal on your terms
Tomefold is free to write in, to import into and to export from. Pro is a single purchase: no subscription.
Coming soon to the App Store Discover Tomefold