A decade-long vision for protecting the memories and thoughts that matter most.
One evening, I found myself scrolling through hundreds of photos of my two toddlers on my phone. Somewhere between the blurry snapshots and the perfectly captured smiles, a troubling thought struck me: what happens to all these memories and untold stories?
My kids are growing faster than I can keep up. Every day brings a hundred tiny moments worth remembering: the first clumsy dance, the way they mangle a new word, the small family adventures I wish I could preserve forever. Like many parents, I wanted to capture these moments—not just for today, but so my kids could look back decades from now and see their childhood through my eyes.
I also wanted to reflect and journal about all the feelings and emotions of this phase of life. The sleepless nights, the overwhelming joy, the quiet worries that keep you up at 3 AM.
But every solution I found came with a catch.
All the beautiful journaling apps were tied to third-party servers. My thoughts, my photos, my children's memories, locked in someone else's database. As a developer, that didn't sit right with me. As a parent, it felt unacceptable.
What happens when that company shuts down? When they change their privacy policy? When they're acquired by a larger corporation with different values? What happens in 20 years when my kids want to access these memories?
I wanted something different. Something private. Something I could truly own.
And that's where Journiv began.
Why I Built Journiv
I tried everything first. A dozen of self-hosted note-taking apps. They were excellent tools in their own domains, but they weren't built for journaling. They couldn't replace a dedicated journal because they lacked the features that make journaling meaningful:
- "On This Day" memories that surface past entries and remind you how far you've come
- Prompt-based journaling for those days when you don't know where to start
- Mood and activity tracking to see patterns in your life over months and years
- Rich multimedia support for photos, videos, and voice notes
- Insights and analytics to understand your journey
- Seamless integration with photo libraries to capture the stories behind images, the context that isn't visible in what's in front of the camera
There was no self-hosted application designed for journaling.
So I built one.
Privacy Isn't Optional - It's Essential
When you journal, you're vulnerable. You're honest in ways you might not be anywhere else. You write about your fears, your dreams, your struggles, your children's milestones, your relationship challenges.
That data is sacred.
It doesn't belong on someone else's server where it can be:
- Analyzed for data monetization - Your personal reflections turned into revenue streams
- Sold to data brokers - Your thoughts become a commodity
- Subpoenaed by governments - Your private entries subject to legal requests
- Lost when the service shuts down - Years of memories gone overnight
- Changed when terms of service are updated - Your data subject to policy changes
With Journiv, your data lives on your server. You control who has access. You decide what happens to it. Your memories remain yours, forever.
Built to Last Decades, Not Just Years
Most apps are built for the present. Journiv is built for the future.
When I started this project, I asked myself: "What would I need if I wanted my kids to access these journals in 2050?"
The answer shaped every architectural decision:
Open Data Format
Journiv stores everything in standard formats—primarily Markdown with JSON metadata. No proprietary formats. No vendor lock-in. Export to JSON/PDF/HTML/Markdown means your journal entries are readable anywhere and everywhere. No special software needed.
One-Click Import/Export
Full backup and restore in minutes. Export your entire journal history, including all media files, with a single click. Move it to a new server, archive it to cold storage, use it anywhere, whatever you need.
Standalone Viewer
True to its vision of protecting the memories and thoughts that matter most, Journiv provides the Journiv Export Viewer: a fully standalone HTML viewer that lets you access your data even if you stop running Journiv entirely. No server needed. No internet required. Just open your Journiv export file in any browser, and all your memories are there, complete with images, video, search, and timeline views.
You or your kids could be on a spaceship to Mars in 2055 with no internet connection and still read your journals.
Integrating the Full Story
Photos and videos capture what's in front of the camera. But they don't capture context, emotion, or the story behind the moment.
That's why Journiv integrates photo libraries (like Immich). You can link journal entries to specific photos and videos, adding the narrative layer that makes memories complete.
Years from now, your kids won't just see a photo of their third birthday. They'll read how excited you were planning it, how they reacted to their first taste of cake, what they said when they blew out the candles, how you felt watching them grow.
The photo shows the moment. The journal entry preserves the meaning.
Features That Actually Matter for Journaling
Beyond privacy and longevity, Journiv includes the features that make daily journaling sustainable:
- Multiple journals for different aspects of life (personal, work, family, gratitude)
- Writing prompts to spark reflection when you're stuck
- Mood tracking to identify patterns in your emotional life
- Tags and search to find entries years later
- Rich text formatting without losing the simplicity of Markdown
- Media uploads with automatic thumbnail generation
- Calendar view to see your journaling consistency
- Analytics to understand your journaling habits
- Many more in development with your support
But most importantly, it's fast, simple, and doesn't get in your way.
Who Is Journiv For?
Journiv is for anyone who values their memories and their privacy:
- Parents capturing their children's childhood
- Professionals reflecting on career growth
- Writers developing ideas over time
- Anyone who wants to own their digital life
If you've ever worried about where your data lives, Journiv is for you.
If you've ever wanted your memories to outlast any company or service, Journiv is for you.
If you believe your thoughts and your family's stories are too precious to someone else, Journiv is for you.
The Journey Ahead
Journiv is in active development, with a fully functional backend, a web frontend, and mobile apps launching soon. It's open source, self-hosted, and designed to be your companion for decades.
Journiv is being built because our memories deserve to be ours, forever.
Ready to own your memories?
Install Journiv at within minutes.