The iPhone Journal app, introduced in iOS 17.2, includes a feature called Discoverable by Others. While this may sound alarming at first, it’s not as worrisome as it sounds. When enabled, Discoverable by Others allows other iPhone users to detect your device via Bluetooth, making Journal suggestions more relevant to you and other users.
When iPhones are nearby, Journal can collect information about how many contacts might be nearby and can prompt users to create a journal entry based on that situation. For example, you might receive a writing prompt to reflect on your encounter with a friend who owns an iPhone.
It’s important to remember that Apple has strong security and privacy measures in place, recognizing that Journal entries are personal and may contain sensitive information. (The contents of your Journal remain on your device, and Apple doesn’t even know what writing prompts are suggested; if you upload Journal contents to iCloud, everything is encrypted.)
However, not everyone wants the Discoverable by Others feature enabled. Here's why and the steps to turn it off.
Why would you want to turn off the Discoverable by Others feature?
(Image: © Future)
At no point will your name and location or anyone else’s be shared: all data is processed locally on your device. So why would you want to turn off Discoverable by Others if it’s so innocent? There are two main reasons: first, if you don’t use Journal, you won’t have any use for it. And second, it gives you complete control over your privacy settings and can give you some extra peace of mind.
There are other ways to prevent your iPhone from being discoverable. For example, it’s always helpful to learn how to completely disable location tracking on iPhone. But for now, let’s focus on how to prevent the Journal app from detecting your iPhone.
1. Open the Settings app
(Image: © Future)
To turn off Discoverable by Others, launch the Settings app And Tap Privacy & Security.
2. Scroll down
(Image: © Future)
Then scroll down and about halfway down, Tap Logging Suggestions.
3. Disable discoverability
(Image: © Future)
You will see that the Discoverable by others option is enabled by default. To disable it, simply Tap the switch next to Discoverable by others. (The button will change from green to gray.)
As you’ll see, this also disables another feature called Prefer Suggestions with Others. This means you won’t receive suggested journal prompts when you’re with your contacts or large groups.
And there you have it. Now you know how to stop the Journal app from detecting your iPhone. Want more privacy tips? Then check out 7 Crucial Security Measures You Must Take to Keep You and Your Data SafeWe also have news about a new privacy feature in iOS 18 that lets you lock and hide apps.