the AI voice journal that listens back.
your mind is full. the page is blank. dearly is the voice journal that lets you just talk: tap the ink drop, say what's on your mind for a minute, and it's written into a clean, serif-set page you'll actually reread. then it listens back — the moods, the people and the worries that keep coming up.
a journal you talk to, that writes itself — and reads itself back
a voice journal is a diary you keep by speaking instead of typing. an AI voice journal goes two steps further: it transcribes what you said into a clean written entry, and then it reads your entries back to you — summarising each one, naming the mood underneath, and noticing what keeps coming up across a month.
the point isn't dictation. it's that talking is faster and looser than writing, so you say the things you'd never slow down to type. dearly keeps the mess out of the page and the meaning in it.
- tap the ink drop. talk for a minute — or ten. no prompts to fill, no cursor to stare at.
- it's written. your audio is transcribed over an encrypted connection and turned into a serif-set page in seconds. the recording stays on your phone.
- it listens back. with pro, each entry gets an AI summary and a named mood; over weeks, patterns, your cast of people and places, and a painted mood horizon appear.
- you reread. search your entries, answer a reflection question drawn from your own words, or just scroll back through a month that reads like paper.
vent, reflect, or think out loud. your words become a journal entry in seconds — your voice, on paper. 10 free transcriptions every day, forever.
AI summaries name the mood under each entry. patterns show what keeps coming back — "when work comes up, worry tends to follow." your cast tracks the people and places in your thoughts. mood horizon paints your month as a sky, not a spreadsheet.
your voice is transcribed over an encrypted connection and never stored. recordings stay on your phone. face ID, touch ID or fingerprint lock. export or permanently delete everything, inside the app.
serif type, warm paper surfaces, moods that drift like weather. a place for your own thoughts shouldn't feel like a task manager.
i journal by talking — typing kills the flow. but every voice-journal app i tried uploaded my raw audio to a server and kept it. that's a no. so i built dearly: your recordings stay on your phone, audio travels over an encrypted connection only to be transcribed and is never stored, and the whole thing reads like paper instead of a spreadsheet. — Swapnil
why an AI voice journal, and not notes, dictation, or a voice memo
| typed journal app | voice memo / dictation app | dearly | |
|---|---|---|---|
| getting started | a blank page and a cursor | tap record, start talking | tap the ink drop, start talking |
| what you end up with | typed text | a raw transcript, or an audio file | a clean, serif-set journal page |
| your voice recording | n/a | usually uploaded and kept on a server | stays on your phone; transcribed over an encrypted connection, never stored |
| reading back | you reread and notice things yourself | you reread a wall of transcript | AI summaries, a named mood per entry, patterns across the month (pro) |
| free tier | usually unlimited | a trial, then a paywall | unlimited recording + 10 transcriptions a day, forever |
| feels like | a notes app | a transcription tool | paper |
honest caveat: if you love writing by hand, a typed journal is fine — dearly is for people who think out loud. we keep an up-to-date comparison of other apps in best AI voice journal apps.
unlimited voice recording, 10 transcriptions a day, your full written journal, biometric lock.
AI summaries, patterns, your cast, mood horizon, reflection questions, and export.
AI voice journal questions, answered
- What is Dearly?
- Dearly is an AI voice journal app for Android and iPhone by BroooApps. You tap the ink drop, speak for a minute, and Dearly writes your words into a clean, serif-set journal page you can reread and search. With Pro it also listens back: AI summaries, a named mood per entry, and the patterns, people and places that keep coming up. The free plan includes unlimited recording and 10 transcriptions per day.
- What makes Dearly an "AI" voice journal rather than a voice recorder?
- A voice recorder keeps audio. A dictation app gives you a raw transcript. Dearly turns what you said into a written journal entry, then reads your entries back: it summarises each one, names the mood underneath, and over weeks surfaces patterns and the people and topics that recur. The AI is there to help you reread yourself, not to write for you.
- Does my voice recording leave my phone?
- No — not to be stored. Your voice recordings live on your device; audio travels over an encrypted connection only to be transcribed, and is never stored. Only the transcription text syncs to the cloud.
- Is the AI trained on my journal?
- No. Your entries are processed to produce your summaries and insights and are not used to train AI models. The privacy policy at brooo.app/dearly/privacy states this plainly.
- How much does Dearly cost?
- Dearly is free forever for recording, 10 transcriptions a day, your full journal, and biometric lock. Dearly Pro costs $24.99/year (about $2.08/month) or $2.99/month, and a one-time lifetime purchase is also available. Pro adds AI summaries, patterns, your cast, mood horizon, reflection questions, and export — all free for your first 15 days.
- What does "10 free transcriptions a day" mean?
- On the free plan, Dearly transcribes up to 10 entries per day; the limit resets daily. Recording itself is always unlimited.
- Is Dearly available on iPhone (iOS)?
- Yes — Dearly is live on the App Store for iPhone, and on Google Play for Android. The same account and private journal sync across both.
- Can I lock my journal?
- Yes. Dearly supports biometric lock, so your journal opens with your fingerprint or Face ID.
learn voice journaling — from first entry to private habit
Where your recording goes when an AI voice journal transcribes it, the three retention models apps actually use, how to read a privacy policy in five minutes, and what Dearly does with your audio.
Which AI voice journal apps actually transcribe, summarise and find patterns in what you say — and what each does with your audio. Day One, Rosebud, AudioPen, Voicenotes and Dearly compared on facts, our bias declared.
Prompts written to be spoken, not typed: one-minute starters, evening unloads, prompts for anxious days, for noticing patterns, and for when you have nothing to say. Use with any voice journal.
Speaking and writing produce different journals. What each is good for, why most people abandon the written one, and how an AI voice journal gives you both the ease of talking and a page to reread.
What iPhone gives you for free (Voice Memos transcripts, Journal, dictation), where each falls short as a diary, and what to look for in a dedicated AI voice journal app on iOS.
I kept escaping chaos by adding structure, and it cost me my internal compass. Why journaling kept dying on me, why ChatGPT kept agreeing with me, and the voice journaling app I built instead.
An honest 2026 comparison of voice diary apps for Android — transcription quality, privacy, AI insights, and price across each audio journal app, ours included.
You don't hate journaling — you hate writing. How a voice to text journal lets you talk for one minute a day, even if every notebook goes empty by page three.
Most voice journaling apps upload your audio to a server. What to check before trusting a private voice journal, and how Dearly keeps recordings on-device.
What voice journaling is, why speaking sustains a habit better than writing, and how to pick a voice journaling app — prompts and rituals included.
call it a voice diary, an audio journal, or just thinking out loud.
start tonight. say the things you'd never slow down to write — there's more of you to hear.