These past few weeks I’ve been reading the Day One subreddit and a lot of people are upset about the new price hike because they’re adding AI to the app. This isn’t just happening with Day One, it’s happening with pretty much every piece of software we use. We’re going to end up paying more for things we often didn’t ask for, don’t use, or use twice and then forget exist.
I use AI every day, and I think it’s an incredible tool for many things. However, it’s like having a Ferrari and using it to go to the supermarket at the end of your road. A Ferrari is powerful, but perhaps it’s not necessary for that task. When I open my journal, the only thing I want is to write in peace, without any distractions or suggestions, and without anyone looking over my shoulder.
That said, a few weeks ago I ran an experiment. I grabbed all the entries I’ve been collecting since 2019 and fed them to Claude to see what it would pull out. This was the result:
It didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know. However, it was interesting to see it all organised and observe the patterns that repeated year after year. It makes you more aware of where your life is heading and whether you’re going in the right direction.
And here’s the beautiful part. I was able to run that experiment because my entries are plain text files living on my computer. I got to decide when to use AI, which model, and with which entries. If tomorrow I want to use a local model running on my own machine without sending anything anywhere, I can. If I never want to use AI again, I can do that too. That decision belongs to me and nobody else, and I think that’s how it should always be.
That’s why Cozy won’t have AI built in. Not because I’m against it, but because I think that’s a door you should open when you want to, not one I open for you.
How Cozy is coming along
I’ve been putting a lot of work into it these past few weeks. I’ve improved a bunch of things in the interface, simplified others, and overall the app is feeling much closer to what I have in my head. Here’s how it looks right now:
Soon I’ll be starting the beta and you’ll get to try it for free. A bit later I’ll talk about pricing and how I see things going long term, but you’ve been here from the start, so you’ll get a discount when that time comes. What matters right now is that you get your hands on it, tell me what you think, and help me turn it into the best journaling app I can build.
Talk soon,
Alberto