Step Is A Journaling App That Helps You Make Sense Of Your Life

There are already plenty of journaling apps out there, but Step Journal stands out as a personal data aggregator that records and helps you make sense of your life’s minutiae.

As a big fan of using my iPhone to journal, I often check apps like TimeHop or Momento to see how my life has changed over the past few years and I use Facebook not just to stay in touch with people, but also to keep a log of memorable events.

In the past few months, however, I’ve become increasingly disconcerted by the fact that the most comprehensive record of my personal life over the past four years exists in updates and photos scattered across social media platforms. Developed by South Korea-based WePlanet, Step is a great alternative for people who share my concerns. The app is easy to use, aggregates personal data in an attractive and illuminating way–and is private. Step is currently available for iOS, but an Android version with a customized UI is in the works.

Step screenshots

Step has two main screens: its dashboard tracks your top activities and places visited, while its journaling interface allows you to check into a place, snap photos and add activities with a tap on Step’s vast array of icons. The app’s adaptive user interface arranges icons in the order you tap them the most, making Step easier to use the more frequently you log your activities.

“We are positioning Step as a lifestyle aggregator,” says developer Jay Mok. “We want to collect all this fragmented data and deliver to users one very simple tool to capture their lives. As we like to say, you can use Step to click, capture and collect your life.”

Step has two target users: people with very busy schedules who want to keep a journal but don’t have the time to sit down and write down everything sentence by sentence, as well as users who are accustomed to using apps to keep track of their exercise, diet or hobbies, and now want something that will encompass all of their other activities.

Users can connect Step to their Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare accounts, but Mok says all data recorded in Step remains anonymous.

“We want to find people who use social media for life logging, but don’t like the privacy issues or want the social aspect. Step can be used to capture their lives quickly, and then they can post it to Twitter or Facebook later,” says Mok.

Step will constantly add new features. Eventually the dashboard will allow you to keep track of items like the average distances you have traveled in a week and specific food or drink that you consume regularly. Another planned feature will give users recommendations based on the places they check into. WePlanet also plans to partner with other apps that track things like exercise, calories or budgeting, so users can turn Step into a central access point for all their personal data.

WePlanet is still working on monetization models for Step, but one possibility is making aggregated data available for business owners while preserving individual user anonymity. The development team is currently seeking seed funding from angel investors. Seed has been bootstrapped so far, with additional support from its time as a member of Seoul-based accelerator SparkLabs’ first cohort.