✎ Draft reply to a few things worth checking before you put months of entries into any app:
1. where does data actually live? on-device is different from "encrypted cloud," which still means someone else holds the keys.
2. do voice notes export as real audio files (m4a, mp3) or just transcripts? transcripts are not the same thing.
3. do scans come out as full-quality images or PDFs, or do they get compressed into some format you can't use anywhere else?
4. is the export format open? plain text, PDF, standard audio are all fine. anything app-specific is a risk.
5. does export work without an active subscription? some apps gate your own data behind a paywall, so if you stop paying you lose access to export entirely.
that last one catches people off guard more than any other.
QuietArchive is mine, an iPhone journal that stores voice notes, scans, and written entries on-device and exports in standard formats. i've spent a lot of time thinking through exactly this problem, so the checklist above is basically what shaped how i built it. worth running any app you're considering through those five points before committing.
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