Bugs: Apple Shortcuts ‘Journal choice’ issue + Cross-Device Errors

  • Unknown's avatar
    v5w8ff4bjf · Member ·

    This issue appears related to the issue described previously on the forum. I suspect the ‘fix’ for that problem may be the cause of this issue.

    Three devices testing with:
    macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 – Day One 2024.9(1557)
    iOS 17.4.1 – Day One 2024.8.1 (2497)
    iPadOS 17.4.1 – Day One 2024.81 (2497)

    Bug 1: Asymmetric “Action could not be found” error

    Day One actions added on iPad / iOS aren’t recognised on Mac.
    Day One actions added on Mac are recognised on iOS / iPad.

    Method to reproduce:

    1. Add a new shortcut with a Day One action on the MacOS shortcuts app, wait for it to sync, and open it on iPad / iPhone. That works.
    2. Create a Day One action shortcut on iPad / iOS and open it on MacOS shortcuts. It says “This action could not be found in this version of Shortcuts”.

    Problem 2: ‘Journal Choice’ element of actions do not stick between devices

    Actions that involve a ‘journal choice’ do not function properly on devices other than the device it was created on. You have to re-select the journal from each device if you want the ‘journal choice’ aspect to function for that device – and this breaks the functionality for your other devices.

    Worse, this fails silently and the UI shows no issues – items are just added to your main journal instead.

    Method to reproduce:

    1. iPad / MacOS:
      • Make a new Shortcut on iPad or MacOS using a “Create entry” action.
      • Choose a specific Journal to add the entry to.
      • Run the shortcut – it works.
    2. iOS:
      • Run that same Shortcut on iOS (iCloud shortcuts sync) – your selected journal choice isn’t respected.
      • Edit that same Shortcut on iOS, and re-select the intended journal in the relevant action – now when run, your journal choice works again.

    Potential cause:

    It seems possible this problem was created in a ‘fix’ for the journal choice not being respected on a given device. It seems Day One receives a device-dependant static target for the journal choice. This fails silently on other devices, and is clearly not intended behaviour given that the UI shows no issues.

  • Unknown's avatar
    v5w8ff4bjf · Member ·

    I was trying a workaround using templates and default journal locations for templates:

    The “Create Template Entry” action doesn’t work properly on macOS.

    Day One ignores the journal specification. I had a few times where it duplicated the journal entry into both “main’ and the specified location.

    Day One also seemingly ignores the templates default location when adding entries via Shortcuts.

  • staff-bluejay · Staff ·

    Hi @v5w8ff4bjf,

    Thank you for detailed reports and including steps to reproduce. I have submitted internal bug reports on your behalf.

Reply to Bugs: Apple Shortcuts ‘Journal choice’ issue + Cross-Device Errors