iOS Day One not recording, logging or listing locations
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For me this is a continuing saga. For some reason I often don’t see locations listed when I write a new journal entry.
Today, for example, I went out to buy some stuff. When I got home, I went to add the entry but the location of the store wasn’t in it. In fact, all it had was “home”.
Later, I went out again to a different store. Same thing when I got home. Only have “home” listed, but twice now.
I’ve gone through the help pages, the Google AI search thingy and so on. All settings are turned on, the iPhone’s Location Services is active, Day One is turned on for it and so on.
Is there anything else that I could have missed?
And as for adding locations manually, on the iPhone it’s nigh on impossible to do as the map window that opens is extremely small, is difficult to scroll and pan and often hard pressing on a location simply does not work.
If, however, I make an entry on the Mac Mini desktop version and do the same, the window is larger and using the mouse to zoom in and to pan around the map is easy. And right clicking on a location asks if I want to add it.
Back to the iOS app. When adding a location, you get options like recently visited, near me and so on. Often, what I want to add isn’t there. Or if it is and I add it, it will revert back to another location that’s nearby.
It’s an exercise in frustration. I don’t know if it’s iOS or the app itself that gives me the runaround.
Thanks. -
Oh, I forgot to mention. When I tap on edit location, I type in the name of the desired location, say, “Joe’s Bar and Grill”, it doesn’t list it, but I know that it exists as I’ve been there many times before. It shows up in both Apple and Google Maps.
Thanks again.
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Just out of curiosity, what happens if you add a journal entry while still physically at one of those locations? Does the journal entry have the desired location data?
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Hey Steve, sometimes it’s accurate, sometimes it’s not. The way it works tends to vary.
The best way for me to get a fix on a location is to take a photo then use the metadata in the photo to create a location for the entry.
Doing it on the Mac later on seems to be the more accurate way as I can more easily scroll around the map to pinpoint my location. -
Hi @marts57
Thanks for the detail – that helps a lot. From what you described (“Recently Visited”, “Near Me” options), it sounds like Location History is already on, which rules out the most common cause. Let me address each piece:
Why entries keep showing “home”
When you create an entry from scratch, Day One reads your current location at that moment and snaps to the nearest known place within ~20 metres. If you write the entry once you’re back home, “home” wins, even if the entry is about the store you were at earlier.
Two ways around this:
- Create the entry from the visit instead. Open the Today tab and tap Places – you’ll see your visits from earlier in the day. Tapping a visit (the store) and then “New Entry” creates an entry already tagged with that location.
- Edit the location after the fact. Open the entry, tap the map at the bottom, tap the location, then Edit Location – your earlier visits should be in the “Recently Visited” list. Pick the store from there.
Entry Info/Metadata in Day One for iOS walks through the metadata screen.
“It reverts back to another location that’s nearby”
This part is worth checking. Day One has an Auto-apply Point of Interest setting that’s on by default with Location History – it tries to label visits with the nearest POI Apple knows about. If Apple’s POI for your block isn’t the place you were actually at, the auto-apply can override your manual pick.
Try: Settings > Location History and turn off Auto-apply Point of Interest. After that, your manual location picks should stick.
Search not finding “Joe’s Bar and Grill”
The search field uses Apple’s POI database, and its coverage of independent local businesses varies a lot by region. Two reliable workarounds:
- Drop a pin manually: in the Edit Location map, pinch-to-zoom to the spot, long-press to drop a pin, then tap the checkmark to save.
- Save it once as a named location: see Saved/Named locations. Once saved, “Joe’s Bar and Grill” will be one tap away on every future entry.
The small map UI on iOS
You’re not alone there – it’s a known gripe. Pinch-to-zoom is the only workaround on iOS, and it sounds like you’ve already landed on the right answer for trickier edits, which is doing them on the Mac.
The Auto-apply Point of Interest setting is the one I’d try first – that “reverts to a nearby location” behaviour fits exactly what it does. Let us know how it goes.
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Hi Donnie.
Thanks for the update. I’ve just turned off that “auto apply POI” option. I’ll see how that goes.
CheersMartin
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