None declared
None declared
Mostly a question of trust: Clearful collects data linked to you but declares no tracking. The sensitive items are user content. In total the label lists 4 data types; 32% of journal & diary apps we checked declare tracking.
Clearful privacy in one look
- 1Collects nothing
- 2Not linked
- 3Linked
- 4Tracks you
Built only from the developer's App Store label. It describes disclosure, not tested behaviour.
Clearful collects 4 data types tied to your identity but declares no tracking.
Did Clearful ask for something?
Pick the permission prompt you saw. We compare it with what Clearful's developer declared.
Location is not on Clearful's label. That can be fine: data used only on your iPhone does not have to be declared. If the data would need to leave the phone for the feature to work, ask why it is missing.
Clearful lists User Content on its label, linked to you. Choose Limited Access and pick only the photos you want to share.
Contacts is not on Clearful's label. That can be fine: data used only on your iPhone does not have to be declared. If the data would need to leave the phone for the feature to work, ask why it is missing.
Clearful declares no tracking, so a tracking prompt would contradict its label. Decline it, and consider reporting the mismatch to Apple.
Health & Fitness is not on Clearful's label. That can be fine: data used only on your iPhone does not have to be declared. If the data would need to leave the phone for the feature to work, ask why it is missing.
A permission is what the app can reach on your iPhone; the label is what the developer says leaves it. They answer different questions.
What Clearful collects, explained
| Data type | What it covers | Where to limit it |
|---|---|---|
| User ContentSensitiveLinked to you | Messages, photos, videos, audio recordings, documents and support chats you create or upload. | Settings › Privacy & Security › Photos: choose Limited Access or None; review Microphone and Files access too. |
| IdentifiersLinked to you | An account ID, screen name, customer number or a device-level ID such as the advertising identifier. | Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking: turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track, or tap Ask App Not to Track when prompted. |
| Usage DataLinked to you | What you tap, open and view inside the app, plus which ads you have seen. | There is no single iOS switch. Look for an analytics or personalised-ads toggle in the app's own settings. |
| DiagnosticsLinked to you | Crash logs, launch times, hang rates and energy use. | Settings › Privacy & Security › Analytics & Improvements › Share With App Developers controls what Apple passes on; the app's own crash reporting is separate. |
What Clearful's label means for you
Clearful's label has 4 types under “Data Linked to You”. A data type can appear in more than one section when it is used for different purposes — for example, identifiers used for both analytics and advertising.
Clearful declares no tracking, which means the developer says it does not combine your data with other companies' data for advertising or sell it to data brokers. The data linked to you — user content, identifiers, usage data and diagnostics — is still tied to your identity, typically through an account, and is covered by the developer's privacy policy and retention rules.
The items that deserve the most attention are user content. This is the content you actually care about. Where it is stored, who can read it and how it is backed up matters more than any other line on the label.
Journals collect your private thoughts, moods and often your location and photos. A lock screen inside the app is not the same as encryption of the synced entries. Check whether entries sync to the developer's server and whether that sync is end-to-end encrypted; export your journal regularly.
Among the 173 journal & diary apps in our snapshot with a label, 32% declare tracking, 54% collect data linked to you and 21% say they collect nothing. Clearful lists 4 data types, more than the average of 2.9 for this group.
Health and fitness apps can read Apple Health data only for categories you approve, one by one. What they collect themselves is shown on the label.
Settings to check for Clearful
- 1
Tracking
Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking. If “Allow Apps to Request to Track” is off, apps cannot ask, and they are told to treat you as having declined. You can also turn it off for this app alone.
- 2
Photos
Settings › Privacy & Security › Photos. Limited Access lets you pick exactly which pictures the app can see; Add Photos Only lets it save without reading your library.
- 3
Health
Health app › your profile picture › Apps › Clearful. Turn categories on one at a time; the app cannot tell which ones you declined.
- 4
Lock the app
On iOS 18 and later, touch and hold the icon and choose Require Face ID. Anyone who picks up your unlocked phone then needs your face, fingerprint or passcode to open it.
- 5
Notifications
Settings › Notifications › Clearful › Show Previews: When Unlocked keeps message and account details off the Lock Screen.
Does Clearful track you?
There is no “Data Used to Track You” section on Clearful's label.
Lock Clearful behind Face ID
- Find Clearful on your Home Screen or in App Library.
- Touch and hold the icon until the quick-actions menu opens.
- Tap Require Face ID (or Require Touch ID / Require Passcode, depending on your iPhone).
- Tap Require Face ID again to confirm. Clearful now asks for authentication every time it opens.
The lock is an iPhone feature, so it works whether or not Clearful has a passcode of its own. It does not change what the app sends to its developer.
About Clearful
| Developer | Clearful Journal Inc. |
| App Store category | Health & Fitness (also Lifestyle) |
| Latest version | 3.34.2, released October 2026 |
| First released | September 2020 |
| Requires | iOS 16.0 or later |
| Size | 139 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ |
| Languages | 1 (EN) |
| Bundle ID | com.clearful.journal |
The current version shipped in October 2026, so the app is actively maintained and its label is likely current. Labels are updated by developers when practices change.
What the label cannot tell you
- A label is self-reported. Apple publishes the developer's answers and can reject apps that misrepresent them, but it does not independently verify what Clearful sends.
- It does not say where data is stored, how long it is kept, whether it is encrypted, or which companies receive it. The privacy policy covers those points.
- Optional data counts: if a feature lets you add something (a profile photo, a phone number), the type is listed even if you never use the feature.
- Data handled only on your iPhone is not 'collected', so a no-collection label is compatible with an app that reads your files locally.
- Third-party sign-in, payment processors and SDKs are supposed to be included, but a label can lag behind a new version.
The question to ask Clearful's developer: Can anyone at the company read my entries?
Clearful vs similar journal & diary apps
- Success Life Coach Day Planner
- Clearful (this app)
- Tochi
- Lightpage
- Brain Trust Journal/Diary
- Gemi
- Munra
- Simple Daily Diary
Fewer types is not automatically safer: a cloud backup app has to collect your files to work. Compare like with like.
Look up any of our apps in seconds, or put two labels side by side.
Apps similar to Clearful
All journal & diary apps → Who tracks you? A–Z → Apps that collect user content → Privacy label decoder →
Your Clearful privacy checklist
Done. You have applied every control the label points to.
True or false?
- Right.Not quite.
False: there is no Data Used to Track You section on Clearful's label.
- Right.Not quite.
Labels are self-reported by developers. Apple can reject or remove apps that misrepresent practices, but it does not audit each label.
- Right.Not quite.
True: User Content appears on its label.
- Right.Not quite.
It is collected and sent; the developer says it is de-identified rather than tied to your account or device.
- Right.Not quite.
Apple's rules require apps to work the same whether or not you allow tracking.