IMHO nothing better really. The price hike is really surprising. No, this app really doesn't do anything special. But it seems there are people (and a lot of them) to whom this app appeals a lot and I am sure they find it useful and it works for them. I think the look and feel is very clean and gives a diary like experience maybe. But anyway, its Mac app cost just doesn't make sense to me at least.

One can try this - a full screen writer app like WriteRoom or CleanWriter (my favourite - just love the type writer sound) or iA Writer and write in simple text files and save in an encrypted folder and sync it with the service of your choice self hosted or otherwise.

You can do journaling in Notes or any notetaking app for that matter. The difference with Day One doesn't really appear in a feature list... it's the user experience. It's built around making journaling a smooth experience and presenting the result as a journal, rather than a collection of notes.

It's not necessary. But, it's nice.

The current price tag is a little surprising. I picked it up years ago on iOS for like $3. The version I have has been rebranded to Day One Classic.

I had one back when I used a Mac. It is one of very few programs I miss from my Mac and I still look from time to time to see if they have poeted it yet.

The other was "Alarms" which was discontinued even on Mac.