Reflectly is a beneficial journaling app for beginners on their journey towards bettering their mental health and wellness. The app was created by Choosing Therapy, an organization focused on helping their consumers receive the best type of therapy for them, taking into account what they may need help with and what they can afford.

Journaling can be a positive outlet for dealing with your emotions.

According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, “If you struggle with stress, depression or anxiety, keeping a journal can be a great idea. It can help you gain control of your emotions and improve your mental health.”

This would make Reflectly an ideal app for students, but it is very limited in what it provides its users. When it is first opened, the mascot of the app asks for your name, the color theme you want and offers a premium choice for $29.99.

“The way I like to describe it is a mood check-in tracker and journaling app rolled into one. It’s super easy to use and the best part is it’s free, you don’t even have to upgrade to the premium subscription to use everything that you need,” Editor of Consumer Technology for Choosing Therapy Caitlin Bell said in a Zoom interview.

The mood check-ins track what users are doing and they can use this as much as they want. Under this feature is the ability to add notes to each check-in, where users can journal how they feel. A downside to this feature is it’s only available after the first five days. Additionally, the motivational quotes can be sent to users throughout the day, all they need to do is pick a time frame and how many quotes they want sent to them.

The app also provides daily challenges and daily reflections, but the structure is similar to filling in the blanks of sentences. Users can also use the voice notes if they would rather speak than type, but that can present its own challenges.

Bell said the app does not work well on Androids, especially with this text-to-talk feature of the app. Bell said this feature allows users to record up to a minute; however, on Androids, it didn’t seem to work at all.

“It works significantly better on Apple. So that’s one of the big differences-that user experience is different depending on what you’re using,” Bell said.

The premium option offers unlimited journaling questions, personal growth tracking and unlocks all motivational quotes.

“I would really caution against signing up for the premium subscription just because when I did, I didn’t see a significant difference in what was offered…especially if you are a college student,” Bell said.

In terms of journaling, the app isn’t the best for more thorough and thought out entries, it would be better for students who are busy or just starting to get into journaling or those who are busy and would like quick mindfulness practices.

Senior Angelina Leaños said she got into the app recently and said the affirmation feature of the app helps when she gets too busy to do on her own.

“In the short time that I’ve used Reflectly, it’s given me little affirmations or quotes, which I really appreciate because that’s a habit I tried to develop on my own. But you know, getting caught up in school and everything, it’s hard to keep up,” Leaños said.

Leaños said she enjoys the app’s checkin feature because it is helpful to see how her mood fluctuates throughout the day.

“I think it is interesting that there are these little check-ins where I can specify how I’m feeling in the moment. It’s not taking up so much of my time as actually having to physically journal and taking time out of my day,” Leaños said.

The app itself has 4.6 out of 5 stars based on over 81,000 ratings in the Apple store, so it is being used and has positive reviews, but primarily, Reflectly is more of an app for users that are busy or just starting out their journey into journaling.