User profile for user: grburgess
grburgess Author
User level: Level 1
44 points

Apple Journal App - no sound for videos

First of all, it's difficult to get a video into the Apple Journal app. For Apple Notes or Day One app, I can just drag in any kind of video day or night, and it plays just fine with sound, and I can resize them.


With the Journal app, I go through the "Camera" icon at the top and choose video, and I can record the video, but it won't ever play it with sound. On my M1 iMac, I've given it every possible permission, and it still won't play. If I drag it out of Journal to the desktop, it plays just fine. If I drag it into Apple Notes, it plays just fine. If I drag it into the Day One app, it plays just fine. If I open my iPhone, it plays just fine too.


But Journal app on the Mac has other ideas, and it's impossible to get sound out of this beastie. It was such a promising app, but when I combine that with the big fights I have trying to add inline photos, it really detracts from something that should have been much more.

iMac 24″

Posted on Sep 22, 2025 9:45 AM

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User profile for user: jeloroc73
jeloroc73
User level: Level 1
8 points

Posted on Oct 12, 2025 8:23 PM

I have the same problem. I never did a video on the iPhone app so I tested it and at first I thought it had the same issue. But then I noticed audio was coming through just very faintly. But there was no way to turn it up. Even though there was a speaker icon which wasn't on the Mac app. I had to put my ear directly to the speaker to hear it.


So I tried it again on my M1 MacBook Pro. But wondered why there was no speaker icon on the Mac app but there was one on the iPhone app. Turns out you have to make the app full screen to see it. By default it's on mute. So I unmuted it. And lo and behold there was audio, but again very faint and I had to turn the volume all the way to even barely hear it.


Googling the issue it looks like this is an issue going back at least a couple of years. It's a very poorly executed app, especially for an Apple product.

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User profile for user: jeloroc73
jeloroc73
User level: Level 1
8 points

Oct 12, 2025 8:23 PM in response to grburgess

I have the same problem. I never did a video on the iPhone app so I tested it and at first I thought it had the same issue. But then I noticed audio was coming through just very faintly. But there was no way to turn it up. Even though there was a speaker icon which wasn't on the Mac app. I had to put my ear directly to the speaker to hear it.


So I tried it again on my M1 MacBook Pro. But wondered why there was no speaker icon on the Mac app but there was one on the iPhone app. Turns out you have to make the app full screen to see it. By default it's on mute. So I unmuted it. And lo and behold there was audio, but again very faint and I had to turn the volume all the way to even barely hear it.


Googling the issue it looks like this is an issue going back at least a couple of years. It's a very poorly executed app, especially for an Apple product.

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Apple Journal App - no sound for videos

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