Help & common questions

Logging

How do I log a migraine?

On the Journal tab, the card at the top asks "How did today go?" — tap Log a migraine and it takes you through six quick steps: severity, location, symptoms, triggers, context, review. It takes about 20 seconds and you can skip any step. If you've already logged today, the card shows today's severity instead; tap it to edit.

What does "All clear today" do?

It logs a migraine-free day with one tap. That keeps your check-in streak going and makes your insights more accurate — knowing which days were fine is half of finding a pattern. Tapped it by accident? There's an Undo on the card. For a past day, tap that day in the calendar heatmap and confirm "Remove check-in".

How does the streak work?

It counts consecutive days you checked in, and both kinds of day count. An all-clear day counts; a day you logged a migraine also counts. It's a streak of showing up, not a streak of being pain-free, so a migraine never breaks it. Missing a day entirely resets it to zero. The app remembers your best streak and marks milestones at 7, 30, and 100 days.

Can I log a migraine for a past day?

Yes, two ways. In the log flow, the Context step has a "When" picker you can set to any past date and time. Or on the Journal tab, tap any day in the calendar heatmap — an empty day opens the log flow pre-filled to that date, and a day with an entry opens it for editing. If the day has an all-clear check-in, the app asks whether to remove it first.

What does the dial colour mean?

It reflects the severity band: 0–3 mild (soft mint and dawn), 4–6 moderate (peach), 7–8 severe (coral), 9–10 debilitating (deep ember red). The dial also pulses gently when you cross severity 7. That's intentional — your input is still registering, the pulse is just an acknowledgment.

Insights

When do Insights show up?

The Insights tab needs at least three logged entries before it shows anything. After that you get your last 30 days at a glance — attacks, pain-day rate, average severity, and whether you're trending better or worse than the previous 30 days — plus severity over time as a line chart, a medication heads-up if relevant, and trigger correlations on Plus.

Why is a trigger correlation not showing?

Because the app doesn't have enough data to say it honestly yet. Correlations are deliberately conservative: they need at least five entries overall, at least three days with that particular trigger, and at least a 10% shift before they appear. A "+37%" beside "Poor sleep" means your migraines have been 37% more severe on days you logged poor sleep, compared with your overall average.

What is the medication heads-up?

If you've logged medication on 15 or more of the last 30 days, Insights shows a gentle note about it. It's a frequency observation, not a diagnosis — the app doesn't know what you're taking or why. Frequent use of acute medication is simply a pattern worth mentioning to your doctor. The heads-up is free for everyone; the doctor-facing trend and its inclusion in the PDF report are part of Plus.

Why are the monthly summaries blurred?

Monthly summaries — each month's attack count, average severity, and trend — are part of Plus. Your entries themselves are never locked: every entry you've ever logged stays fully visible for free.

Privacy, data and sync

Is my data private?

Yes. Everything you log stays on your device and, if you're signed into iCloud, in your own iCloud private database. I never see your entries and have no way to access them. The only thing that leaves your device is a small amount of anonymous usage data — which features are used, never your health information — through TelemetryDeck. No ads, no cross-app tracking, no advertising identifier.

Does the app sync between my iPhone and iPad?

Yes, if you're signed into the same iCloud account on both. It uses Apple CloudKit's private database, so your data is encrypted and accessible only to you. Sync usually happens within seconds; if a new entry doesn't appear, give it a minute and pull to refresh on the receiving device. You can check sync status in Settings → iCloud → Private iCloud sync.

The risk card is asking for my location

The migraine-risk forecast (Plus) uses your approximate location to fetch the local barometric-pressure forecast from Apple Weather. It's when-in-use only, approximate rather than precise, and used for nothing else. To change your mind: iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Migraine Journal. Everything else in the app works without it.

How do I export, import, or delete my data?

Settings → Data. Export all data saves a JSON file of your migraine entries and medication logs to Files, Mail, AirDrop or anywhere else. Import from file restores from a previous export. Delete all data permanently removes every entry, medication log and check-in from the device, and from iCloud if sync is on. Daily check-ins sync through iCloud but are not part of the export file.

Does the app use HealthKit or Apple Watch?

Not currently. They're on the roadmap, which is why the app's privacy declarations mention health data — those declarations are in place for future versions. The current version does not read or write HealthKit data.

Plus and subscriptions

What is Migraine Journal Plus?

Logging is free and unlimited, forever — migraines and all-clear days alike, plus your full history, streaks, basic stats and the daily reminder. Plus adds the daily weather-risk forecast, monthly summaries, trigger correlations, medication effectiveness, the doctor-ready PDF report, all-time trend history, and unlimited custom symptoms and triggers. There's a 7-day free trial, then $4.99/month or $29.99/year, or a one-time Lifetime purchase.

How do I cancel the trial or my subscription?

Subscriptions are managed by Apple, not by me: iOS Settings → your name → Subscriptions → Migraine Journal, or the App Store app → your profile picture → Subscriptions. If you cancel during the free trial you keep Plus until the trial ends and you won't be charged. The app also reminds you two days before the trial renews.

I bought Plus but it isn't showing

Open the Plus screen and tap Restore Purchases, making sure you're signed into the same Apple ID you bought with. If it still doesn't unlock, email me.

Troubleshooting

The daily reminder isn't firing

Check four things. Have you already logged or checked in today? The reminder skips days that are already covered — that's by design. Is Settings → Reminders → Daily check-in enabled and set to the time you expect? Is iOS Settings → Notifications → Migraine Journal → Allow Notifications on? If the permission was ever denied, the in-app toggle can't override it. And is your iPhone in a Focus mode that filters the app? If none of those explain it, email me with your iPhone model and iOS version.

The app crashed

That shouldn't happen and I'd like to know. Email me with what you were doing when it crashed, your iPhone model, and your iOS version. The Settings → Send feedback button auto-fills all of that, which makes it much easier to act on.

Getting in touch

Bug reports and feature requests both go to[email protected]. Include a clear description of what went wrong or what you'd like, steps to reproduce if it's a bug, and a screenshot if you can. Anything privacy-related, put "Privacy" in the subject line.

I read every email and reply to most within a few days. I'm one person working on this, so please be patient.

Something urgent

This is a tracking tool, not a clinical service, and nobody monitors it. If you're worried about your symptoms — particularly a headache that comes on suddenly and severely, or one with new neurological symptoms — contact your doctor or emergency services rather than emailing here.