Patterns: OCD & ERP Journal
Track urges, anxiety, triggers
Free · In‑App Purchases
Private OCD journaling, factual Calm Insights, and guided ERP practice. No account, no ads, and one optional lifetime Pro unlock.
Patterns is a private OCD journal and self-help practice companion. Record intrusive thoughts and compulsions, write journal entries, delay an urge, and practise exposure and response prevention (ERP). Calm Insights can replace calculated scores and streaks with factual activity counts. Personal content stays on your device unless you choose to export an unencrypted JSON backup or PDF. Optional anonymous usage analytics are off by default and never include OCD content, summaries, locale, or language choice. Patterns does not diagnose or treat OCD and is not a replacement for qualified care or emergency support.
more Patterns 1.10 introduces optional Calm Insights, quieter endings after journal and practice sessions, and optional English, Brazilian Portuguese, German, Japanese, Spanish, and French interfaces. Your entries stay as written and your language choice remains on this device.
1.10.0 Oct 7
Patterns 1.9 adds a full light theme. Choose System, Light, or Dark in Settings and the whole app follows, including Today, Journal, Insights, and every recovery tool.
IMPROVED
• A clearer path to Pro. Advanced tools now introduce themselves where you actually meet them, instead of interrupting you with popups.
• More reliable purchases, with better product loading, clearer restore results, and entitlement checks that run again when you reopen the app.
• Optional anonymous usage analytics now has a clearer consent choice in Privacy settings. It stays off until you turn it on, and turning it off clears pending events.
Your journal entries, exposures, compulsions, and recovery notes stay on your device.
1.9.0 Sep 1
This update adds optional anonymous usage analytics to help improve Patterns. It is off by default and can be controlled in Privacy settings.
Analytics include only basic feature-use events. Journal entries, exposures, compulsions, recovery notes, and other personal OCD content never leave your device.
1.8.0 Aug 27
Y-BOCS trends
Your Y-BOCS self-checks now build a picture instead of sitting alone. Insights shows your latest score, and once you have two self-checks it draws the 0 to 40 trend over time. The therapist PDF carries the same scores as a dated table, so you can bring the history to a session instead of trying to remember it.
OCD theme tracks
Structured Programs now includes five theme tracks keyed to the Y-BOCS symptom categories: contamination, harm, symmetry and ordering, unacceptable thoughts, and relationship doubt. A self-check can point you toward the track that fits, and every other program stays exactly where it was. The relationship doubt track carries an honest note that the Y-BOCS checklist predates most of the research on relationship OCD.
Smaller things
- Clear a whole day from the journal list in one step.
- Tracker labels now use OCD language instead of generic mood wording.
- Kinder, clearer messages when a screen cannot save yet, across seven screens.
- Fixed the trend arrow on Insights. A falling Y-BOCS or distress score could show an upward arrow over a chart that visibly fell. The arrow now follows the number, while the colour still follows whether the change is good news.
- Exporting a therapist PDF with only Y-BOCS selected no longer refuses to run.
Everything stays on your device. No account, no cloud sync.
1.7.0 Aug 20
A calmer first session for new users.
• Choose what would help right now and start with one focused activity.
• See a clearer result and next-step flow after your first activity.
• Improved Today screen guidance and recovery navigation.
• Added on-device funnel diagnostics to help improve the first-session experience.
• General stability and polish improvements.
Your journal and OCD records remain stored locally on your device.
1.6.0 Aug 1
Patterns 1.5 adds Patterns Pro, a one-time unlock for advanced ERP practice.
New Pro tools include:
- Exposure Hierarchy
- Exposure Materials
- Response Prevention
- Structured Programs
- Urge Surfing
- Uncertainty Training
- Action Planner
- Behavioral Experiments
- Recovery Metrics
- Reflection Journal
- Implementation Intentions
This update also includes UI polish, clearer Pro feature ordering, improved payment handling, and refinements for App Store readiness.
1.5.0 Jul 10
This update adds a dedicated ERP tab, improved urge-control and ERP practice flows, timer completion alerts, clearer recent practice summaries, better light-theme navigation contrast, and refined rating prompts after meaningful app use.
It also includes general polish, stability improvements, and small UI refinements across the app.
1.4.1 Jun 28
New: Pause an Urge — a gentle way to practice sitting with a compulsion instead of acting on it right away. Name the urge, choose how long to wait, ride out a calm timer, then reflect on how it went. Small steps, real progress.
Also in this update:
• A cleaner, more consistent look for in-app messages and confirmations
• A smoother, faster Settings screen
• Minor fixes and polish
1.4.0 Jun 21
This update brings richer journaling and gentle reminders:
- Format your entries with bold, italics, and bullet points
- Set an optional daily reminder to check in
- Reset a day's journal entry when you need a fresh start
- Kinder, clearer messages throughout
- Fixed the Rate Patterns option
- Small polish and stability improvements
Thank you for using Patterns. Take it one gentle step at a time.
1.3.0 Jun 14
New in 1.2.0:
• PDF reports — export your journal, OCD log, and insights as a clean PDF for any date range, ready to save or share with a therapist.
• Refined insights and a more polished, consistent interface.
• Stability and performance improvements.
Thanks for using Patterns. Have a question or an idea? Reach out from within the app — we read everything.
1.2.0 Jun 6
• Introducing the Tip Jar: An optional way to support independent development if Patterns has helped you.
• Improved UI for smaller screens to ensure a smoother experience.
• Minor performance refinements and bug fixes.
1.1.4 May 26
Version 1.1.3
• Small refinements throughout the app for a calmer, smoother experience.
• Stability and performance improvements.
Thanks for using Patterns. If the app has helped you build a steadier reflection habit, leaving a rating goes a long way — it is how new people find apps like this.
1.1.3 May 17
What's new in 1.1.2:
• Fixed the app lock getting stuck in an endless Face ID / Touch ID prompt loop. Enabling and unlocking now work the first time.
• When biometric authentication can't run — too many attempts, locked out, or no enrolled biometrics — the lock screen now explains what's wrong instead of silently retrying.
• Edit past OCD events: open any entry to update its content, distress level, response, or action.
• Filter your OCD timeline to show only high-distress events.
• Search your journal by date or content.
• Import previews now validate backup files before replacing your data, and show how many entries will be restored.
Thanks for using Patterns.
1.1.2 May 15
Patterns 1.10 introduces optional Calm Insights, quieter endings after journal and practice sessions, and optional English, Brazilian Portuguese, German, Japanese, Spanish, and French interfaces. Your entries stay as written and your language choice remains on this device.
more Version 1.10.0 Oct 7
Data Not Linked to You The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
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