Joining a journal
Together
Someone invited you to their journal? Open the link on your iPhone or iPad, and the journal opens in Balanced. Here's what you need, and what to do if it doesn't work.
When someone shares a journal with you, you get a link, for example in Messages or Mail. The link is meant for you: it only works with the iCloud account it was sent to.
What you need
Section titled “What you need”- Balanced on the device where you open the link.
- iCloud, signed in with the account the invitation was sent to.
- iCloud Sync turned on in Balanced. If it’s off, Balanced offers to turn it on for you.
- Open the invitation on your iPhone or iPad and tap the link.
- Balanced opens, joins the journal and shows it right away. At first it may only have its name. Accounts, transactions and the budget follow as they arrive from iCloud.
- From now on, the journal is in your journals list, with the owner’s name under its own, for example Shared by Anna.
Your other devices signed in to the same iCloud account get the journal by themselves, as long as iCloud Sync is on there too. You don’t need to open the link again. If you do, Balanced just opens the journal.
When iCloud Sync is off
Section titled “When iCloud Sync is off”- Turn On iCloud Sync turns on sync in Balanced and joins the journal.
- Cancel joins nothing. You can open the link again later.
If joining doesn’t work
Section titled “If joining doesn’t work”Balanced shows Couldn't Join Journal with one of these messages. Nothing is added to your device until joining works.
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Sign in to iCloud to join this journal. | Sign in to iCloud in your device’s Settings app, then open the link again. |
| This invitation is for a different iCloud account. | The invitation was sent to another iCloud account than the one on this device. Ask the owner to invite the account you use. |
| Turn on iCloud Sync to join shared journals. | Tap Turn On iCloud Sync. |
| Balanced couldn't reach iCloud. Check your connection and try again. | Check that you’re online, then tap Try Again. |
| This journal is yours. It appears on this device once iCloud sync has finished. | You opened the link to your own journal on another of your devices. Wait: the journal arrives through iCloud Sync. |
| This invitation is no longer valid. Ask the owner to invite you again. | The owner stopped sharing or deleted the journal, so this link no longer works. Ask for a new invitation. |
| This journal can't be joined on this device because another journal uses the same identifier. | Rare: a journal on this device already uses the same identity, for example a copy of this journal from another iCloud account. Balanced can’t join while that journal is here. |
| This invitation can't be accepted right now. Try again later. | Open the link again later. If it keeps happening, ask the owner for a new invitation. |
After you’ve joined
Section titled “After you’ve joined”- You can change everything, just like in your own journals: transactions, accounts, repeating transactions and budgets.
- Only the owner invites people. A journal shared with you has no Share button.
- To see who’s in it, touch and hold the journal in the journals list. The menu lists everyone the owner invited.
- The owner’s iCloud storage holds the journal. If it’s full, your changes wait until there’s space again. See Sharing a journal.
- Switching iCloud accounts on your device removes the journals shared with you from it, once you confirm Upload Journals to This iCloud Account in ⚙︎ Settings. Signing out and back in with the same account keeps them.
To leave the journal again, see Leaving and removing.