BetterFriend: Remember People

Free right now, including what goes paid later. I haven't built billing yet. Remember birthdays and what your people told you, then send the message you forgot to send.

You're not bad at keeping in touch. You just haven't found the right app yet.

That's not a figure of speech. In thirteen studies with about six thousand people, this came out: we all underestimate how much someone appreciates hearing from us, and the effect gets stronger the more out of the blue the message is. The reply lands better than you expect. Nearly every time.

BetterFriend is a memory for the people in your life. It holds what they told you and when you last spoke, then nudges you when it has been a while, with enough context, because you kept it in the BetterFriend app.

REMEMBER THE DETAILS ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS

Keep friend notes on each person: their kids' names, the job they're chasing, the surgery next month, the thing they only mentioned once. Log what you talked about, and the next conversation picks up where the last one ended.

• Facts that stay put, kept separate from the running log of catch-ups • A timestamped note on every conversation you record • Interests at a glance, so you know what to ask before you call • A fresh question each month for every person, the things you'd never think to ask someone you've known twenty years

NEVER LOSE TOUCH

Give each person a rhythm: anything from 7 to 365 days. When it has been too long, a nudge arrives carrying the detail you need.

"You haven't spoken to Sam in 30 days. Last time: interview on the 4th."

• Birthday reminders, with no Facebook account involved • A gift heads-up a week out, while there is still time to sort something • Event follow-up nudges: her interview is Thursday, remind me Friday • One-off reminders for anything else. Call Dad on Sunday • Surprise me, you never know when it's time to connect again

Add people by hand, or pull a handful out of your iPhone Contacts. You don't have to import the four hundred other contacts you never speak to.

WHY I BUILT IT

I stood on my neighbour's doorstep on his birthday and said nothing about it. I knew the date. I had known it for years. It just wasn't in my head at the moment I needed it there.

So: a personal CRM for friends and family, for something that is really about remembering your neighbour when he turns thirty. No pipelines, no lead scoring, no LinkedIn, nobody to close.

ENCRYPTED ON YOUR IPHONE

Everything you write is encrypted on your iPhone before it is uploaded, and the key stays in your device's Keychain. I hold nothing that opens your notes. That's the architecture, not a promise about my intentions.

No ads, and nothing sold to anyone. It isn't a social network either: nobody else sees your people, and your friends never know the app exists (so don't spread the word).

FREE RIGHT NOW

Every feature is free, while BetterFriend finds its first users. No card, and nothing to upgrade to yet.

Questions or ideas: support@betterfriend.site