A private family heirloom

An heirloom you build one memory at a time.

The little things they say. The milestones, big and small. All the things you don't want to forget, and all the things you want them to know. Save them with photos, voice notes, videos, letters, and quotes. And now, print any timeline into a real book you can hold.

Not a feed. Not a photo backup. A private family keepsake you build now and hand down later.

Six ways to capture
A timeline for each child
Prints into a real book
Private to your family

New in Dear Ones

From your timeline to a book in your hands

Everything you save is ready to become a printed book. Build it, shape it, and order it without leaving the app.

Turn your Dear Ones timeline into a real printed book, delivered to your door: hardcover, softcover, or layflat
Every quote, photo, and milestone you saved, printed and bound.
1

Start with what you've saved

Pick a child's timeline, the family timeline, or an album. Dear Ones lays out the pages for you, in order, as a first draft you can shape.

2

Make it yours

Arrange the pages, place your captions where you want them, add pages for the stories behind the pictures, and choose your cover.

3

Order it from the couch

Choose your binding, order a copy for the shelf and a few for the grandparents, and reorder any book whenever you want another.

Softcover Hardcover Layflat

Book pricing depends on binding and page count, and you see it in the app before you pay. Books ship in the United States.

The little things, finally in one place

Capture takes seconds. Reading back feels like opening a book.

Six ways to capture

Quotes, milestones, photos and videos, voice notes, selfie videos, and letters. Save one in seconds, then tag it to the timelines or albums you choose.

A timeline for each child

A family timeline plus a thread for every person, each with its own color. Grouped by day, so reading back feels like opening a book.

Albums for trips and seasons

Gather a beach trip or a Christmas morning into one collection. Add anything from your timeline, or pull in photos straight from your camera roll.

Letters for someday

Write a letter today and seal it for a wedding day, an 18th birthday, the day they leave home. It waits until the date you choose.

Share with the people you love

Give your spouse, a grandparent, or a grown child a code, and the timelines you choose open in their own copy of the app. You decide if they can add memories, and everything they add waits for your approval.

A real book, when you're ready

Any timeline or album becomes a printed book: softcover, hardcover, or layflat. Built in the app, shipped to your door, reordered anytime.

Private by design

Your family's memories belong to your family.

Most family apps keep your photos on their own servers, run on advertising, and use what you upload to learn about you. Dear Ones works the other way around. What you write and record stays on your phone and backs up to your own iCloud, where we can't read it. The smart parts, like tagging a face or turning a voice note into text, happen right on your device. We don't run ads, and we don't sell your data. When you choose to share a timeline, we move only that, and only to the people you pick.

On your device

Your entries live on your phone and back up to your own iCloud, in your own Apple account. We can't see inside it.

No ads, no tracking

No advertising, no data selling, and no analytics following you around. The subscription is the whole business.

You choose what's shared

Only the timelines you hand out ever leave your phone, and only the people you give a code can open them.

For the one with a phone full of photos and a head full of stories they don't want to forget.

From Next Frontier Builders

A look inside

The printed book, capture, timelines, albums, letters, family sharing, and privacy.

Dear Ones: a keepsake for the people you love most
Turn your Dear Ones timeline into a real printed book, delivered to your door
More than just photos: voice recordings, quotes, milestones, and letters
One timeline for the family and one for each child in Dear Ones
Photo albums for the events you don't want to forget
Saved in a few taps: six ways to capture a moment in Dear Ones
Grandma follows along by your invitation, with a family access code
Write them a letter for someday, sealed until they're ready
Your memories stay on your device and personal iCloud. No ads, no AI.

How it works

From the home screen, you are two taps from a saved memory.

Capture is home base. Pick what kind of memory it is: a quote, a milestone, a photo or video, a voice note, a selfie video, or a letter. Add it, and save. Tag it to the family timeline, to one child's timeline, or keep it private just for you.

The Timeline is where it all comes back to you. Filter by a child to read just their thread, search by a word to find one memory, or jump to any month with a tap. Read it day by day as a list, or switch to a grid to see every entry at once. Your Albums sit one tap away, for gathering a trip or a whole season into a single collection.

Letters wait for their day. Write one for today, or seal it for a date down the road, and pick the font that feels like you wrote it. Voice notes keep their voice for you, and your voice for them.

Sharing works by code. From the Family tab, create a code for any mix of timelines and hand it to grandma, your spouse, or a grown child. Those timelines appear in their own copy of the app. Each code is view only, or view and add, your choice, and anything they add waits for your approval. Viewing is free for them; one subscription covers your whole family.

And when you're ready, print it. Choose Create a Book, pick a timeline or an album, and the pages lay themselves out as a first draft. Shape it, choose a cover and binding, and order it in the app. You can also bundle any timeline or album into a shareable file, a PDF of the words and photos with the videos and voice notes alongside, ready to send by AirDrop or Messages.

One plan, your whole family

Unlimited entries, unlimited children, for one simple subscription.

Family plan
$59 / year
or $7.99 a month
  • Unlimited entries and children
  • Photo, video, and voice attachments
  • Sealed letters for the future
  • Keepsake sharing and export
  • Family sharing with access codes
  • The book editor, built in

14-day free trial. One family per subscription. Family Sharing enabled. Cancel anytime.
Printed books are purchased per order, priced by binding and page count.

Questions, answered

How do I get it?

Dear Ones is on the App Store now, for iPhone and iPad. Tap any Download button on this page to open it.

How does the printed book work?

Pick a child's timeline, the family timeline, or an album, and Dear Ones lays out the pages for you as a first draft. Arrange the pages, place your captions, add written pages, and choose your cover. Then order it right in the app and it arrives at your door.

What kinds of books can I order?

Softcover, hardcover, or layflat binding, with your choice of paper. You can order one copy or several, send copies to the grandparents, and reorder any past book whenever you want another. Books ship in the United States.

How much does a book cost?

Book pricing depends on the binding and the number of pages, and you see the exact price in the app before you pay. Books are purchased per order; the subscription covers the app itself.

Is it private?

Yes, and in a specific way. Your keepsake lives on your phone and backs up to your own iCloud account, where we can't read it. There's no public feed, no friends-of-friends, no ads, and no data selling. The only thing that ever leaves your device is a timeline you decide to share, and only the people you give a code can see it.

You back up to iCloud. Isn't that the cloud?

It's your cloud. Your entries back up to your own iCloud account, tied to your Apple ID, the same place your iPhone photos and messages already live. We don't keep a copy on our own servers and we can't open yours. A new phone never starts you over, without handing your family's memories to a company.

Can both parents use it?

Yes. From the Family tab, create a code for your spouse and the timelines you choose open in their own copy of the app, where they can view and add memories from their own phone. Anything they add waits for your approval before it joins the keepsake. You can also tag either parent in any entry, even if they don't use the app.

Can grandparents and grown kids see it?

Yes. Give anyone you choose a code for any mix of timelines: the family timeline, one child's, or several at once. You decide whether each code is view only or view and add. Viewing is free for them, and you can change or revoke any code anytime.

When do my kids see it?

When you decide. You hold each child's keepsake and share it with them whenever the time feels right, whether that's a code to their timeline now, the printed book on a milestone birthday, or the whole keepsake someday.

What can I save?

Quotes, milestones, photos and videos, voice notes, selfie videos, and letters you can schedule for the future.

More from Next Frontier Builders

Start the keepsake before the years go by

Save the small things now, in your own voice. Print the book when you're ready.