Life stories & family memories
Record your parents' life story
Recording a life story, for a parent, grandparent, or yourself, means capturing memories, voice, and photos in one private place. FamilyStories guides you through life phases with gentle questions, voice recordings that are automatically transcribed to text, and a calm archive for family memories.
Who this is for
FamilyStories is for adult children and grandchildren who want to help a parent or grandparent share their story, and for anyone ready to record their own. It is built for families who care about privacy, guided questions, and keeping memories in one place the whole family can return to.
Start the story that matters
- Help a parent or grandparent share theirs, or begin your own life story
- Preserve family memories before everyday life quietly fades the details
- Move at your own pace, one question and one memory at a time
Guided, but personal
- Questions organized by life phases, from childhood to later chapters
- Prompts tailored to the person, based on a short questionnaire about their life
- Answer by text or voice, with recordings automatically turned into text
Private and lasting
- End-to-end encrypted and fully private to your family
- Invite up to 10 family members into your shared space
- Export a PDF or Word file when you want to keep the story outside the app
How to start recording a parent's life story
You do not need to plan a full biography upfront. With FamilyStories, you start with a short setup, answer guided questions at your own pace, and turn the story into something your family can keep.
- 1
Personalize the questions
Complete a short questionnaire about your parent, grandparent, or yourself. FamilyStories uses your answers to build the right question set for their story, organized by life chapters instead of one blank page.
- 2
Interview in the app, on their phone, or in the browser
Interview your parent in FamilyStories on your own device, let them answer in the app on theirs, or invite them through a link in the browser when that feels easier. Use whichever option fits your family.
- 3
Create something your family can keep
When you are ready, download the story as a PDF or Word file and keep a copy outside the app too.
Example questions to ask your parents
These prompts reflect what people search for when they look for questions to ask parents about their life:
- What do you remember about the home you grew up in?
- Who influenced you most when you were young?
- How did you and Mom or Dad meet?
- What was your first job, and what did it teach you?
- Which family traditions do you hope continue?
- What everyday moment from your life do you still think about often?
- What do you want your grandchildren to know about your values?
- What was a turning point that changed the direction of your life?
- What do you remember about your parents or grandparents?
Notes apps, voice memos, or a life story app?
Most families start with whatever is already on their phone. Each option works for a moment, but they break down when you want a story you can build on for years.
What families try first
Notes app or document
Easy to start, but answers stay scattered, hard to organize by theme, and awkward to share with family over time.
Voice memos
Natural for talking, but no guided prompts, no structure by life phase, and no private family archive.
Built for life stories
FamilyStories
Guided questions, voice with transcripts, photos, and one private family archive your whole family can return to.
FamilyStories is a life story app for real conversations, not a public social network or open profile.
Why families choose a guided life story app
Many families mean to record a parent's life story, but the blank page gets in the way. Notes apps, scattered voice memos, and one-off interviews rarely become something your family can return to.
FamilyStories gives your parent a calm path: one guided question at a time, with room for photos, notes, and voice recordings organized in a private family archive.
You invite your parent, choose prompts by life phase, and build the story over weeks or months. Grandchildren can suggest questions too, depending on how you set up your family space.
Coming soon to the App StoreRecord by voice, not just writing
Voice recording lets parents tell stories naturally, making the process feel more like a conversation than a writing assignment.
An audio life story captures pauses, laughter, and emotion that text alone often misses. FamilyStories is voice-first: your parent can record an answer, keep the original audio, and still have a readable transcript when you want one.
Coming soon to the App StoreA private place for your family's stories
These memories are deeply personal. FamilyStories keeps them within your family workspace, not on a feed, not for public discovery, and not visible to anyone outside your family.
Stories are end-to-end encrypted, stored securely on device with encrypted backup, and shared only with the family members you invite.
Frequently asked questions
FamilyStories is coming soon to the App Store for iPhone and iPad. After launch, personalize the questions in a short setup, then invite your parent or grandparent to join. They answer at their own pace, by text or voice, and you watch the story grow, one memory at a time. When you are ready, export a PDF or Word file.
Ask about childhood, family traditions, turning points, relationships, work, values, and memories they want to pass on. FamilyStories includes guided prompts so you do not have to invent every question yourself. For a full list, see our guide to questions to ask your parents.
Questions to ask your parents about their lifeOften the easiest start is to give FamilyStories as a gift: invite your parent or grandparent and let them answer on their own phone or in the browser, with no complicated setup on your side. The app is calm and easy for older people, with large text, clear steps, and thought prompts on every question to help when a memory needs a gentle nudge.
Many parents prefer speaking. FamilyStories is voice-first, so your parent can record answers naturally, in as much detail as they like. The app can keep the original audio and turn it into readable text when you want it.
Yes. FamilyStories is voice-first, so parents can speak naturally instead of writing everything. Original audio can stay with the story, with a transcript when you want readable text.
Grandchildren can help by suggesting questions, joining family sessions, or contributing their own memories in your shared FamilyStories space. The same guided prompts work for grandparents as for parents.
Start with one chapter at a time: childhood, work, family, or a place that mattered to them. FamilyStories organizes prompts by life phase so you can build their history gradually instead of planning a full biography upfront.
No. FamilyStories is a private family archive for life stories and memories, not a public social network. Your stories are end-to-end encrypted. Only you and the family members you invite can read them.
It can be, especially when you frame it as time together and a shared project rather than another object. Many families start with one simple question and a first voice recording.
They work for a single answer, but stories scatter fast. FamilyStories keeps guided questions, voice recordings, transcripts, photos, and family access together in one private archive, so the story grows over time instead of getting lost on your phone.
Create your private family archive
Help your parent tell their story in their own words, with guided questions, voice recording, and a calm private place for your family's memories.