Skip to content

About Memoryter

Memoryter helps families keep the life stories of the people they love. Someone in the family sets up a story; the person whose story it is talks with a patient interviewer, by voice, at their own pace; and what they say becomes a book the whole family can read, hear, and keep.

Why we made it

Almost every family has someone whose stories everyone means to write down — and almost nobody does. Not for lack of love. Being the interviewer, the transcriber, and the author is a real job, and for the parent on the other side of the table a blank page or a typed chat is often harder still. Memoryter takes the job off both of them: the family does the setup, and the storyteller only has to talk.

How it works

  1. One conversation at a time

    The storyteller opens a private link, presses one large button, and talks. A patient interviewer listens and asks the next natural question. Twenty minutes or so is a good session; they can stop whenever they like and pick up again another day.

  2. Every memory kept in their words

    Each conversation is recorded and transcribed, and the memories in it are drawn out and organized — the people, the places, the years — with the exact words they used kept alongside.

  3. A book the family shapes

    Chapters are written from those memories, and every paragraph points back to the memories behind it. Someone in the family reviews each chapter, adds what they know, and decides what belongs before it becomes part of the book — which can be read on the web, with their voice beside the words, or downloaded to print.

What we will not do

The full account of what we hold and who can see it is on the privacy page.

Who makes it

Memoryter is small and independent, and it began the way we hope it will be used: with our own family, recording a parent’s stories. We are working with a small number of families in a private beta while we make sure the experience is right for the person whose stories it gathers — the one who did not choose the software and should never have to think about it.

If you would like to be one of those families, ask for an invitation.

Say hello

Questions, ideas, or a story you want to tell us about — use the contact form or write to hello@memoryter.com. A person reads it.