What's a good app for seniors to record their life stories?

Elsy is an AI companion who helps you record your life stories. You talk with her about your life, and afterward she writes each story down with your own words as quotes. Your family can read the stories you send them.

Many older adults and their families want to keep the stories of a life. With Elsy, you record yours by talking, and you share them with your family when you're ready. Here's how it works.

What Elsy does

Elsy is an AI companion for older adults, and one of the things she helps with is recording your life stories. You share your memories simply by talking with her. She turns what you tell her into written stories you can send to your family whenever you like. Elsy also learns the words you teach her, like a word from your local dialect or how a name is pronounced, so the stories sound like you.

The idea has research behind it. When researchers pooled the results of 128 studies of programs in which people look back on and talk about their lives, they found small to moderate improvements, including in life satisfaction and in people's sense that their life has had meaning.

How it works

Elsy listens to the stories you tell her in your conversations and writes them up afterward. Each story has your own words as quotes and a picture Elsy paints from your description. If you talk about several things in one conversation, they become several stories. If something needs correcting, just say so: "It was 1962, not 1963." You can read the stories or listen to Elsy tell them, with short excerpts of your own voice from the conversation. See how life stories with Elsy work.

Why tell your stories to Elsy?

You tell your story the way you'd tell it to a grandchild, and Elsy asks questions along the way. There's no technical fuss: you talk, and your stories get written down. Elsy writes them so they read easily, and you can share them with your family.

Why sharing with family matters

The people in your family can read the life stories you send them. That can strengthen family ties and give you a shared understanding of your family's history. Researchers at Emory University in the US found that children and teenagers who know more about their family's history tend to have higher self-esteem, less anxiety and stronger family relationships.

Getting started

Download the app from the App Store or Google Play, open it and tap Talk to Elsy. You can start telling stories right away, invite your family, and choose between different levels for what they can see. You can try Elsy free for 3 days on your own phone, which gives you time to see whether Elsy is a good fit for you. See how Elsy works step by step.

Sharing your stories with your family

When a story is ready, tap Send to family at the bottom of the story, or ask Elsy to share it. If there's no one in your circle yet, Send to family opens your phone's own sharing options, so you can send a link by text message or email. Whoever opens the link joins Your circle and can read the story. Each person's level in Your circle decides what they can see:

• Stories only: the stories you send them, your name and your photo.
• Safety net: also an alert if a conversation suggests something might be wrong.
• Wellbeing: also how you're doing over time.
• Care partner: also your reminders and medicines.
• Full trust: also what Elsy remembers about you.

If a family member set Elsy up and gave consent on your behalf, everyone in your circle is at Full trust. Read more about what your family can see.

Frequently asked questions

How does Elsy protect my data?

Your conversations are recorded and stored securely so Elsy can remember what you tell her and write your stories, and your stored data is hosted on servers in the EU. So that Elsy can hear you, answer and remember, what you say is processed by AI services in the United States. The app shows you which ones before you start. We never sell your personal data, and we don't use it to train general-purpose AI models. Your family doesn't see your stories until you send them or turn on automatic sharing, and they never see transcripts or recordings of your conversations. The stories you send contain your own words and may include short excerpts of your voice. Read more in our privacy policy.

Can I use Elsy on my phone?

Yes. You can download Elsy from the App Store or Google Play for your iPhone, iPad or Android device.

How much does Elsy cost?

You can try Elsy free for 3 days on your own phone. After that, you can choose a subscription in the app, and you'll see the price before you pay. If you have questions, get in touch.

This is general information, not medical advice. Every situation is different, so talk to a doctor about yours.