Memoir app

What is a memoir app?

Your mother will not write a book. She will tell you the farm story again if you ask. A memoir app is how you catch that story before it lives only in your head.

See how Tell Me Your Story worksOne-time pricing

What a memoir app is

A memoir app is software that helps someone turn lived memories into a book you can hold. That is the whole job: get the stories out of one person, into words, and onto paper the family still has in twenty years.

Most people never start because the blank page is the wrong starting point. Parents talk. They remember out loud, over coffee, on a Sunday. They do not sit down to author chapter four.

The useful test for any memoir app is simple. Will the person you bought it for open it next week without you standing there? If the answer depends on typing, weekly emails, or a login they will forget, it will sit unused.

Where Tell Me Your Story sits

Tell Me Your Story is a voice-first memoir app for iPhone and iPad. You buy it as a gift. They talk. The phone transcribes on-device. Optional AI polish tidies the sentences. You order a hardcover printed by Lulu. Stories stay in their personal iCloud, not in a company database of family history.

It is built for the adult child who knows the stories are running out, and for the parent who will talk for an hour but will not type a paragraph.

  1. 1

    They talk

    One large record button. Pause and resume. No keyboard, no weekly email to answer.

  2. 2

    The phone writes it down

    Apple Speech transcribes on the device. That step does not need the internet, and the words do not leave the phone for transcription.

  3. 3

    Optional polish

    AI can remove filler and smooth sentences. You see the original beside the edited version and keep the one that still sounds like them.

  4. 4

    A hardcover arrives

    When you are ready, the app assembles the book and Lulu prints a hardcover. Nothing goes to print until you say so.

What you are actually buying

Voice first, on purpose
One-tap recording, large controls, pause and resume. Guided life chapters and 40+ prompts so they are not staring at a silent screen. Read why voice recording is the easiest way to write a memoir.
One payment, not a membership
Download is free. The upgrade is a one-time in-app purchase: Standard $49.99 for AI polish plus a casewrap hardcover with black and white interior, or Premium $79.99 for a linen hardcover with dust jacket and color interior. Printing is included. It does not renew. See pricing.
Their iCloud, not ours
Recordings, transcripts, and photos stay on the device and in personal iCloud. Transcription uses Apple Speech on-device. AI polish is transient. We do not run a story archive on our servers. Privacy policy.
A hardcover from Lulu
You preview the book in the app, reorder chapters, add photos, and write a foreword if you want one. Then a real hardcover is printed and shipped. Print files are deleted after printing.
iPhone, iPad, six languages
iOS 17.0 or later. English, German, French, Polish, Spanish, and Italian for both the interface and the polish. Full product detail is on the app page.

Other apps in this category

StoryWorth and Remento are memoir apps too. StoryWorth is built around weekly email questions. Remento records voice on a yearly subscription. If you are choosing between StoryWorth and this app, read the StoryWorth alternative. This page is about the category: whether a memoir app is the right tool for the person who has the stories.

Keep reading

Longer pieces on voice, seniors, and the writing process. These are not product pages.

Common questions

Straight answers about cost, typing, privacy, and whether they will use it.

What is a memoir app?

A memoir app helps someone turn lived memories into a book. Instead of staring at a blank page, the storyteller records stories over time, adds photos, and ends with a printed hardcover the family can keep.

Do you need to be a writer to use a memoir app?

No. Tell Me Your Story is voice-first. If they can make a phone call, they can use it. The app transcribes on the device, and optional AI polish tidies grammar and filler words without changing what they meant.

How much does Tell Me Your Story cost?

The app is free to download. Recording, on-device transcription, life chapters, photos, and PDF export cost nothing. AI polish and a printed hardcover are a one-time in-app purchase: Standard $49.99 (casewrap hardcover, black and white interior) or Premium $79.99 (linen hardcover with dust jacket and color interior). Printing is included. There is no subscription.

Is this a subscription memoir app?

No. You pay once. The purchase does not expire and does not renew. Stories stay in the storyteller's personal iCloud, so you are not renting access to family memories.

Will my parent actually use a memoir app?

That is the right question. Most parents will not type a chapter. They will talk if the button is large and the prompt is clear. Tell Me Your Story was built for that: one-tap recording, guided life chapters, and 40+ prompts. Storytellers in their 80s and 90s use it.

Where does a memoir app store the recordings?

In Tell Me Your Story, recordings, transcripts, and photos stay on the device and in the storyteller's personal iCloud. We do not keep a copy on our servers. On-device transcription uses Apple Speech. AI polish is transient: the text is processed and discarded. Print files are sent to Lulu, printed, then permanently deleted.

What languages and devices does it support?

iPhone and iPad, iOS 17.0 or later. The interface and AI polish work in English, German, French, Polish, Spanish, and Italian. A German grandmother gets a German book. An English grandfather gets an English one.

Start with their voice

If they will talk and they will not type, this is the memoir app to give them. Pay once. Keep the book.

See the app$49.99 or $79.99, once

Free to start. No subscription.