Storypaws
The pet life-book for owners who care.
In build. This page describes work that is not yet live. It says what is planned and what is done, and will be updated when the work ships.
Client, problem and scope
- Client
- Personal project
- The problem
- I set out to turn the pet photos already in a phone's library into a chronological story the owner keeps forever: a printed hardcover book at the end of the year, an audiobook narrated in their own voice, and private by default.
- Role and scope
- Designed and built by me for iPhone and iPad. SwiftUI, Apple Foundation Models for on-device captions and milestones, CloudKit for sync and family sharing, Lulu xPress for print, AVFoundation for video export.
- Delivery state
- In development. No release date yet.
The solution in use
No screenshots yet. The app is in development and the icon is the only image on this page.
Storypaws app icon What was built
A memory app with intelligence. Not a vet platform or a social network: a private archive that becomes a printed book and an audio memoir.
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No re-uploading
Tap your pet's face in Photos once. Storypaws surfaces matching photos as draft entries you confirm with a single swipe.
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Timeline
Reverse-chronological with year headers. Filter by entry type, search, or jump to a milestone. Photo, video, voice, text, weight.
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On-device captions
Every photo gets a draft caption written by Apple Foundation Models. Edit it, regenerate it, or replace it with your own. Always optional.
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Milestone detection
A weekly background scan suggests first occurrences. First beach. First snow. First vet. Confirm or dismiss with a swipe.
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Personal Voice audiobook
Record a 15-minute Personal Voice sample once. Storypaws narrates the timeline back to you in your own voice. M4A export.
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Family sharing
CKShare lets caregivers contribute entries and see the timeline. One free seat. Unlimited on Pro. Apple's invite UI, no custom flow.
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Printed books
Real hardcover books via Lulu xPress. Year-in-review, milestone and full-life templates. A physical book, not a PDF.
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Slideshow export
AVFoundation video export. Music optional, voice memo overlay supported. HD and watermark-free on Pro.
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Future letters
Write a letter to your pet today, encrypted, unlockable on a future date. Birthdays, gotcha days, or a date you choose.
Important decisions
"Data Not Collected" is the App Store privacy label target. All AI runs on-device: captions, milestones and transcription use Apple Foundation Models, with no network calls for inference. The CloudKit private database is the only network dependency, used only to sync entries you own across your own devices. No analytics: no Firebase, no Mixpanel, no PostHog, and no tracking of what you read, when you log in or what you write.
Family sharing uses Apple's own invite UI rather than a custom flow.
Results
Measurement is pending. The app is in active development and not yet on the App Store.
Evidence
Not yet on the App Store. If you want to know when it's ready, or help test the early builds, get in touch.
Want something like this built for your business?
This is the kind of work I do under Apps and custom software. Tell me what is slow or missing and we will see whether it fits.
Based in Reading, England.
Working with people in the UK and New Zealand.
Calls from 11am to 11pm UK time, Monday to Friday.
Related service: Apps and custom software