Heard and Kept lets your parent tell the story of their life out loud, in their own words, to Rosa — a friendly host on screen who asks gentle questions and really listens. What they tell her becomes a book for the whole family — and, if they carry on after the free hour, videos too. This page is for you, the one setting it up.
Never shared, never soldOnly the family you choose can see it, and nothing is used for advertising.
Locked with its own keyThe words of each story are encrypted for that account alone.
Deleted when you sayOne sentence to Rosa is enough, at any time.
Honest about what she isRosa says she’s a computer, and our staff never see recordings.
Free: an hour with Rosa about their childhood, and one chapter of their book to keep as a PDF. A full story: from £39.99, coming soon.
Rosa’s face on screen and her voice, with her words written underneath. She isn’t a real person — she’s a computer host, and she says so.
She asks one thing at a time and follows what they say. There’s nothing to fill in and no menus: if they’re not sure what to do, they can just ask her.
Only the microphone to start. The free trial is voice only; with a full story, the camera comes on only if they choose to record a proper piece on camera.
They can stop whenever they like and nothing is lost. Next time, she remembers where they left off.
Rather read than listen, or type than talk? They just ask.
They sign in with their own email address — we send a link, so there’s no password — or with Google.
Everything they make is theirs, and only they decide who sees it — they can name you in their family circle.
Want to add a memory while you’re sitting with them? Tap “Someone else” and take a turn — what you say is kept under your own name.
A story you keep for them
For when they’d rather not, or can’t tell it themselves any more.
Sign in yourself, choose “Keep a story for someone else”, and say who they are to you — “Mum” is plenty.
Rosa then asks you about them, and keeps their story separate from your own.
Brothers and sisters can take turns in the same room, each under their own name. It all stays on your account, and only you decide who else sees it.
Sitting with them the first time
Sign in on their device before you hand it over. Use their email if the story is theirs, or yours if you’re keeping it for them. If the email arrives on a different phone, type the six-digit code from it instead of tapping the link.
A tablet or laptop is easiest; a phone works too. Turn the sound up.
The first time, Rosa checks she can be heard, and the device asks to use the microphone — tap Allow.
Have a few old photographs nearby. They can show her one and she’ll ask who’s in it.
Stay as long as they’d like you there. You don’t need to prompt — she asks the questions. Some people like company all the way through; others would rather carry on alone once they’re settled.
What the family ends up with
From the free trial: one chapter of the book — an hour with Rosa about their childhood, written up in their own words and kept as a PDF. A page of it looks like this:
A sample page. Written to show what a chapter looks like — not a real person’s story. Theirs is in their own words, from their hour with Rosa.
Chapter 1 · Childhood
The house by the railway
1.1We lived at number fourteen, the end of a terrace that backed onto the railway. When the coal train went by, the cups on the dresser rang against each other, and my mother would put a hand flat on them without looking up.
1.2The kitchen was the only warm room. In winter we did everything in it — homework, the wireless, my father’s boots drying on newspaper by the range.
“You didn’t knock at our house. You just came in and put the kettle on.”
1.3On Sundays my grandmother came for her dinner, and she always brought the same two things: a bag of pear drops for me, and an opinion for everybody else.
A full story ends up with:
A recording of each part of the story, polished and ready to keep — a video if they record on camera, or just their voice if they’d rather not be seen.
A book you can print, or save as a PDF, laid out in chapters.
A family website, for the people they choose.
The words themselves — a written transcript to go with each recording.
Your story is kept online for you and the family you choose, and a copy is yours whenever you ask. Keeping the films online after the first year is £19.99 a year, and optional — your words and your book stay either way.
There isn’t a single film of the whole life yet — each part is its own recording. The book and website come together once the chapters are planned and the first one is recorded.
Private unless they choose
Only the person telling the story decides who sees it.
They name the family who can read and watch it — each signs in with their own email — or, for a gathering, make a link they can turn off at any time.
It’s kept online rather than downloaded, and a copy of everything is theirs whenever they ask us for one.
Today nobody but the account holder can open a story — not us, and not the rest of the family. So while they’re well, download the chapters and recordings and keep copies where the family will look. We’re building a way for them to name someone they trust to receive a copy after they die; until it’s ready, the copies you keep are the ones that last.
Free to try for a week
7 days free. No payment card, no password.
An hour with Rosa, about their childhood — just their voice, no camera. When it’s done she writes it up as one chapter of their book, which they keep as a PDF.
We run a limited number of free trials at once. If they’re all in use, you’ll get a place in line and an email when it’s your turn.
When the week or the hour is up, conversations stop, but the chapter is kept and can still be downloaded.
Giving the hour as a present? There’s a card to print: write their name in, and sit with them for the first few minutes when the time comes.