Help · Messaging
Voice notes — record, send, stay private.
A 30-second voice note instead of typing. Stays in the cell, zone-isolation enforced, no transcription leaks out of the device unless you ask for one.
Voice notes let you record a short spoken message — up to 30 seconds — instead of typing, and attach it to a journal, mission, or message thread inside your cell. To record one, tap and hold the mic icon in the comment box; recording starts immediately, you lift your finger to stop, and a waveform preview lets you scrub before sending.
The 30-second cap is deliberate — long enough for a real thought, short enough that the recipient isn't stuck scrubbing a long meander. Notes stay in your cell with zone-isolation enforced, and transcription happens on your device rather than being sent off it unless you specifically ask for a server-side transcript.
How to record one
Tap and hold the mic icon in the comment box on a journal, mission, or message thread. Recording starts immediately. Lift your finger to stop; tap the trash icon to discard and re-record. The waveform preview lets you scrub before sending, so you don’t commit to the take you weren’t sure about.
The 30-second cap
Hard cap. We picked 30 seconds deliberately — long enough for an actual thought, short enough that the recipient doesn’t feel obligated to scrub a 4-minute meander. If you have more to say, send two notes or write it down.
Zone-isolation enforcement
A voice note recorded inside Ember (the adult zone) is structurally blocked from being attached to any non-Ember entity. The data layer refuses, not the UI — switching tabs, copying URLs, or any other clever path doesn’t help. The same applies in reverse: a note recorded on a family-zone surface can’t be attached to an Ember-zone item.
Transcription is on-device
iOS and Android both transcribe locally for accessibility (so a hearing-impaired family member sees a caption). The transcript stays on your device — it’s never sent to our backend or any AI vendor. If you want a server-side transcription (for the monthly narrative AI), you have to explicitly opt that in for that specific note.
Privacy nuance for kids
Voice notes from under-13 users go through the same family-narrative-eligibility default as journal entries — private by default. A parent can’t pull a kid’s voice note off the device unless the kid has marked it cell-shared. The audio stays on the kid’s device + our encrypted-at-rest cell storage; nowhere else.
Frequently asked questions
Why is there a 30-second limit on voice notes?
It's a hard cap chosen on purpose — long enough for an actual thought but short enough that the recipient doesn't feel obligated to listen to a long recording. If you need more, send two notes or write it down.
Are my voice notes transcribed and sent somewhere?
iOS and Android transcribe locally for accessibility, and that transcript stays on your device — it's never sent to our backend or any AI vendor. A server-side transcript only happens if you explicitly opt that specific note in.
Can a parent pull a voice note off a kid's device?
No. Voice notes from under-13 users are private by default, like journal entries, and a parent can't retrieve one unless the kid has marked it cell-shared. The audio stays on the kid's device plus our encrypted-at-rest cell storage and nowhere else.
I recorded a note in the wrong place — why won't it attach?
Zone isolation is enforced at the data layer, so a note recorded in the adult zone can't be attached to a family-zone item, and vice versa. Re-record the note on a surface in the matching zone.