Press Kit

Hi, I’m Ivan Tse, the developer of Little Memory. Everything on this page is free to use in coverage. If you need anything else, or want a promo code for Premium, email me at press@thelittlememory.com and I’ll reply quickly.

The short version

Little Memory is a personal diary for iPhone built around a simple idea: write one sentence about your day, and the app brings it back to you later. What you wrote a week ago, a month ago, and a year ago resurfaces each day, so keeping the diary gets more rewarding the longer you do it.

It has been running since 2011. Apple has featured it three times, and people have saved over one million entries.

From the developer

I built Little Memory as a simple way to reflect on each day of my life. A whole page every night was too much, but one sentence was simple and easy. Even the first memory from a week ago feels like so long ago. And after your first one-year memory, it’s surprising how much you realize you’ve forgotten. Fifteen years later it’s still the app I use every night, and 2.0 is the version I’ve wanted for a long time: offline-first, a clean new design, a canvas for new features going forward, and now free to download.

Quote as much or as little of that as you like, attributed to Ivan Tse.

On AI, privacy, and your diary

The app started as a server-backed service where your memories lived in the cloud, which meant years of people’s memories and photos were accumulating on my servers. I’ve come to see that as a liability, for me and the people who write with Little Memory. A diary is about the most personal data an app can hold, and every app holding it is one breach, acquisition, or bad decision away from leaking that extremely sensitive and private data. With AI becoming more and more capable every day, the possibility of servers getting hacked grows. I’ve never used any Little Memory data for AI training, but even the possibility that your data could be read or used for training is something I would rather avoid.

With Little Memory 2.0, the iPhone app is offline-first. Memories are written and stored on the phone, you can keep a diary without an account, and your private and personal data stays in your control and in your phone rather than in the cloud.

Milestones

2011: first release on the App Store
Featured by Apple three times: iTunes Staff Favorites, Apps for Writers, and Dear Diary
Covered by iMore, ELLE, Elite Daily, Mic, MakeUseOf, and the International Literacy Association; featured on Product Hunt
Over 1,000,000 entries saved by its writers
2026: version 2.0, a ground-up rebuild, and the app is now free to download

What’s new in 2.0

Version 2.0 is a ground-up rebuild of the app:

Offline-first. Entries are written and read on the device. No account is needed to start.
A new design built for the way people actually use it: a few seconds at night, half-asleep, on the couch.
Free to download. The app was paid up front for years. As of 2.0 anyone can download it and start writing.

Premium (tags, search, calendar, unlimited photo memories, and more) is $26.99 per year, or a $49.99 one-time lifetime unlock for people who don’t like subscriptions.