Birthdays and reminders
I want to remember my mom's birthday before her birthday — we tell you a week ahead and suggest one of your anecdotes with her, ready to wrap into a chest.
The problem
You remember your mom's birthday on the same day — rushing, sending an improvised WhatsApp audio on the way to work. And you know you have better things to say to her. But the day comes and there's no time.
What Anecdotario does
If you noted someone's birthday in your address book (month and day, year optional), we tell you a week ahead. The notification isn't a dry ping: it comes with an anecdote of yours in which that person appears, ready to wrap into a chest and send on the day.
The difference is the lead time. A week is enough to write a dedication calmly, reread the anecdote, decide whether to add a photo. It's not the improvised audio on the way to work — it's a thoughtful gift.
What the flow looks like
- A week ahead: in-app notification. "In 7 days it's your mom's birthday. You have an anecdote with her: 'Saturday cookies.'"
- Click → you go to the chest editor with the anecdote already selected and the title pre-filled "For your birthday, mom".
- You write the personal dedication, tweak whatever you want about the chest, and save.
- You send it when you choose. On the birthday, before, or the day after. The app gave you the material; sending is yours.
Details that matter
- No year = no fixation on age. Some people don't want us to remember the exact year. That's fine — birthdays without a year work the same for reminders.
- Memorialization. If the person is marked as deceased, birthday reminders for them don't arrive. The app doesn't celebrate someone who's gone.
- Quiet by choice. If a date in the year is hard for you (a painful anniversary), you can mark it as a quiet date in
/datesand the app sends no automatic reminders that day — no birthday, no weekly question, nothing.
Also works for
- Loss anniversaries (hard dates) — the reading is different: no send suggestion, just a private screen with the anecdotes in which that person appears. See the Hard dates feature.
What's coming
- Optional email in addition to the in-app notification, once we add an outbound email provider.
- Multiple anecdote suggestions when several apply — today we pick one, the best match.