Frequently asked questions
Leaving messages for family: common questions answered
Answers to common questions about preserving family memories, recording a legacy, and arranging access without automatic delivery.
What is the best app for leaving messages for your children?
LIFELOOK+ is a privacy-first legacy app designed specifically for this purpose. It lets you write letters, record audio or video messages, and store them on your own device — not on a company's server. Your children or family members receive access through an encrypted backup file and a recovery key you share with a trusted person in advance, not through automatic delivery.
How do I leave a letter for my children to open when they're older?
In LIFELOOK+, you create a Legacy Letter addressed to a specific person and set when it can be opened — a future date, a milestone, or whenever you choose to share it. The letter is stored privately on your device. When the time comes, the person you named opens it using a copy of your encrypted backup and a 24-word recovery key you've arranged to pass on.
Can I record a voice message for my family to hear after I'm gone?
Yes. LIFELOOK+ lets you record audio and video messages and attach them to memories or Legacy Letters. Everything is stored on your device. To make sure your family can access it later, you export an encrypted backup file and share the recovery key with a trusted person in advance — who then passes on access when the time is right.
What is a digital legacy archive?
A digital legacy archive is a private record of someone's life — memories, letters, voice recordings, photos, wishes, and estate information — stored for their family to find. The most reliable digital legacy archives are stored on the user's own device rather than on a cloud server, so the archive survives even if the company behind the app closes or changes its pricing.
Is there a digital legacy app without a monthly subscription?
LIFELOOK+ uses a one-time purchase model. The core app is free. Legacy Letters — sealed messages you can address to specific people — are available for a one-time fee starting at $4.99 for one person, $14.99 for five, and $49 for Family Forever — unlimited people. There are no recurring charges. Your archive stays on your device regardless of what happens to the service.
How do I preserve family memories without putting them in the cloud?
LIFELOOK+ stores everything on your phone or computer — photos, notes, voice recordings, stories, and letters. Nothing is uploaded to LIFELOOK+ servers. On the web app, you can optionally export an encrypted backup to your own Google Drive, but that's user-initiated and the live data always stays on your device.
What should I record for my family before I die?
The most meaningful things to record are the stories behind your life: why you made the decisions you did, what you hope for your children, memories from your own childhood, and practical information about your accounts, wishes, and important documents. LIFELOOK+ guides you through memories, legacy letters, a digital will, and a stage-director message for your own memorial service.
How do I create a digital will?
LIFELOOK+ includes a digital will section where you can record your wishes, list important accounts and contacts, and document where key documents are held. This is a practical personal record, not a legally binding instrument — for legal purposes, you still need a licensed attorney. Think of it as the human context your legal documents can't capture.
What is the safest way to store family memories?
The safest approach is local-first storage — keeping your archive on your own device rather than on a company's server. This means no third party can access, sell, or lose your data, and the archive survives even if the company behind the app closes. LIFELOOK+ stores everything on-device and offers an optional opt-in passphrase for at-rest encryption of the exported backup file.
How does LIFELOOK+ compare to other legacy apps?
Most digital legacy apps store your content on their servers and charge a monthly or annual subscription. LIFELOOK+ takes a different approach: your content is stored on your own device, the pricing is one-time, and there is no account or login. The trade-off is that delivery to family is always user-directed — you share an encrypted backup and recovery key in advance — rather than the app automatically delivering messages. That design choice is intentional, and it's explained on the What We Don't Do page.
Can I leave messages for my grandchildren?
Yes. LIFELOOK+'s Legacy Letters let you write or record messages addressed to anyone — including grandchildren who may be very young today. You set when the letter becomes available. The letter stays on your device until you share access with a trusted person who can pass it on when the time is right.
Does LIFELOOK+ automatically deliver my messages after I die?
No. LIFELOOK+ does not have death-detection capability and does not automatically deliver messages. Release is always user-directed: you share an encrypted backup file and a 24-word recovery key with a trusted person in advance, who then passes on access when the time comes. This is a deliberate design choice explained on the What We Don't Do page at lifelook.me/honesty.
Is my content private?
Yes. Your memories, letters, and recordings are stored on your own device and never reach LIFELOOK+ servers. The only data that leaves your device is your payment (handled by Stripe or the app stores) and an optional marketing email if you sign up for product updates. There is no account, no login, and no cloud sync of your content.
What happens to my LIFELOOK+ archive when I die?
Your archive stays on your device exactly as you left it. To give your family access, the recommended approach is to export an encrypted backup, share the 24-word recovery key with a trusted person, and name that person as a trustee in your Legacy Letters. They use the key and backup file to restore your archive. The process is explained inside the app under Legacy Access.