LifeCassette: Auto Reel Maker

I got this app as a way of archiving conversations with my elderly relatives. I’m treating the app as the audio version of google photos. I know there’s a whole social media side of it, but atm I’m off social so I’m just using it for posterity. The UX runs really well. I turn it on before dinner with a a friend, or when I’m talking to a family member for a long time. I turn off my phone and leave it next to me. The app records the conversation in full but then it creates little snippets (based on the AI) that are special moments. It’s a nice way to keep track of audio memories and not have to go through super long recordings. Will keep using as covid lifts.

wanted to try the app a couple of times and then write a review, and in my week long experience, I really enjoyed it! What I like the most is that since people forget that the recording is going on, everyone just behaves as they normally would. Then the app tells you what made people laugh, or get excited, and seeing and sharing that makes everyone even more excited! I also kept recording for like 3 hours or more a couple of times and it is totally fine, nothing crashes! The app also only saves the actual conversations, no silence :) It kind of made me believe that ok, machine learning can actually do cool things! It is of course not perfect: not all the picked up emotions are right, but really fun ones are picked up! And it takes a while to get a new speaker, but I really like it when the app identifies a speaker, I think it's sooo cool! Oh and last but not least, I really like the reflections page, but I think there is a lot of room for improvement and extensions there. I hope the app goes there!

I should say at first I wasn’t sure exactly how to use this app but once I figured out how to best use it, it’s very cool! Last night I saw some of my friends and before meeting them I pressed record on the app and put my phone away. At the end of night, the app had picked up a bunch of our laughs and a couple of exciting moments. One or two of the laughs were not exactly a laugh but the rest were really good. It’s actually really interesting because you can play each laugh or excitement sound and cut the audio around it and share that fun conversation snippet with people! And the things that were captured were kind of unexpected because you’re not paying attention to your phone and just hanging out talking like you normally do! Feels like this has the potential to become a new kind of social network.