Apps and Services for Life Stories
Streamline your life stories project with apps and services for genealogy, voice-recording, self-publishing, and more! / Photo by Wdnet via Pexels
Apps, learning resources and services are available to help you capture and share life stories – as you research, write, record audio, arrange visuals – and get your project done!
There are many apps (user-friendly software applications), resources and services available to help with your life stories project. Which ones interest you will depend on which format you choose (such as written, audio or visual) for a life story.
Here are the main kinds of resources and some popular examples. I’ve used a number of these, but not all. I looked into them and some reviews, to help you be aware of options.
“Is there an app for that?”
1) User-Friendly Tech to Capture Memories
Some apps to help capture life stories. Of course, social media apps such as Facebook and Instagram help you share some of your life’s moments.
Voice Record on a Smart Phone
If you have a smart phone, you can record your voice as you tell one of your stories, make audio-notes of some of your memories, or record a life-stories interview with someone.
Collect and Share Memories
Apps and online services are available to help record your life stories and capture memories of loved ones, such as:
Storyworth – sends a question a week for someone to reply by email, then provides a keepsake book with photos at the end of the year.
Audiobiography – sends weekly questions for someone to voice-record their answers. Friends and family can listen to these like a podcast. You can buy a book to go with the recordings.
RecordMeNow – a free app that helps someone record key things about themselves, e.g. for a parent to leave a legacy for their child. The person records video interviews in answer to question prompts.
Family History Story Apps
Ancestry and genealogy websites offer user-friendly ways to capture and share your family stories and memories.
FamilySearch – (a free website for all) has their Memories app for ancestor photos and stories, and Record My Story for audio files of your stories and stories of your family.
Ancestry’s Storymaker Studio – lets you enhance photos, capture family stories you narrate into an audio file, plus share photos and stories.
MyHeritage Photo Storyteller – (a mobile app) allows you to record yourself or interview family members to tell the story behind any of your family photos.
Online Memorials
A newspaper obituary is a good way to reach people locally in print, as well as view online.
An online memorial page provides for more space, numerous photos and a virtual guestbook. Plus, you can update it if you wish.
WeRemember.com – a free online memorial space where you can write or upload an obituary, friends and family can add their photos and memories about the person, plus comment and share their stories
EverLoved.com – a free online service that creates a custom website about your loved one (with its own unique link), including the obituary you submit, photos, and more
Local funeral homes may post an online obituary as part of their service. If you’d like broader reach (via a large well-known website), there are paid-for options such as Legacy.com and Tributes Archive.
2) Digital Images for Stories
These photo applications work for life storytelling as well as other projects.
Photo Enhancing
There is a wide range of photo software programs, for sure. Windows includes its photo program for PC, as does Apple for Mac computers. Each type of smart phone enables you to take and edit photos.
Vivid-Pix and MyHeritage Re-Imagine – enable you to scan, sharpen and colorize black and white photos.
My Heritage DeepNostalgia – uses AI to simulate movement (facial expressions) from a photograph in a brief animation. DeepStory adds a voice to an animated image, as if your ancestor is telling a story of your family history.
User-friendly technology can help you feature photos in your life storytelling. / Photo by Rodolfo Clix via Pexels
Digital Scrapbooks
Digital scrapbooking software is available for free or to buy. Popular ones include MyMemories and MixBook.
Slideshows and Movies
Windows Movie Maker comes with a PC, and Apple iMovies comes with a new Mac or mobile device such as iPhone. Any smart phone enables you to take videos, and create slideshows from still photos.
The sky is the limit for digital cameras and movie-making software. So, use what you have, or check out what fits with your aims, your budget, and where you plan to show your work.
Custom-Made Maps
Google Maps has their GoogleMyMaps function where you can create and save customized maps for free, as long as they’re not for commercial use. The same goes for Google Earth and Google Earth Pro. You could start with one app and progress to the next, as you learn more features.
Easy-to-create maps let you share family history and tell your own life stories! / Photo by Yucel Moran via Unsplash
Custom-Made Calendars
Google Calendar is the most common one online. You can set up calendars to share with family (or any person or group) to tell a bit about key dates in your life, your family or group, and/or your ancestors.
Photo shops and other print services enable you to custom-make and print calendars to give to family and friends. Shutterfly and MixBook are popular online options.
3) Writing and Storytelling
There are many DIY (Do-It-Yourself) resources to help with your writing and life-stories projects.
Workbooks and Resources
There are many workbooks, how-to guides, audio books and other resources available to help you develop your writing skills and complete your life-stories project. You’re best to search online – and in your local library and bookstores – for resources that fit your needs and skill level.
Resources are geared toward specific types of writing, such as: short stories, memoir, biography, or family history. Over time, you could work with different formats and approaches.
Most likely, the ones that will help you most to tell stories from your life will be for ‘creative writing’. Although they are geared toward fiction, you can use the methods for true-life stories.
Courses and Workshops
Many writers and schools offer workshops and courses at different levels. There are specialty courses for short stories, memoir, family history, and other types of life-story writing.
Beyond blogs and DIY books – workshops provide interactive learning and support. / Photo by Kampus Production via Pexels
You can take classes online, attend local workshops in-person, or go on a writing-retreat course.
Look to find the type and timing you prefer, within your budget.
AI for Life Stories
AI technology for writing (and research, and image creation, and more) is now publicly available. Many apps are free, others have a fee to use or access more features.
Platforms and services include:
ChatGPT – for any kind of life stories, poems, essays, image creation and more
MyHeritage AI Biographer – a tool for ancestor stories
Storian – you record your stories aloud, their AI writes, and they help you edit into a book
Personally, I’m not ready to embrace this as a substitute for writing. Yet I’d like you to be aware of options. Even with concerns about accuracy, quality and copyright, AI has much to offer. Along with potential problems come possibilities for life storytelling.
Story Professionals
If it fits for you, you might like to hire a professional to help with your life stories project. Here are some main types.
story coach – a story coach tends to help with fiction, but can help you with your real-life (non-fiction) stories. They help with story structure, character, and narrative flow. They’re also like a personal trainer for you and your writing project.
life story writer – sometimes called a personal historian – asks you questions, listens to your stories, takes notes and recordings, then writes your story for you. They’ll offer to prepare it as a book for you to self-publish, with photos you choose to include.
oral historian, videographer – these professionals are like life-story writers, yet their media is audio and visual. They record interviews with you or your loved one, then edit the material into a set of voice or video recordings to tell your story overall.
Find someone that suits you, to work with in-person or meet virtually.
4) Researching Your Ancestry
Here are some key resources to help you discover your family history.
Genealogy Websites
The largest websites worldwide to help you discover, organize and share your family history are (in alphabetical order):
Ancestry
FamilySearch
FindMyPast
MyHeritage
Together, they are known as ‘The Big Four’.
Family Search is free of charge. The others offer a basic level for free, with upgrades (to access more features) for a subscription fee.
Each of these provides an overall service, and has their own specialties. You can choose what suits you best over time, or sign up for more than one.
Personally, Ancestry is where I have my main family tree, and do initial research and sharing. American Ancestors is great for detailed research and courses about my colonial ancestors. I’ve much more yet to discover on MyHeritage, including my DNA matches. FindMyPast will help me connect with local family history societies in Scotland (once I know where). Family Search helps with research and how-to resources.
Some sites have a geographic or ethnic focus, such as: Geneanet (Continental Europe) and JewishGen (Jewish genealogy).
The world of your ancestry is literally at your fingertips! Just start somewhere and go from there. / Photo by Lokibaho via Getty
Family History Sources Online
There are many sources of info online, in addition to the main genealogy (ancestry, family history) sites. Key types include:
newspaper archives – some of these can be accessed via the main ancestry sites, such as Newspapers.com (Ancestry), OldNews (MyHeritage), and British Newspapers (FindMyPast). Plus there’s Google News Archive.
government and other archives – the largest worldwide source is the Internet Archive
cemeteries – the largest online sites are FindAGrave and BillionGraves
Of course there are many more avenues of research, depending where your ancestors were from and what their role was in life and society.
Learn by Webinar and Video
There are vast family history resources online. These became even more available during the pandemic, and continue to be offered.
Two of the larger sites with how-to videos to help you research your ancestry (family history, genealogy) are:
Legacy Family Tree (Webinars) – there are many videos to watch for free, and some for members-only (paid subscribers)
RootsTech (Family Search annual conference) – videos can be viewed for free during the conference and afterwards
Learn from Written Guides
Various genealogy sites have written guides to help you with how-to research and share your family history.
FamilySearch Research Wiki – free online guide with links to genealogy databases, websites, and research strategies to help in the search for your ancestors
American Ancestors – how-to guides on researching and writing about your genealogy
The Family History Guide – free learning resources and activities to help make family history accessible and enjoyable for all ages
Regional Groups
There are genealogy groups and family history societies in many locations. Often, local groups are part of a regional or national organization.
Genealogy groups often have a monthly presentation via Zoom that you can view at the time, or later as a recorded webinar. You can view worldwide! You can attend in-person if this is an option in your area.
DNA Tests and Matches
If you’d like to test your DNA to find out more about your ancestry, these are the main providers. There are other options. It’s best to carefully consider the pros and cons before you do a test, view and share your results.
Ancestry DNA – the largest worldwide database of participants (many from North America)
23&Me – provides health data and info from DNA as well as biological ancestry matches
FamilyTree DNA – offers Y-DNA tests of males, to trace paternal lineage
MyHeritage DNA – most popular DNA test in Europe
Professional Genealogists
If you are keen to know your ancestry background, and have the resources, you could hire a professional genealogist. Professionals are accredited by an organization and are to abide by their standards. Their work can help you find ancestors, prove your lineage, and may yield stories and resolve mysteries. They could prepare a genealogy report in a precise standard format.
The Association of Professional Genealogists has a search function on their website to help you find a genealogist among their members who meets your location and research focus.
Large ancestry companies – such as Ancestry, MyHeritage and American Ancestors – have genealogists on staff that you can hire.
Or you can find one on your own, in your region or who specializes in the geographic area or culture and language of your ancestors.
5) Self-Publishing
Self-publishing is accessible and user-friendly these days. Your product can be digital (e-book or PDF) and/or printed (softcover, hardcover). You only print the number of books you want, and retain control over all the content.
Your stories, your way. Go for it! / Photo by Moe Magners via Pexels
Photo Books
There are many optional services to make a photo book from your pictures, whether about a wedding, vacation, pets, or family history. Two well-known online providers are MixBook and Shutterfly.
Written Books
Two well-known services for self-publishing a book online are Lulu and Blurb. Major companies like Amazon also offer the service. Through any of these, you can offer your book for sale online.
It could be any book, of any length, including photos. You might publish a booklet of your stories and poems, a magazine-length biography about one of your parents, a family history of any type, or a memoir.
You may be well-served to work with a self-publishing company that helps you along the way. One well-regarded company in Canada is Friesen Press. They provide a set of services including editing, layout and cover.
If you’d like your book to be accepted by a publisher, it will need to be well-written and of interest to the public.
written by Barbara L Campbell, 2024