GiftFeels – Couples App

Overview

GiftFeels is one quiet space for two people: a partner or a close friend. Nothing you share is public and nothing gets ranked, so there is no feed. Missing a day costs nothing, so there are no streaks. It lives in the small gaps of a day, a couple of short visits, and never asks for more.

The app is live on the App Store and Google Play, built with Expo and React Native, and trusted by 40K+ users.

Features

• A question a day, sealed: today's question stays hidden until both of you have answered, so nobody writes to please the other.
• Embers: tap and hold the flame and a small warm sign lands on their phone, with nothing to answer.
• Memory box: photos and notes kept in one place, and you decide what each person can see, one item at a time.
• Together map: share your location and see each other on one quiet map. Sharing is mutual, and stopping takes one tap.
• Partner alerts: gentle notifications such as "answered today's question", "sent you an ember" or "arrived home safe".
• Play together: games made for two, including Truth or Dare, Two Truths, Mind Sync and Keepsakes.
• And more: time capsules that open on a date you choose, a memory movie, your year wrapped, shared dreams, little details, date ideas and love languages.
• Free and Plus: everyday questions, the memory box and every widget are free. Plus unlocks capsules, movies, every question pack and room for more people.

Widgets, where you already look

Home and Lock Screen widgets in the standard iOS sizes: together, a countdown to the next anniversary, the daily question, memories on rotation and partner alerts. Open the app once and they fill themselves in, so a glance is usually enough.

Getting in

1. Make your space: sign in with Apple or Google. There is no profile to fill in and nobody to follow.
2. Invite one person: send a link or a code. From then on the space belongs to the two of you.
3. Put it where you look: add a widget to your Home or Lock Screen.

Why I built this

Most social apps are built around feeds, followers and streaks. GiftFeels goes the other way: a private space for exactly two people, with small rituals instead of an endless scroll, so staying close never turns into another chore.

Technical Stuff

Mobile app

• Expo & React Native: one codebase shipped to both iOS and Android, published on the App Store and Google Play.
• Sign in with Apple and Google: the fastest way into a private space, with nothing public to set up.
• Widgets: Home and Lock Screen widgets in the standard iOS sizes, filled in after the first open.
• Notifications: partner alerts for answers, embers, new memories and safe arrivals.
• Location: a together map that only appears when both people choose to share.

Website and discoverability

• Astro: the marketing site at app.giftfeels.com.
• Journal and comparisons: guides and honest comparisons with other couple apps, with Markdown and a full text file published for answer engines that quote a source.

Technical Challenges & Solutions

Challenge 1: A question nobody can game

• Problem: if one person sees the other's answer first, they write to please instead of being honest.
• Solution: the daily question stays sealed until both people have answered, then it opens for both.

Challenge 2: Privacy by default

• Problem: a relationship app holds the most personal photos, notes and locations a person has.
• Solution: every space holds exactly one other person, the memory box has per-item visibility, and location sharing is mutual and stops with one tap.

Challenge 3: Useful without opening the app

• Problem: an app you have to remember to open is an app people forget.
• Solution: Home and Lock Screen widgets keep the countdown, the question and the latest memory where you already look.