Stay close to your people, three gentle nudges a day

What does Nearfolk do?

Nearfolk keeps a small, calm picture of the people you care about. You choose how often you would like to talk to each person: about weekly, every two weeks, monthly, every three months or twice a year. As time passes, people drift outward on an orbit. One message, call or card pulls them back in.

Every morning the app looks at that orbit and offers today's three: the birthdays that are about to happen and the friends who have waited longest. That is the whole to-do list. When there is nothing to do, it says so.

Why only three people a day?

Long reminder lists turn friendship into a backlog, and a backlog is easy to abandon. Three is a number you can finish before lunch.

Tapping Not now moves a person to tomorrow without a penalty. There is no red badge, no overdue counter and no word like late. People in Nearfolk drift, they are never behind.

Three small suggestions are doable. A list of forty rarely gets done.

How does it help you find the words?

The hardest part of reaching out is the first line. Nearfolk has conversation starters for eight occasions: just because, reconnect, birthday, congrats, hard week, reply owed, a memory and make plans.

Each line has a Shorter, Add a question and Warmer version, and you can edit the text before it opens in Messages. The lines live in the app, so nothing is generated on a server.

What about birthdays and texts you owe?

Add a birthday by hand or take it from a contact you pick. Nearfolk reminds you three days before and on the day, and offers a birthday card in one tap.

The reply jar holds the texts you owe. You add a row yourself, answer with a short line, and tap Replied when it is done. Nearfolk cannot see your messages, so the jar is yours to fill.

Can you share what you feel?

A thinking-of-you card takes about ten seconds: pick a friend, pick a line, choose a style, share. The card travels as a link. Your friend opens it in any browser, and can send one back or make a card of their own people.

There are also birthday cards, a My People card and a monthly recap that counts only the good things: people reached, moments, friends brought back from far away.

Where does your data go?

Nowhere. Nearfolk has no account and no server of its own. Your people, notes and history are stored on your iPhone and encrypted with a key kept in the iOS Keychain.

When you tap Pick from Contacts, iOS shows its own picker and Nearfolk receives only the one contact you tap. Your address book is never read or uploaded. See the full privacy policy for the details.

Is Nearfolk free?

Nearfolk is free to download and the free plan is useful on its own: 10 people, sharing, links, the monthly recap and the first three starters for every occasion. Nearfolk Plus is an optional purchase that adds unlimited people, circles and replies, all starter lines, two more card styles and the yearly recap.

Nothing you add is ever deleted or hidden if you stay on the free plan. Plus only changes how many more you can add. The app is in development for iPhone and is not on the App Store yet.

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