Thinking-of-you cards that travel as a link

What kinds of cards are there?

There are four templates in the composer: Thinking of you, Birthday, My people and Recap. A fifth kind, Right back at you, appears when a friend replies to your card.

Thinking of you and Birthday address one friend and use one of eight preset lines or a custom message of up to 140 characters. My people shows up to eight first names or initials. Recap shows your monthly or yearly numbers.

• Thinking of you: 'You crossed my mind today' and seven other short lines.
• Birthday: 'Have the best day' and seven others.
• My people: your inner circle as names or initials.
• Recap: people reached, moments, reconnected friends and the longest gap closed.

What does the recap card show?

The recap card shows positive numbers only: people reached, moments, friends reconnected after a long gap, and the longest gap closed in days. It can cover this month, which is free, or this year, which is part of Plus.

The card never counts who you did not contact. It is made to be shared if you want, in the way people share a year in review.

How do you make one?

Open Make a card on Today, or tap Card on a friend's profile. The preview updates as you choose. Pick a format, a 9:16 story or a 1:1 post, then a style.

Sky and Paper are free. Dusk and Night are part of Nearfolk Plus. Every card carries the Nearfolk name, a QR code and the short link at the bottom, and that footer cannot be removed.

For a My people card you can show names or initials and choose up to eight friends, with the nearest ones selected by default. Initials are a good choice if you prefer to keep names off a public story.

1. Choose the template and the friend.
2. Pick a preset line, or write your own.
3. Choose Story or Post, then a style.
4. Tap Share to send the card and link, or Save to add it to Photos.

How does a card work without an account?

The content of the card is written into the link after the # sign: the first name, the line you chose and the style. Browsers do not send that part of a web address to a server, so Nearfolk has nothing to store and no copy of your card.

A broken or cut-off link shows a friendly error with a way back home, and the paste screen lets you open a link you copied from a chat.

The card lives in the link. Nearfolk has no server that saw it.

What does your friend see?

They open the link in Safari or any browser and see the card full width, with a headline like 'Sam is thinking of you'. Two buttons follow: Send one back, and Who are your people?

Send one back asks for their name, offers eight reply lines, and builds a card they can share. Who are your people? lets them type up to five first names and share a My people card. If they have the app, they can add you to their own orbit.

If the link is cut off, the card page shows a friendly message and asks for the whole link. In the app, the Paste screen accepts a link you copied from a chat and opens the card.

What does a card never contain?

Phone numbers, notes and history never go on a card. A card shows first names or initials, the message you chose, and for a recap four numbers. Anyone who gets the link can read what is on it, so choose the words as you would for any message you send.

Sending a card also logs a moment for that friend, so they move back toward you on the orbit.

Is it free to share cards?

Yes. Sharing and links are always free. After you share a few cards, the app may ask once for a rating through the standard iOS prompt. Plus only adds two card styles and the yearly recap.

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