Self Chat

Ascendant Labs

About this app

Self Chat is a private space to message yourself.

It looks and feels like the chat app you already use — bubbles, threads, read timestamps — except every conversation is with you. Use it as a journal, a place for daily notes, a scratchpad for ideas, or anywhere you'd normally text a friend, except the friend is future-you.

100% OFFLINE, ALWAYS PRIVATE
Self Chat has no account, no sign-in, no ads, and no analytics. It never makes a network request. Every message, photo, voice note, and file you save lives only in a local database on your phone — never on a server, never in the cloud, never seen by anyone but you.

WRITE THE WAY YOU ALREADY TEXT
• Start as many threads as you want — a Daily Journal, a Gratitude log, a Reading List, a Workout Log — each with its own name and emoji
• Send text, photos, videos, voice notes, and documents, with captions
• Format with *bold*, _italic_, ~strikethrough~, and `monospace`
• Reply to any message to quote it, just like a real chat

NEVER LOSE A THOUGHT
• Search across every thread at once, filtered by starred, photos, voice, files, or date
• Pin a message to the top of a chat, or star it for your running highlights list
• Set a reminder on any message — once, daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly — and get a notification that opens straight to it
• "On this day" resurfaces what you wrote on this date in past years
• Insights shows your writing streaks, most-active chat, and totals

MAKE IT YOURS
• Six color themes, light/dark/system mode, and adjustable text size
• Customizable swipe actions and double-tap on any message or chat
• Mark messages done, archive chats, or set disappearing messages per chat

YOUR PRIVACY, ON YOUR TERMS
• Lock any individual chat with its own PIN — its contents stay hidden everywhere else in the app until unlocked
• Back up every chat and its media to a single file you control, and restore it any time — the backup never leaves your device unless you choose to share it
• Deleted a chat or message by mistake? It sits in Trash for 30 days before it's gone for good

Self Chat doesn't try to be a social network. There's no one else on it — just you, your thoughts, and a chat interface built for keeping them.

What’s new

New in this update:
• Automatic scheduled backups — set it and forget it
• Recurring reminders are now fully customizable (any interval, any start date)
• Record video from the in-app camera
• Redesigned Settings and list screens with a cleaner look
• New About screen with app version and privacy policy
• Options to delete all data or reset the app
• Bug fixes and stability improvements
Thank you for using Self Chat!