Frequently Asked Questions

LifeScribe is a digital storytelling platform that transforms your personal memories into professionally written narrative chapters using AI. You record your stories by voice (just talking naturally), and our AI writing technology converts them into polished, book-quality prose.

We also create a voice clone so your completed audiobook is narrated in your actual voice—preserving not just your stories, but how you sound telling them.

Learn more about how LifeScribe works.

Not at all! That's the whole point of LifeScribe. You don't write anything—you just talk naturally about your memories, the same way you'd tell stories to grandchildren around the dinner table.

Our AI does all the writing, turning your conversational recordings into professional narrative prose. Most members say they "forgot they can't write" because the AI makes them sound like a published author.

LifeScribe is available as a mobile app for:

• iOS: iPhone and iPad (iOS 13 or later)
• Android: Coming soon (Q3 2026)

You can also access your content through our Family Vault web portal from any device with a web browser. The mobile app is required for voice recording and chapter creation.

We offer four subscription tiers:

• Legacy Creator: $20/month or $200/year (5 chapters/month, basic AI writing, no voice cloning)
• Essential: $49/month or $490/year (unlimited chapters, voice cloning, photo AI)
• Professional: $99/month or $990/year (everything in Essential + Family Vault for 25 people)
• Enterprise: $249/month or $2,490/year (unlimited vault sharing, priority support, custom features)

All plans include a 7-day free trial with no credit card required. See full details on our pricing page.

Yes! Every subscription tier includes a 7-day free trial with no credit card required. You get full access to all features during your trial—create chapters, generate voice clones, upload photos, everything.

If you cancel before the trial ends, you won't be charged. Start your free trial.

Recording: 5-15 minutes of voice recording (you just talk naturally about a memory)

AI processing: 2-5 minutes for the AI to transcribe and write the chapter

Review/editing: 10-20 minutes to read and make any edits

Total time: Most chapters are completed in 20-40 minutes from start to finish. Compare that to the days or weeks it would take to write the same content by hand.

Almost none. If you can use your smartphone's voice memo app, you can use LifeScribe. The interface is designed specifically for baby boomers (ages 59-77) with large buttons, clear text, and simple workflows.

Most members create their first chapter within 30 minutes of downloading the app. We also offer video tutorials and live customer support if you need help.

All members get access to:

• Email support: Responses within 24 hours (usually much faster)
• Video tutorials: Step-by-step guides for every feature
• Help center: Searchable knowledge base with 100+ articles
• Live chat: Available Monday-Friday 9am-5pm EST

Enterprise members also get priority phone support and a dedicated customer success manager.

It's as simple as recording a voice memo on your phone:

1. Tap "Create Chapter" in the app
2. Choose a topic from our Legacy Quest prompts or record anything you want
3. Tap the record button and talk naturally (5-15 minutes)
4. Tap stop when you're done
5. The AI transcribes your recording and writes it into a narrative chapter automatically

You can record in one session or add to your recording later. The AI is smart enough to turn conversational rambling into structured prose.

You never have to listen to your raw recordings! The voice recordings are just input for the AI—what matters is the written chapter it produces. Most members never listen to their own voice recordings.

The finished audiobook uses your voice clone, which is a polished, professional version of your voice without the "ums," pauses, or background noise from the original recordings.

Yes! While most members prefer voice recording (it's faster and feels more natural), you can absolutely type your memories instead. The AI will still transform your typed notes into polished narrative prose.

Many members use a hybrid approach: record the main story by voice, then add specific details or corrections by typing.

Our AI uses advanced natural language models (similar to ChatGPT but specialized for memoir writing) to transform your conversational recordings into book-quality narrative prose.

The AI:

• Removes filler words ("um," "like," "you know")
• Organizes your thoughts into logical narrative flow
• Adds descriptive language and emotional depth
• Maintains your authentic voice and personality
• Corrects grammar and punctuation
• Suggests contextual details based on the time period

Learn more about our AI writing technology.

Absolutely! You have complete control over the final text. After the AI generates a chapter, you can:

• Edit any sentence directly in the app
• Delete sections you don't want
• Add new paragraphs
• Regenerate specific sections with different instructions
• Change the writing style (formal, casual, humorous, etc.)

Think of the AI as your co-writer, not a replacement for your judgment. The final chapter is always yours to approve.

The AI is very accurate when it comes to transcribing and reorganizing what you actually said. However, it can occasionally:

• Mishear uncommon names or technical terms
• Add embellishments you didn't mention (usually minor descriptive details)
• Organize events in a different order than you intended

That's why we always recommend reviewing every chapter before finalizing it. Most members find they need to make 2-5 minor edits per chapter—still far easier than writing from scratch.

Legacy Creator: 5 chapters per month
Essential, Professional, and Enterprise: Unlimited chapters

Most members create 2-4 chapters per month and complete a 40-60 chapter memoir in about a year. There's no rush—work at whatever pace feels comfortable. See pricing details.

Voice cloning creates a digital replica of your voice that can narrate your entire memoir audiobook. You record about 50 short sentences (takes 10-15 minutes), and our AI analyzes your unique vocal patterns—tone, pacing, accent, emotion, breathing patterns.

The voice clone then narrates all your chapters in your actual voice, even chapters you wrote by typing instead of recording. This means your great-great-grandchildren can hear your voice telling your stories decades from now.

See how it works: Voice Cloning Technology

You'll record approximately 50 short sentences (about 10-15 minutes total). The app displays each sentence on screen, you read it aloud, and tap "next" to move to the next one.

The sentences are carefully selected to capture the full range of your vocal patterns—different emotions, sentence structures, and phonetic sounds.

You can record all 50 in one session, or split it across multiple sessions if you get tired.

We take the ethics of voice cloning extremely seriously:

• Consent: You must explicitly opt-in and create the voice clone yourself
• Ownership: You own your voice clone—we never use it for anything except narrating YOUR memoir
• No sharing: Your voice clone cannot be downloaded or used outside of LifeScribe
• Deletion: You can delete your voice clone at any time
• Watermarking: All voice-cloned audio includes digital watermarks identifying it as AI-generated

Voice cloning for personal memoir preservation is very different from malicious deepfakes. Learn more about our AI ethics policy.

Yes! You can re-record your voice samples at any time to update your clone. This is useful if:

• You weren't happy with the quality of the first clone
• Your voice has changed significantly (illness, aging)
• The first recording was in a noisy environment

When you create a new voice clone, you can choose whether to re-narrate all existing chapters with the new voice, or keep the old narrations.

Most family members say the voice clone is "eerily accurate"—capturing not just the basic sound, but the person's speaking rhythm, emotional inflection, and personality.

That said, it's not 100% identical. It's similar to how a professional voice actor might sound "almost exactly" like you. The quality depends on:

• Recording quality: Quiet environment, clear pronunciation
• Microphone quality: Modern smartphone microphones work great
• Natural delivery: Reading the sentences naturally, not robotically

You can listen to sample narrations before publishing your audiobook.

Yes, with their explicit permission. Many families create voice clones for elderly parents or grandparents to preserve their voice.

The family member must:

1. Consent to the voice cloning (we require documented consent)
2. Record the 50 voice samples themselves (you can help them use the app)
3. Approve the final voice clone

This is a wonderful way to preserve a loved one's voice, especially if they're in declining health. Learn more about our gift subscriptions for family members.

We support all common image formats:

• JPEG/JPG (most common)
• PNG (supports transparency)
• HEIC (iPhone's default format)
• TIFF (high-quality scans)
• RAW formats (CR2, NEF, ARW) - converted automatically

Photos are automatically optimized for web display while preserving a high-quality version for PDF books.

No limits on number of photos. Upload as many as you want across all your chapters.

File size limits:

• Individual photo: 50MB max
• Total storage: Unlimited for Essential, Professional, and Enterprise plans
• Legacy Creator: 5GB total storage

If you have very large photos (e.g., high-res scans), the app will automatically compress them to a reasonable size while preserving visual quality.

Our photo AI analyzes each image to automatically:

• Detect faces: Count people in the photo and estimate ages
• Identify setting: Indoor/outdoor, time of day, season
• Estimate era: Based on clothing, vehicles, architecture (e.g., "likely 1970s")
• Suggest captions: Generic descriptions you can customize
• Extract text: Read signs, documents, handwritten notes visible in photos

This helps the AI writing assistant add contextual details to your chapters. See how it works: Photo Integration & Visual AI

Not currently, but video support is planned for late 2026. In the meantime, you can:

• Take screenshots from videos and upload them as photos
• Extract audio from videos and record it as voice narration
• Describe what happened in the video through voice recording

When video support launches, you'll be able to embed short video clips directly into digital chapters.

Best practices for scanning old photos:

• Use a scanner (preferred): Flatbed scanners at 300-600 DPI produce the best results
• Smartphone scanning: Apps like Google PhotoScan or Adobe Scan work well for quick scans
• Lighting: Photograph prints in indirect natural light, avoid glare
• Restoration: LifeScribe can automatically enhance faded/damaged photos (remove scratches, adjust color)

Download our free Photo Scanning Guide for detailed instructions.

Yes. We use bank-level security to protect your stories:

• Encryption: AES-256 encryption for all data at rest and in transit (same as banks)
• AWS infrastructure: Data stored on Amazon Web Services in secure, redundant data centers
• Access controls: Multi-factor authentication available
• Regular audits: Third-party security assessments quarterly
• Compliance: GDPR, CCPA, and SOC 2 Type II compliant

Learn more: Security & Privacy Overview

All LifeScribe data is stored on Amazon Web Services (AWS) servers in the United States (US-East-2 region, Ohio). AWS is one of the most secure and reliable cloud providers in the world, trusted by banks, healthcare providers, and government agencies.

Your data is automatically backed up to multiple geographic locations to prevent loss in case of natural disasters or hardware failures.

No, not without your explicit permission. LifeScribe employees cannot access your chapters unless:

1. You specifically request technical support for a problem with a chapter (and grant temporary access)
2. You report a bug and ask us to investigate
3. Legal requirement (court order or subpoena)

All employee access is logged and audited. We take privacy extremely seriously—your stories are yours, not ours.

Absolutely not. We will never sell, rent, or share your personal stories, recordings, or photos with third parties for any reason. Period.

Our business model is subscription-based—we make money from your membership fees, not from selling your data. Your memoir content is completely confidential.

When you cancel:

• Immediate: You can no longer create new chapters or access premium features
• 30 days: You retain read-only access to all your existing content (can view and export, but not edit)
• 90 days: Your account is archived and you can no longer log in
• 365 days: All data is permanently deleted (unless you reactivate within one year)

Important: Before canceling, download your complete memoir as a PDF and export all photos. Once data is deleted, it cannot be recovered.

Yes! Every chapter has privacy settings:

• Private: Only you can see it (not included in shared books or Family Vault)
• Family only: Shared with selected family members via Family Vault
• Public: Included in published PDF books that could be shared outside the family

Many members write deeply personal chapters (about mental health, family conflicts, etc.) and mark them "Private" for themselves, while sharing happier memories with family.

You have granular control over access:

• Family Vault invitations: Invite specific people by email (you can revoke access anytime)
• Chapter-level permissions: Mark chapters as private, family-only, or public
• Viewer permissions: Control whether family members can download PDFs or just view online
• Expiring links: Create temporary access links that expire after 30 days

Learn more: Family Sharing & Vault

No! Only you (the memoir creator) need a paid subscription. Family members can view your shared content completely free through the Family Vault web portal.

They don't even need to download the LifeScribe app—they just click the invitation link you send them, create a free viewer account, and access your stories from any web browser.

Depends on your subscription tier:

• Legacy Creator: No family sharing (content is private to you)
• Essential: No family sharing (but you can send PDF copies manually)
• Professional: Share with up to 25 family members
• Enterprise: Unlimited family members

See pricing details.

No. Family members have read-only access. They can:

• View chapters
• Listen to audiobook narrations
• Download photos (if you enable this)
• Download PDF books (if you enable this)
• Leave comments on chapters (if you enable this)

Only YOU can edit, delete, or reorganize content. This protects the integrity of your memoir.

Family Hub: A collaborative space where multiple family members (who ALL have paid subscriptions) can contribute chapters to a shared family memoir. Think of it as a "family wiki" where everyone adds their own stories.

Family Vault: One-way sharing where YOU create content and share it with family members (who don't need subscriptions). They can view but not contribute.

Most families use Family Vault. Family Hub is for families where multiple members want to actively write chapters. Learn more: Family Hub vs. Family Vault

Yes. You can revoke access at any time from your Family Vault settings. The person will immediately lose access to all your shared content.

Note: If they previously downloaded PDFs or photos (and you had enabled downloads), they'll still have those downloaded copies. Revocation only prevents future access to the online vault.

Absolutely! That's one of the most popular uses of Family Vault—preserving your stories for grandchildren and future generations.

You can invite grandchildren of any age. For young grandchildren, you might want to:

• Send the invitation to their parents, who can set up the account on their behalf
• Use the "scheduled access" feature to grant access when they turn a certain age (e.g., 18)
• Mark some chapters as "adults only" and others as "all ages"

Creating a PDF is simple:

1. Tap "Create Book" in the app
2. Select which chapters to include (or select "All")
3. Choose a book template (Modern, Classic, or Vintage design)
4. Customize cover design, title, and author name
5. Tap "Generate PDF" (takes 2-5 minutes depending on length)
6. Download the PDF to your device

The PDF is professionally formatted and print-ready. You can generate unlimited PDFs with different chapter selections. Learn more: Professional PDF Books

There's no limit! We've had members create 500+ page memoirs with hundreds of photos. The PDF generation system handles books of any size.

That said, for printing purposes, most print-on-demand services have limits:

• Softcover: Up to 800 pages (most services)
• Hardcover: Up to 550 pages (most services)

If your memoir exceeds these limits, we recommend splitting it into multiple volumes (e.g., "Volume 1: Childhood & Teen Years," "Volume 2: Adult Life").

You can use any printer or printing service. The PDF is standard format (8.5" x 11" or 6" x 9" depending on template) and works with:

• Home printer: Print and bind yourself (cheapest option)
• Local print shops: FedEx Office, Staples, etc. (usually $0.10-0.20/page)
• Print-on-demand: Amazon KDP, Lulu, Blurb (professional binding, ~$20-50 per book)
• Professional printers: For large quantities (50+ copies)

We don't force you to use a specific printing partner—you own the PDF and can print it anywhere.

Typical costs for a 200-page memoir with photos:

• Home printer: $10-20 (paper + ink, spiral binding at FedEx for ~$5)
• FedEx Office color printing + binding: $40-60 per copy
• Amazon KDP softcover: $7-12 printing cost, $15-25 retail price
• Blurb hardcover photo book: $40-80 per copy

Most members print 5-10 copies to give to immediate family, rather than mass-producing. See our printing cost calculator.

Yes! Many members create customized versions for different family members:

• "Complete Edition": For yourself or spouse (includes all chapters, even private ones)
• "Family Edition": For adult children (excludes some private chapters)
• "Grandkids Edition": For young grandchildren (only appropriate stories)
• "Public Edition": For extended family or publication (only non-sensitive content)

Simply create multiple PDFs with different chapter selections and mark each one clearly (e.g., "Grandkids Version - No Chapter 17").

Legacy Creator ($20/month):

• 5 chapters per month
• Basic AI writing (no voice cloning)
• Photo uploads (5GB storage)
• PDF book generation
• No family sharing

Essential ($49/month):

• Unlimited chapters
• Voice cloning + audiobook narration
• Advanced photo AI
• Unlimited storage
• Priority support
• No family sharing (send PDFs manually)

Professional ($99/month):

• Everything in Essential, plus:
• Family Vault for 25 people
• Advanced privacy controls
• Commenting system
• Family timeline view

Enterprise ($249/month):

• Everything in Professional, plus:
• Unlimited Family Vault members
• Priority phone support
• Custom branding
• Dedicated account manager
• White-glove onboarding

See complete comparison: Pricing & Plans

Yes! There are no contracts or cancellation fees. You can cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings.

When you cancel:

• You retain access until the end of your current billing period
• You won't be charged again
• You have 30 days to export your content (PDFs, photos, audio files)
• After 30 days, you can still log in (read-only access) for up to 90 days
• After 365 days of cancellation, all data is permanently deleted

Important: Download everything before canceling! Once deleted, we cannot recover your data.

Yes—we offer a 30-day money-back guarantee on all plans.

If you're not satisfied within the first 30 days of a new subscription (or upgrade), contact support and we'll issue a full refund, no questions asked.

After 30 days, refunds are issued on a case-by-case basis (technical issues, account problems, etc.). We're very reasonable—just email support@trylifescribe.com.

Yes. You can change your plan at any time:

• Upgrade: Takes effect immediately; you're charged the prorated difference
• Downgrade: Takes effect at the end of your current billing period

Important: If you downgrade from Professional to Essential, family members will lose access to your Family Vault. If you downgrade from Essential to Legacy Creator, your voice clone and unlimited chapters will be locked (but not deleted—you can upgrade again to restore access).

Yes! Gift subscriptions are available for all plans. This is one of our most popular options—adult children often gift LifeScribe to parents or grandparents.

How it works:

1. Purchase a gift subscription (3 months, 6 months, or 1 year)
2. We email you a beautiful gift certificate (PDF) to print or forward
3. The recipient redeems the code to activate their account
4. You can choose to auto-renew after the gift period or let it expire

Learn more: Gift Subscriptions

Yes—members 65+ receive 15% off all plans.

To activate your senior discount:

1. Sign up for your free trial
2. Email support@trylifescribe.com from your account email with "Senior Discount Request"
3. Provide proof of age (driver's license, birth certificate, etc.—we only look at the birth date)
4. We'll apply a permanent 15% discount to your account

We also offer veteran discounts (20% off) and educator discounts (15% off). Email support for details.