Dear Me - Letters To Self

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  Dear Me - Letters To Self

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  Compose letter - With attachments

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  Drag letter to send

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  Mailbox - Delivered letters from the past

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  Letter details

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  Option to resend the letter

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  v1.1.0 Update

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  v1.2.0 Update

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  v1.3.0 Update

Inspiration

The inspiration for "Dear Me" came from a simple desire to combine text with attachments like images and map locations. It started as a technical challenge but evolved into something more personal when my wife suggested creating an app where people could send letters to their future selves. The idea of surprising yourself with memories after a random period felt unique and exciting, sparking the journey to develop this app.

What it does

"Dear Me - Letters to Self" allows users to write letters to their future selves. You can add images and map locations as an inline attachments to make each letter special. Once written, the letters are stored securely on your device and are set to be delivered back to you at a random time between 30 to 90 days. It’s like a time capsule that helps you reflect and connect with your past and future self.

How we built it

We started by experimenting with SwiftUI to create a text input that could also handle attachments like images and map locations. However, this initial approach had its limitations, especially when it came to maintaining a natural typing experience. After hitting these roadblocks, we pivoted to using UIKit's UITextView, which allowed us to seamlessly integrate visual elements into the text input, creating the fluid, interactive experience we envisioned.

While working on the app’s design, we were inspired by a project called Gentle, an app that allowed users to send anonymous letters to strangers. Gentle had a beautiful, minimalist design language that resonated with us, particularly its elegantly crafted envelopes. Although Gentle had been discontinued, its resources were open-sourced, so we reached out to Andrew, the creator of Gentle. Andrew graciously granted us permission to adapt Gentle's design language for our app. We carefully reworked these elements to suit the self-reflection theme of "Dear Me," blending Gentle’s aesthetic with our unique concept. The result is a user interface that feels both familiar and refreshingly new, offering users a delightful and personal experience as they write letters to their future selves.

Challenges we ran into

At the start, we tried a very basic approach to create the text input. We hid the standard TextField and used SwiftUI’s Text and Image views to create the illusion of typing. Every time the user typed something, we would parse the text and update the views to reflect any attachments added. But this method had serious problems. It wasn’t possible to highlight or select text, and the whole setup felt unnatural and clunky. It didn’t behave like a regular text input, which made it difficult for users to interact with. This pushed us to explore other options and eventually led us to UIKit’s UITextView, which allowed us to create a much smoother and more natural experience. Overcoming these early challenges was tough, but it ultimately helped us build a better app.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re really proud of the positive response we received from people even before the app was launched. When we shared our progress on X, we got amazing engagement—people were excited and eagerly waiting for the app to be released. After the launch, we received personal messages from users telling us how much they enjoyed using the app. They shared how "Dear Me" has helped them build a habit of reflecting on precious moments. It’s incredibly rewarding to know that our app is making a difference in people’s daily lives, helping them connect with their thoughts and memories in a meaningful way. This kind of feedback motivates us to keep improving and adding more value for our users.

What we learned

Through this project, we learned the importance of flexibility and perseverance in problem-solving. We also gained a deeper understanding of user interface design and how to balance functionality with aesthetics. Most importantly, we learned that a simple idea can turn into something meaningful and impactful with the right inspiration and dedication.

What's next for Dear Me - Letters To Self

Moving forward, we plan to add more customisation options for the letters, such as different envelope designs and additional attachment types. We’re also exploring ways to allow users to share their letters with others or keep a digital journal within the app. Our goal is to continue enhancing the app to make it an even more personal and enriching experience for our users.

Built With

• core-location
• corelocationui
• ios
• lottie
• mapkit
• notifications
• revenuecatsdk
• swift
• swiftdata
• swiftui