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🎙 Option 1: Quick Record (fastest)

Think of Quick Record like leaving a voice message for your family. You tap once to start, talk for as long as you want, and tap again to stop. No setup. No questions. Just your voice.

1. 1 Tap the Capture tab at the bottom of the screen. It looks like a microphone.
2. 2 Make sure Solo is selected at the top. It is the default. (To record with someone else, see the Interview section below.)
3. 3 Tap the big microphone button in the center. The colored bars start moving. That means the app is listening.
4. 4 Talk. Tell your story. You have up to 10 minutes per recording. There is no rush.
5. 5 Tap the microphone button again to stop. Your story is saved and your voice is turned into text automatically.

🧭 Option 2: Record with a story guide (deeper stories)

A story guide (called a "framework") is like a journalist sitting across from you, asking one question at a time. You just answer. The app builds your story from your answers. Best for people who are not sure what to say, or want a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Best starting guide: CART (4 questions, 5 to 10 minutes).

1. 1 Tap the Capture tab at the bottom.
2. 2 Tap Choose a framework (below the microphone button).
3. 3 Pick CART. Each letter is a question: Context, Adversity, Resolution, Takeaway.
4. 4 Answer each question by speaking (tap the microphone) or typing. Take your time.
5. 5 Tap Finish Story when you are done. Your answers become one complete story.

🌐 Set the language for a recording

Before you tap the microphone, you can tell the app what language you will be speaking. This helps the transcription understand your words correctly. The language pill sits at the top of the Capture screen and shows a flag.

1. 1 Open the Capture tab. Look at the top of the screen for a small pill showing a flag and a language code (for example, EN or FR).
2. 2 Tap the pill to open the language selector.
3. 3 Pick the language you will be speaking in this recording. The pill updates right away.
4. 4 Tap the microphone and record normally.

👥 How to record an interview

Picture this: you sit at a kitchen table with your grandmother. You put the phone between you. You ask one question. She starts talking. That is all it takes to capture a memory that will last for generations.

1. 1 Open the Capture tab (the microphone icon at the bottom of the screen).
2. 2 At the top of the screen, tap Interview. It sits right next to Solo. The button highlights when it is selected.
3. 3 Place the phone between you and the other person. About 30 cm (one foot) from each of you works well. Both of you should be able to see the screen.
4. 4 Tap the big microphone button. Watch the colored bars start moving. That means the app is listening to both of you.
5. 5 Ask your first question. Then stop talking and listen. Silence is fine. The other person will fill it.
6. 6 Tap the microphone button to stop. The app turns your conversation into text and labels each speaker: Speaker 1 and Speaker 2.

📁 Create a new collection

1. 1 Open the My Stories tab (the first tab at the bottom left).
2. 2 Look at the three pill buttons in the middle row. Tap Collections (the purple one on the right).
3. 3 Tap New collection at the bottom of the list that appears.
4. 4 Type a name. For example: Family, Dad's stories, Summer 2026.
5. 5 Pick a color if you want. Then tap Create.

➕ Add a story to a collection

1. 1 Find the story in My Stories.
2. 2 Tap the small folder icon on the story card.
3. 3 Tick the collections you want to add it to. You can tick more than one.
4. 4 Tap Done.

🔤 Change the sort order

1. 1 Open My Stories or Drafts.
2. 2 Tap the Sort pill button. It sits in the middle row, between Filter and Collections. When a sort is active, it shows a purple label.
3. 3 Choose your order:
   Newest first: most recent story at the top (default)
   Oldest first: your earliest story at the top
   A to Z: alphabetical by story title
4. 4 Tap Done. The list updates right away.

📅 Browse by date (Timeline view)

Timeline view groups your stories by the month you recorded them. Like flipping through a photo album instead of a pile of loose photos.

1. 1 Open My Stories.
2. 2 Tap the calendar icon (📅) in the top-right corner of the story list, next to the grid and list view icons.
3. 3 Your stories are now grouped by month, newest first. Scroll down to travel back in time.

🌐 Switch the app to French or Spanish

Think of this like changing the language on a TV remote. One setting. The whole app follows.

1. 1 Tap the Profile tab (the last icon on the right at the bottom).
2. 2 Scroll down to the Accessibility section.
3. 3 Tap App Language. A list appears with three options: English, Francais, and Espanol. Each shows a flag and the name of the language written in that language.
4. 4 Tap the language you want. The whole app switches immediately. No restart needed.

🎙 App language vs. recording language

These are two different things. Both matter, and it helps to know the difference.

Example: your app is in English, but your grandmother only speaks French. Keep the app in English (so you can navigate it), and tap the language pill on the Capture screen to switch the recording to French. Her words will be transcribed in French. Your menus stay in English.

🗑 Delete one story

1. 1 Tap the story you want to delete. It opens in the story viewer.
2. 2 Tap the three dots (⋯) in the top-right corner.
3. 3 Tap Delete story, then Confirm.

☑️ Delete several stories at once

Bulk select is like putting several letters in the bin at once, instead of one trip per letter.

1. 1 Go to My Stories or Drafts.
2. 2 Press and hold any story card for about 2 seconds. Checkboxes appear on every card.
3. 3 Tap each story you want to delete. A tick appears on the ones you select.
4. 4 Tap Delete at the bottom, then Confirm. All selected stories are deleted at once.

🔍 Search by word or phrase

1. 1 Open My Stories or Drafts.
2. 2 Tap the search bar at the top. It says Search by title, tag, language, framework...
3. 3 Start typing. Results appear as you type. A count below shows how many stories matched.

You can search by story title, words in the transcript, tags you added, the framework used, the language, or co-author names.

🎛 Filter by category

Filters are like colored tabs in a filing cabinet. Instead of searching for a word, you show only stories of one type.

1. 1 Tap the Filter pill on the left of the middle row. When active, it turns mint and shows a number.
2. 2 Choose a filter: by Framework (e.g., show only CART stories), by Author, by Language, or by a Tag.
3. 3 Tap Done. The list shows only the matching stories. To clear, tap Filter again and tap Clear filters.

☁️ Check your backup status

1. 1 Tap the Profile tab (the last icon on the right at the bottom).
2. 2 Find the Cloud Backup row near the top of the screen.
3. 3 It shows the last time your stories were backed up. If it says Backed up just now, everything is safe.

📱 Restore stories on a new phone

1. 1 Download STORYTAP on your new phone.
2. 2 Sign in using the same email address or Google account you used before.
3. 3 Your stories appear within a few seconds. Collections, cover photos, and recordings all come back.

📤 Share or save a story

1. 1 Open the story you want to share. Tap on it in My Stories.
2. 2 Tap the share icon in the top-right corner. It looks like an arrow pointing up.
3. 3 Choose how to share:
   Share as text: sends the story as a readable message to WhatsApp, email, or any app.
   Save as file (JSON): saves the full story with all its data to your phone's files.

🤝 Before the recording session

1. 1 Set up the account. Create a STORYTAP account using an email address the person can access. Or use your own device and name each story clearly (for example, "Dad, the crossing story").
2. 2 Set the text size. Go to Profile, tap Text Size, and choose Large or Extra Large. This makes the buttons much easier to see and tap.
3. 3 Charge the phone. A recording session can last 30 to 60 minutes. Start with a full battery.
4. 4 Prepare one question. You do not need a list. Start with one: "What is one moment from your childhood you will never forget?" Then listen.

🎙 During the session

1. 1 Use Interview mode. On the Capture screen, switch from Solo to Interview. Place the phone between you on the table. Both voices will be captured. Both will appear in the transcript, labeled separately.
2. 2 Start recording and ask your first question. Do not coach or interrupt. Silence is fine. They will fill it.
3. 3 When they finish a story, ask: "Can you tell me more about that?" Simple follow-up questions unlock the most detailed memories.
4. 4 Stop and save each story separately. One topic, one story. Easier to find later.

📖 After the session

1. 1 Check the Drafts tab. If any recording did not finish, it is there. Tap it to continue or to save it as is.
2. 2 Add tags to each story (for example: Childhood, Work, Family). Tags make it much easier to find a specific story later.
3. 3 Share the best story right away. Send it to a family group. Stories that are shared right after recording are the ones that actually get heard.