Setting it up for someone else
Setting up the MemoriesBox pendant for a parent takes one visit or one video call: charge it, pair it once with the app on your own phone, put the chain on them, and press the button together. After that they press; you collect. $79 at the early price, ships 2027.
Facts on this page verified
This page is written to you, not to them
You are the one who ordered it. The pendant is $79 at the early price and ships in 2027, and when it arrives it will arrive at your address or theirs, and either way you are the one who will make it work. This page is the whole of that job, and it is short, because the job is short.
Before anything is plugged in
Have the conversation first. Not "I bought you a thing", but "I would like to be able to hear you tell that story about the winter you left, later, when I need it". Most people say yes to that. The pendant records only when its wearer presses the button, so a person who has not agreed will simply never press it, and the device does nothing. That is by design; see /trust/consent. Setup on a person who has not agreed is not setup, it is jewellery.
What setup involves
- Charge it. USB-C, the same cable as most phones now. A full charge lasts up to three weeks.
- Open the MemoriesBox app on your phone — yours, not theirs — and pair the pendant once, by Bluetooth. The app names it after the person wearing it.
- Put the chain on them. It sits at the collarbone. That is the whole physical setup.
- Press the button together, once, and say something. Then press it again to stop. Play it back on your phone so they hear themselves. That is the moment most people decide it is fine.
- Show them the one thing: press to start, press to stop. There is nothing else. There is no screen and no menu, so there is nothing to get wrong.
From then on they press, when they want to, and the pendant keeps up to 200 hours. Recordings reach the archive whenever the pendant is near your phone with the app open — a visit, a Sunday — or by USB-C to any computer if you prefer a cable. If the pendant is ever lost in the house, the app finds it by GPS.
Who does what
| The person wearing it | You | |
|---|---|---|
| Presses the button | Yes | No |
| Charges it | Every few weeks, or you do it on a visit | Either |
| Holds the account and pays the subscription | Can, but does not have to | Usually |
| Collects the recordings | No | Yes: Bluetooth on a visit, or USB-C |
| Decides whether a voice is ever built | Only from their own recordings, and only when the account holder presses "Create my digital self" — talk about it first | Presses it, with their agreement |
| Decides who gets a key | The account holder, in Settings → Trusted contacts | Usually you, on their instruction |
If you live far away
Then the visit becomes a video call. Post the pendant to them charged and already paired with your phone's app — pairing survives distance; it is a one-time introduction, not a live link. On the call, walk them through putting it on and pressing the button once. The recordings will sit on the pendant, up to 200 hours, until the next time you are in the same room, or until someone near them plugs it into a computer. Two hundred hours is roughly a year of ordinary use, so a visit twice a year is enough.
If nobody in the family can travel and there is no computer in the house, be honest about what that means: the recordings will be safe on the pendant, and they will reach the archive late. That is still better than the recording never being made.
For a person who will not manage the button at all, the answer is a person, not a device: VIP Setup, $299 or free for families of serving and fallen soldiers, puts one of us on a call with them for the first recording. And until the pendant ships, a family member holding a phone with the app open does the same job.
Until then
The app is the pendant without the pendant: one large button, every question read aloud. Start there, reserve the pendant, and the archive is the same one.
Questions people ask
How do I set up the MemoriesBox device for my parent?
Charge it, pair it once with the MemoriesBox app on your own phone, put the chain on them, and press the button together once so they hear themselves back. That is the whole setup. From then on they press to record and you collect the recordings by Bluetooth on a visit or by USB-C.
Does my parent need their own account?
No. You can hold the account and the subscription. The recordings are still made only by them, pressing their own button, and the voice is built only from those recordings, only when the account holder asks.
Can I set it up from another country?
Yes. Pair it with your phone's app before you post it; pairing is a one-time introduction. Walk them through the first press on a video call. Recordings wait on the pendant, up to 200 hours, until you are next in the same room or someone plugs it into a computer.
What if my parent cannot manage the button?
Then a person does the job: VIP Setup puts one of us on a call for the first recording, free for families of serving and fallen soldiers. Until the pendant ships, a family member holding a phone with the app open is the same thing.
Related: The device · For a parent who doesn't use a smartphone · How it works · Who gets a key
MemoriesBox is $139 a year, hosted in the EU, first 14 days free, cancel anytime. Start here.