Keepster: Saving Memories in a Digital Age

An astounding 23 billion text messages are sent each day worldwide. By the time you've read this, nearly 1 million SMS messages will have been written and sent. Such statistics beg the question: out of those 23 billion...how many of them matter?

How many are worth saving? How many spark a smile or evoke an emotion? How many do you attach meaning to or simply need to retain for practical purposes? Keepster is an innovative app that archives your messages with easy-to-use search functionality that can also turn your messages into creative keepsakes for years to come.

For the LGBTQ community, technology has been at the forefront of our modern-day liberation. Tech Nation recently highlighted many of the positive aspects of digital communication, stating, "It is clear that technology has, in part, played a role in this growing wave of progress. It has the enormous power to affect change. It allows LGBTQ [people] to connect beyond geographic and physical boundaries, and to reduce the feeling of isolation that can so commonly be part of the LGBTQ experience."

Whether it's the barrage of texts when gathering with your friends for your very first Pride event, those initial flirtatious comments after migrating off a dating app, or the important details regarding a call-to-action in our continuing LGBTQ advocacy efforts, messaging has become a modern-day lifeline.

Despite the ubiquitousness of messaging, the capabilities to pick, choose and save important messages were surprisingly inadequate. Screenshots were as good as it got. But now, with Keepster – an app with chat book printing services – the answer is clear: hang on to as many as you'd like. Digitally or tangibly. The choice is yours.

Born from the founder's desire to create a book filled with the texts and photos she'd exchanged with her partner, Keepster is built around the idea that we can and should be able to save and revisit the messages that matter. That means easily creating accessible backups, searching for specific texts effortlessly, organizing messages into folders, or turning texts and photos into printed books.

Once downloaded, a Keepster user can back up their texts across all major messaging platforms directly to their computer. Through a simple sync, messages on a mobile device will be copied as a local backup, appearing just as they would on a phone, with a heavy emphasis on privacy and protection. Keepster backups are password-protected, ensuring all texts stay entirely private.

For some users, the simple reassurance that their messages will forever remain secure on their desktop, regardless of what happens to their physical phone, is more than enough reason to click DOWNLOAD. Among some of the most popular features of the app is Keepster's native, smart search function.

What was the name of that restaurant with killer branzino on the Upper West Side?
Who was it from work that texted over the client meeting notes?
What day was it that he said "I love you" for the first time?

Type a word, phrase, or date into the desktop search bar and watch as Keepster effortlessly filters through your thousands of texts. The result? The ability to relive a meaningful moment by way of message or simply find those notes, that date, and that branzino.

Beyond saving and searching, any message folder can be turned into a high-quality printed book. Looking for a bleak wintry day project or a gift for the love of your life you met online? Keepster books are made for the sentimental, providing the opportunity (and technology) to create a tangible, customizable messaging memento, up to 800 pages. The everyday correspondences that keep our romances, friendships and family chats alive and well in the digital age turned into books, breathing new life back into Valentine's Day, anniversary cards or birthday gifts. Think new-generation picture albums, made more dynamic with emojis and words.

When asked where the inspiration for Keepster came from, founder and CEO Jennifer Simchowitz was clear. "Our texts have turned into our modern-day love letters...we send and receive endlessly, weaving this invisible thread of communication that at the end of the day...we'll want the ability to keep close, in some way or another. Whether for personal, professional or simply just because. If you provide people the opportunity to recognize that their texts matter and the technology to do more with them, I believe you're looking at the future of texting, digital organization, and gift-giving."

Texting feels ephemeral, instantaneous, and fleeting, but in reality, this daily digital habit has permanence: hardwired into our communication and crucial for maintaining relationships. Our texts hold power, purpose and meaning to varying degrees. With Keepster, we now have the technology and app to explore exactly what that means.