Building Happiness

A collection of stories, stumbles, and successes from building an app that attempts to actually make you a happier person.

Video + Android

Video Memories on Android

To celebrate the equinox, and the spirit of all things equal, we’re launching video uploading support for Happyfeed on Android.

11 Years of Digital Journaling text in cursive

11 Years of Digital Journaling

Reflections on spending more than a decade building a digital journaling app focused on gratitude.

Hold On app icon

Hold On - Apple Vision Pro Timer

Launching a new app built for the Apple Vision Pro designed to help you spend time mindfully with simple timers.

iPhone screens with photo widget on purple gradient background

Throwbacks: iPhone Photo Widget

Bring daily gratitude to your iPhone home screen with the new throwback pic widget with interactive day toggling.

iPhone screen showing Happyfeed weekly photo tiles

Weekly Photo Tracker

Keep track of your journaling goals with weekly summaries displaying picture tiles. Zoom out on your life… but just a little.

iPhone screen showing Pods 3.0 feed

Pods 3.0: Private Social Network

Introducing a redesigned group sharing experience and improvements to how you connect with your close friends through memories.

Artboard

Product Updates: March 2023

Major updates to the performance and usability of videos on iOS as well as an assortment of little fixes and features on both apps based on your feedback.

Frozen mountains with text February 2023

Product Updates: February 2023

February was photos month: Read about significant improvements to photos & video on iOS, Android and even Web. Plus, what’s next for Pods and sharing.

Man holding an iPhone showing the Happyfeed movie maker

Monthly Recap Movies

Generate mashup movies from your journal photos and videos at the end of every month, available on iOS only

Colored clapperboard in a desert scene

Clips: Add Video to Your Memories

Create and share your life movie with by adding videos to your daily journal entries. Clips bring a new dimension to journaling.

September 2022

Product Updates: September 2022

Improving cross-platform subscription support, building new promotional options, and adding small enhancements to group sharing in Pods.

Photo of an open field with the text "August 2022"

Product Updates: August 2022

Exploring photo-only memories, focusing on improving performance for group sharing, and fixing bugs caused by larger groups with direct followers.

July 2022 text over ocean view

Product Updates: July 2022

Adding user profiles, following, and major optimizations to Android as well as photo updates and experiments on iOS

Spring 2022 text over photo of winding road

Product Updates: Spring 2022

Moving quickly and releasing all sorts of wonderful journal features including commenting in Pods and Android subscriptions

Journaling with Friends

Follow Friends & Share Comments

Growing beyond group sharing to provide a meaningful social experience that fits all kinds of relationships and friendships.

Purple hue photo with camera and Google icon with Happyfeed logo

Announcing Android Subscriptions

Try our monthly or annual subscription to access new features like the calendar and get more out of your daily journaling app.

Winter 2022 Cover

Product Updates: Winter 2022

We've been busy all January, February, and March building and launching features such as following and broadcasting on Happyfeed for iOS.

December 2021 text over photo of latte and paper snowflake

Product Updates: December 2021

Improving our updates to photo storage, intelligent streak repair, and encouraging more activity in your Random Pods.

Various images of people taking photos on their phones

Private Instagram Alternative

How a group photo sharing app based on journaling can be used as a private social network

November 2021 text over a photo of cherry pie

Product Updates: November 2021

Smarter photo storage, daily goals on Android, an Apple Watch app, and some smarter ways to handle content in Random Pods. November was busy!

cover-image

Apple Watch Journal

Explore your happy memories with the new Happyfeed Apple Watch app. Shuffle through your Happiness Jar or tag the current day before reflecting more in-depth.

cover-october-2021

Product Updates: October 2021

Focusing on the fundamentals by improving the photo experience in Happyfeed and ensuring the app looks great on any device.

cover-image

Product Updates: September 2021

An overview of updates made to our apps over the past month, including new layouts options and a mood picker

Hero image

Spread Happiness with Share Links

Create a secret URL for your memories on Happyfeed to make them easier to share with friends and other social platforms like Facebook or Twitter.

toxic-positivity-emojis

What is Toxic Positivity?

Learn how our never-ending search for happiness and a "good vibes only" culture can be harmful, and explore ways to seek out healthy positivity.

Joy Recaps illustration

Monthly Joy Recaps

Introducing a way to create a snapshot of your memories from past months in the Happyfeed app.

Dark Mode Hero

Dark Mode Journaling

Introducing full support for iOS Dark Mode to make it easier to journal in the evening and reduce the strain on your eyes.

pods-hero-2

Pods: Shared Gratitude

Reintroducing Pods as a new way to share your journaling progress and happy moments with friends

Pods Hero Image

Pods: Journaling Together

Small, private groups to share progress and help build your journaling habit.

spots-hero

Spots & Location Updates

A new way to update and manage the locations of your memories in Happyfeed with unique Spots.

journal-exports-hero

Journal Exports

Finally, an option to download your journal and truly make it yours.

feeling-thankful-hero

Feeling Thankful

A new way to spread gratitude by sending thanks to your friends.

offline-mode-hero

Offline Mode

Reworking our app so you can use it anywhere, really.

happiness-jar-hero

Happiness Jar

Introducing a novel way to explore your past memories and spark a little joy everyday.

hero-1

Introducing Happyfeed 2.0

One of our biggest updates and redesigns since launching in 2013

hero-image-2

Breaking the Streak

Why we stopped counting days in a row and started focusing on the big picture.