Friends & family

Sometimes the closest people
are the hardest to answer.

You know exactly how you feel about it. Putting that into a message that sounds like you — and not like a card — is the part that takes forty minutes.

"I'm fine" is a lie and they will know it.
The true answer is four paragraphs long.
So the message has been sitting unread since Tuesday.

Or just SayThis.

Get SayThis See the words

SayThis writes the draft and puts it in your message box. You read it and you send it.

9:41

MMum

no rush answering this

You've seemed distant lately. Is everything okay?

Message

SAYTHISReady

Take a screenshot

So SayThis can read the conversation

Import latest screenshot

The ones that matter most

Nine messages you want to get right.

Not because anyone is judging the wording. Because these are the people it would actually hurt to get wrong.

Checking on a friend
“I want to ask properly, not in a way they can wave off.”
been a weird few weeks honestly. anyway how are you
Supportive
Someone is upset with you
“They are hurt and I do not want to make it about me.”
you did not even call. I get it, you are busy.
Apologetic
The family group chat
“Twelve messages, three opinions, and everyone is waiting on me.”
BIRTHDAY WEEKEND. £180 each for the airbnb, everyone in?
Warm
Declining plans you cannot face
“I cannot go and I do not want them to think I did not want to.”
still good for Sunday? everyone is asking if you are coming
Warm
Saying something useful when it is bad news
“Everything I type sounds like a sympathy card.”
we got the results back. it is not what we hoped.
Empathetic
Responding to big news
“I am genuinely happy for them and "congrats!" is not enough.”
we are engaged!! 💍
Enthusiastic
Apologising to someone who knows you
“They will see straight through a half-apology.”
I just wish you had told me first, that is all.
Apologetic
Explaining how you actually feel
“I know what I mean. I cannot find the words for it.”
You've seemed distant lately. Is everything okay?
Natural
Reconnecting after too long
“It has been eight months and that is now part of the message.”
Saw this and thought of you. Hope you are well x
Warm

Same message, different tone

Five ways to answer your mum.

The question is gentle and the honest answer is complicated. Every reply below tells the truth — they differ in how much of it they hand over at once.

They said

You've seemed distant lately. Is everything okay?

From a parent, on a Tuesday, after three weeks of short answers. You do not want to lie and you do not want to unload.

Sorry — I have been quieter than usual, and it is not you. Work has been a lot and I have been running on empty. I will ring you properly at the weekend.

Personal and kind.

In the thread

Two of the hardest, answered.

One where there is nothing to fix, and one where the honest answer is no.

When there is nothing you can say

A friend sends news you were both hoping would be different. Silence would be worse than anything, and everything sounds like a card.

EmpatheticUnderstanding, caring, and emotionally aware.

It names what happened, refuses the silver lining, and offers one specific thing. Empathetic is written to show you understood before it does anything else.

9:41

LLeah

we got the results back

it is not what we hoped

Message

SAYTHISReady

2 messages read

Empathetic

Oh Leah, I am so sorry. That is not the news you deserved after all this waiting. I am not going to try and put a shine on it — I am just here. Can I call you tonight?

Insert

Try againKeyboard

The group chat you cannot afford

The birthday weekend, the shared total, and eleven people watching who replies first.

WarmPersonal and kind.

Inserted, not sent. It is in your message box, and you can cut the second half if it is more than you want to say before you press send.

9:41

FFamily 🎉

BIRTHDAY WEEKEND. £180 each for the airbnb

everyone in?

need numbers by tonight!!

This looks so good and I am gutted to miss it — I cannot make the numbers work this month. I will take you out properly when you are back.

SAYTHISReady

Inserted — edit it, then send.

SayThis never sends anything itself.

Back to typing

Replies written for this page, not fixed output — SayThis writes to the conversation in front of it, so the same tone on your thread will read like your thread.

The line that matters

It should not sound like AI. It should sound like you on a good day.

A reply to someone who knows you has a tell: the moment it gets too smooth, they can hear that you did not write it. So the point is not to hand these conversations over. It is to get you past the blank box on the days you cannot find the first sentence.

You bring what you actually mean. SayThis puts words around it in the voice you chose, and then gets out of the way: change a word, cut a line, ask for a shorter one, or ask for another if it is not you at all.

The send button was never going to be ours. SayThis writes the draft and puts it in your message box; you read it and you send it.

Before you ask

What happens to a message this personal.

Are these conversations stored anywhere?

No. Nothing is kept, and there is no setting that keeps it. Most screenshots are read on your phone and never leave it — only the text is sent. An image that does go up is deleted the moment it has been read, and asking for a shorter version sends the conversation again from your phone, because there is no copy here to reuse.

These are not my words to hand over. Is that a problem?

It is the thing to think about before you screenshot, and SayThis says so before it reads anything. Most of what you give it was written by somebody else who agreed to none of this — a screenshot of a group chat includes everyone visible in it. Nothing is ever read in the background, and nothing is read while you type.