Skip to content

Start your family

Start your familyFree. Invite only. Already have a code? Start here too.

Time Capsules

Seal it today. Open it someday.

Write a letter, add a photo or your voice, choose who it is for and the day it opens. Until then it stays sealed. Not even you can peek.

Start your family See how it works

Time capsules: For our twentieth in 1,780 days, Open when you get your license, The Hartwells ten years on, and For your wedding day.

Time capsules: For our twentieth in 1,780 days, Open when you get your license, The Hartwells ten years on, and For your wedding day.

Features / Time Capsules

How it works

Time Capsules, step by step.

Open Capsules in the bar. Your sealed capsules are listed with the days left until each opens.
Tap the plus to seal a new one. Give it a title and write the letter.
Add a photo or a recording if you like, then choose who it is for: everyone, one person, or a name for someone not born yet.
Choose when it opens, in 1, 5, 10 or 18 years or on any day you pick, and tap Seal it.

A time capsule: the title, the letter, an attachment, who it is for, and when it opens, in 1, 5, 10 or 18 years.

A time capsule: the title, the letter, an attachment, who it is for, and when it opens, in 1, 5, 10 or 18 years.

What you see

The details that make it work.

Each capsule shows who it is from, who it is for, and the day it opens.
What is inside stays hidden from everyone, the writer included, until the day.
It opens on that day where the writer lives, so a birthday letter never arrives a day early.
A sealed capsule also appears on the family calendar on its day.

Why it matters

Made for a family, not a feed of strangers.

For a birthday that is years away

A letter for an 18th birthday, a wedding day, or a grandchild who has not been born yet.

Photos and voice inside

Add a picture or record your voice along with the words.

Sealed means sealed

The family sees that a capsule is waiting and when it opens. What is inside stays hidden until the day.

It opens on the right day

The day you choose is the day it opens, where the writer lives, so a birthday letter never arrives a day early.

Questions

About Time Capsules.

Can I write to someone who is not on Porchlight yet?

Yes. Address it by name and it waits for them.

Can I open it early?

No. That is the whole idea.

Keep exploring

More of Porchlight.

Next: Shared Calendar

The Porch

Your family at a glance: what is coming up, what is waiting, who has been posting.

Family Feed

Photos, stories and voice notes from everyone, in one gentle stream.

The Flash

Once a week, one surprise question goes to everyone at once.

Share Something

This week’s question for everyone, with every answer gathered together.

Give your family a home.

Free, invite only, and on the web today. The iPhone app is in testing.

Start your family Every feature