Recently we had an opportunity to speak with Felice Bernard, the Founder at TimeSpring, Inc about TimeSpring: Share Tomorrow

Please share with us the backstory of what motivated you to create this app.

When I became a parent, like most parents, I took the immense, and at times, daunting responsibility of raising a child to heart. My husband and I felt a need to share our experiences, our failures, and our triumphs with our children, but, naturally, they're too young to appreciate or understand what we wanted to share with them, so we decided to write them letters to be opened at a specific age or time. I realized that I wasn't alone in wanting to share with children in this manner or in another timeframe. Many parents today write their children letters the old-fashioned way or create e-mail accounts for them for this same purpose, and so, TimeSpring was born. I quit my job as a high school English and mythology teacher, and I pursed this venture, and it's been an incredible journey thus far.

What features do you hope to roll out to your app in the future?

Coming this month, our next update, version 1.1.4, will include our new multi-person send and send-to-self feature: which allows a person to send one TimeSpring message to multiple people. For instance, if a parent wants to share one memory with all of their children, they would be able to do so. Thanks to our users asking for this feature specifically, we're happy to present it to them. We're also proud to announce that our send-to-self feature is also included in this update, which enable a user to easily send a message to themselves whether it be sending motivational weight loss pictures, to New Year's Resolutions, to the introspectives who'd enjoy sending their goals and ambitions to their future selves.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of the creation of this app?

The most rewarding aspect of creating this app, by far, has been the stories of our users: I have a woman, who unfortunately has a terminal illness and very little time left. Her family knows it, her friends have accepted it, everyone except her children are aware of her terminal diagnosis. With TimeSpring she has been able to schedule messages to her daughters, so that she can continue to be a part of their lives. And of course, I enjoy hearing the light-hearted stories too: One father who has been taking video of his two-year old son throwing temper tantrums and has been sending these videos to his son to be received when he's a teenager with the subject: "See what you put me through?" I wish that my parents had this technology for me and my siblings, so we could receive messages of all the crazy and cute things that we did growing up.

What is the coolest or most innovative feature of your app?

Perhaps the most innovative or mind-blowing aspect of TimeSpring is that we took one of the most archaic and universal traditions of mankind—the want and need of passing on stories, wisdom, and family memories, and made it easy and manageable for someone who's living in 2018. With this technology, we've actually found a way to defy time and even death. With time-released messaging generational sharing is possible. When my children are in their thirties, they will have messages from their parents, grandparents, and loved ones waiting to be unlocked for every birthday and milestone, whether we are still here or departed. Upon delivery of these messages they will know us and experience how we were in a completely new light.

Do you have any recommendations or advice for others wanting to create a mobile app?

You know, it's ironic that I left a profession where I used to teach the themes that are at the center of American culture—struggles, dreams, and the pursuit. In this field it seems like we deal with a lot of these same ideas. Technology is truly amazing. At every point in the steps to making this app I thought someone would say, “Wait, that's not possible", and it would be over, but each time I'm continually surprised by what is possible. So I would say, don't be afraid to just go for it. Thank you Best Mobile App Awards for giving us this spotlight the great opportunity is not lost on us.

How did you decide which platforms to release your app on and do you plan on releasing your app to other platforms?

I had always known that I wanted to launch in Apple and GooglePlay stores to make TimeSpring accessible to a large audience of app users. I would like to bring TimeSpring to a web-based platform so people can access and manage their TimeSpring accounts for the many people who have years worth of photos and video stored on their desktops and old hard drives and would like an easy way to send this media forward.

How is your app different than the rest of the market? Which unique need does it fill?

In 2018, the sharing landscape is vast: big players like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat have cornered the market on sharing digitally in the present time. Sharing in the present has it's place, but we believe at TimeSpring that some memories, photos, and video deserve to be saved and cherished for a very long time and for other generations. We believe in generational sharing that connects parents, grandparents, children, friends, and even babies through the pictures and stories that we share.

Without TimeSpring, there is no easy method of sharing at a future date, and the rate at which we are capturing and sharing our media is not conducive for saving long-term and for the next generation to enjoy. By sending a message forward we are not only ensuring that it lives on, but also our memories and message appreciate over time.

What surprised you most in your journey to create this app?

What surprised me the most is the myriad of ways people have been using TimeSpring.

Parents are sending their children messages and finding new ways to connect with children. Grandparents are sending both their adult children and younger grandchildren messages so they can stay connected beyond their lifetime. Couples are sending birthday and anniversary messages. Friends are, funny enough, sending inside jokes and video years into the future. Dieters and their fitness coaches are tracking their weight loss journeys. Teenagers are sending their life's goals and ambitions to their future selves. All of us are somehow leaving a legacy. The uses of a TimeSpring message abounds.

Which other mobile apps or technology have inspired you?

I always get inspired when I hear stories of apps like TBH who gained the traction that can lead to Facebook knocking on your door, which is like the proverbial Holy Grail in the app world, but still very inspiring. On a separate note, I find what Ancersrty.com and 23 and Me are doing for families in terms of genealogy and historical legacy to be very interesting, and would love to incorporate some aspect of a family lineage or the makings of a family tree to TimeSpring.

You can view TimeSpring: Share Tomorrow here