u/TheRealityWitness

Hi everyone,

My post isn't strictly about postcrossing, but it is about postcards and I would love to get your opinion. Sorry if that is a bit off top.

I love sending postcards to friends, family and myself when I'm traveling. However, I’ve always wondered why souvenir postcards are so generic. I always thought it would be amazing to make them more personal - featuring something you actually saw and heard, rather than a stock photo heavily photoshopped by someone else. So, I decided to try and make that happen (not yet fully ready though).

I'm currently working on an app that creates a postcard using a photo you took on your phone and the ambient sounds you captured at that moment. The app embeds a QR code onto the photo, which you can then print out. Most photo booths or printing kiosks have options to print custom photos postcard quality. From there, the rest of the ritual remains exactly the same - you still write your message and the address by hand. That part of the experience is priceless.

I have a couple of questions for the community:

What do you think about mixing a physical postcard with a digital experience? Would you be interested in listening to the real sounds of the place a postcard came from, in addition to reading the card itself?

I will do it in any case even for myself, but if somebody else is interested, then the feedback will be super helpful.

Thanks

Soundary

Answer:

I built Soundary because I wanted to capture life's moments through sound instead of photos or videos. Photos feel flat and don't capture atmosphere. Videos are too heavy for simple moments like rain or ocean waves. Sound is calming, immersive, and lightweight - perfect for ambient journaling.

Every audio journaling app I found was purely technical (dictaphone-style with big red buttons and timers). None offered the ability to create memorable moments or share sounds by location on a map. I found communities of bird watchers, campers, nature lovers and field recorders all capturing sounds but lacking proper tools.

Better:

Unlike other recording apps, like Voice Memos:

- Focusing on nature sounds and field recordings
- Automatic grouping: Sounds recorded within 30 minutes join the same "moment" (no manual organization)
- Postcard generation: Combines audio + photo + location + weather into shareable videos
- Interactive world map: Discover ambient sounds from different locations globally (anonymous public sharing)
- Smart audio quality: Prioritizes wired mic over built-in, completely avoids terrible Bluetooth quality
- Zero tracking: No ads, no account required, no analytics. Just iCloud sync for your private data.

Cost:

Completely free - No ads, no subscriptions, no in-app purchases, no account signup.
Uses your personal iCloud storage for sync (same free tier you already have).

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/soundary/id6779569978

I've published a blog post that covers the whole story - from the initial idea to the implementation details. It breaks down the performance challenges of handling 200+ moments, how I built custom map clustering, how I handled edge cases, and how I kept infrastructure costs at (almost) zero. Read the full story here: https://medium.com/@alex.ivenin/building-soundary-an-ios-audio-journaling-app-from-scratch-61cb9902256b .

I’d love for you to try Soundary and share your thoughts. Any feedback is appreciated - don’t hesitate to reach out!

Privacy Policy: https://github.com/soundary-app/soundary-support/blob/main/PRIVACY_POLICY.md
Terms of Service: https://github.com/soundary-app/soundary-support/blob/main/TERMS_OF_SERVICE.md

Hi everyone,

I recently released an audio-journaling iOS application called Soundary, and I'd love for you to try it and share your thoughts. Any feedback is appreciated - don't hesitate to reach out!

I built it because I wanted to capture life's ambient moments in a way that felt right to me. Photos felt flat. Videos felt heavy. Existing voice recording apps were purely functional tools with no sense of place or memory. I tried to solve that.

The result is a SwiftUI app that records ambient sounds, automatically groups them into "moments" with location and weather data, and generates shareable postcards. It includes an interactive public map for discovering sounds from around the world, full iCloud sync, and a quick-capture widget.

It's completely free, with no ads, no tracking, no subscriptions, and no AI. It's just a tool for capturing the sounds of your life. I don't expect to earn any money from it; I made it simply because I enjoy it.

I've also published a blog post that covers the whole story - from the initial idea to the implementation details. It breaks down the performance challenges of handling 200+ moments, how I built custom map clustering, how I handled edge cases, and how I kept infrastructure costs at (almost) zero.

Read the full story here: https://medium.com/@alex.ivenin/building-soundary-an-ios-audio-journaling-app-from-scratch-61cb9902256b .

It is available now on the App Store for iPhone, iPad, and Mac: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/soundary/id6779569978

I don't expect millions of users - it's a specific niche - but I hope to see moments from other people pop up on the map. If not, I'll happily continue using it myself. Still, any feedback -positive or negative - is highly appreciated and helpful.

Thank you!