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Show HN: A journaling service that runs over WhatsApp

todayhasbeen.com

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Show HN: A journaling service that runs over WhatsApp

#1

Post by rahulg »

Hey Hacker News,

I’m excited to share a tiny service that’s very close to my heart - Today Has Been.

Here’s how it works: We have a phone number that has WhatsApp Business API enabled. Your messages sent to this number (after you activate your free trial) are added to your journal. It’s a super light weight journaling service - no app download or registration is required.

We also send you a daily nudge asking “How did your day go?” and after you have a few posts we send you a random blast from the past.

Why I built it: I was an active user and fan of Ohlife - only journalling app that could make me write 100s of entries. So, when it shut down it left a hole in my life too (just like it did for Paul G - https://x.com/paulg/status/1216714155731890176). :)

“Today Has Been” is Ohlife on WhatsApp.

I’d love to hear your feedback and ideas. Please visit http://todayhasbeen.com and tap on Get Started. (Note: Works on WhatsApp only)

Also, if you have questions on using WhatsApp as a platform, I’m happy to chat.

Thank you!

Show HN: A journaling service that runs over WhatsApp
todayhasbeen.com

Re: Show HN: A journaling service that runs over WhatsApp

#4

Post by loremm »

Just because I'm interested in personal bots, doesn't whatsapp business have a (nominal, maybe) cost? I've been using telegram and they're amazingly bot friendly + free but I use whatsapp so much more

Does it feel like it works for small (and personal-use) players with buttons, callbacks, and the rest

Re: Show HN: A journaling service that runs over WhatsApp

#6

Post by rahulg »

loremm wrote: post #4

Just because I'm interested in personal bots, doesn't whatsapp business have a (nominal, maybe) cost? I've been using telegram and they're amazingly bot friendly + free but I use whatsapp so much more Does it feel like it works for small (and personal-use) players with buttons, callbacks, and the rest

You're right. WhatsApp Business API has a cost (which varies depending on country and type of message the Business initiates). I'm hoping to recover the cost through monthly subscriptions.

Re: Show HN: A journaling service that runs over WhatsApp

#8

Post by loremm »

rahulg wrote: post #6
loremm wrote: post #4

Just because I'm interested in personal bots, doesn't whatsapp business have a (nominal, maybe) cost? I've been using telegram and they're amazingly bot friendly + free but I use whatsapp so much more Does it feel like it works for small (and personal-use) players with buttons, callbacks, and the rest

You're right. WhatsApp Business API has a cost (which varies depending on country and type of message the Business initiates). I'm hoping to recover the cost through monthly subscriptions.

Huh yeah that's good to hear. As a small note, on my personal bot I set up a simple journaling (and then just used google sheets as the backend!) includes a nominal 'rating' 1-10 so I can see how my mood fluctuates.

Especially if they do it every day/most days, having the option to see what you wrote "on this day" 2-3 years back is great. Especially when I try to include people's names who I was interacting with (but who are easy to forget 3 years later). It can be a nice reminder to text them and say you were "just randomly", unprompted, thinking about them -- 'How's it going?'

Re: Show HN: A journaling service that runs over WhatsApp

#9

Post by loremm »

rahulg wrote: post #6
loremm wrote: post #4

Just because I'm interested in personal bots, doesn't whatsapp business have a (nominal, maybe) cost? I've been using telegram and they're amazingly bot friendly + free but I use whatsapp so much more Does it feel like it works for small (and personal-use) players with buttons, callbacks, and the rest

You're right. WhatsApp Business API has a cost (which varies depending on country and type of message the Business initiates). I'm hoping to recover the cost through monthly subscriptions.

And I think you can do more about E2E encrypting it. Or at least trying to. At some point, people don't want plaintext journals floating around stored permanently. Although I know it starts as cleartext on whatsapp's servers

Re: Show HN: A journaling service that runs over WhatsApp

#10

Post by meiraleal »

loremm wrote: post #4

Just because I'm interested in personal bots, doesn't whatsapp business have a (nominal, maybe) cost? I've been using telegram and they're amazingly bot friendly + free but I use whatsapp so much more Does it feel like it works for small (and personal-use) players with buttons, callbacks, and the rest

Yes it is paid but there are good unofficial APIs (better than the official actually). The problem as you would expect is that they aren't highly reliable and losing messages is common.
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