What it is
Story is the timeline of your relationship in Phorb. Every emotion, note, need, doodle and Daily Sync answer the two of you share lands on its day, and Story lays those days out on a calendar. You don't write anything extra. The timeline fills in as you use the app.
How it works in Phorb
- Open the Story tab. You see a month calendar.
- Each day takes the color of the emotions logged that day. If you pinned a doodle to a day, the doodle shows in its square.
- Tap any date to open it. You see that day as it was: both partners' emotions, notes, needs, the pinned doodle and your Daily Sync answers.
- Scroll back to the first month. A marker shows the day your story began.
- Tap Open stats on a month. Stats show the distribution of emotions for you, your partner or both of you, how your emotions as a couple moved through the week, and how many notes each of you wrote.
- Under the calendar, a countdown shows your next milestone, like a month or year anniversary. Tap it to edit your anniversary date.
The Events button and the Add date button also live in the Story tab, so your past and your plans sit side by side.
Why it helps
Couples forget the ordinary days first. You remember the trip and the wedding. You don't remember that the second week of March was rough for both of you, or that you sent each other three songs on one Thursday. Story keeps those days, so you can look back at them together.
How you talk about your shared past matters. In a 1992 study, Dr. John Gottman and colleagues interviewed 52 married couples about the history of their relationship. From how couples told that story, the researchers predicted with over 94% accuracy which couples would still be together three years later (The Research: Predicting Divorce from an Oral History Interview). Couples who stayed together showed fondness and a sense of "we-ness" when they looked back.
How you tell your story is up to the two of you. Story gives you more of the good days to draw on, in your own words and drawings.
Ideas to try
- Monthly look-back. On the first of each month, open last month together. Pick one good day and talk about what made it good.
- Spot a pattern. If Sundays keep turning gray, open stats and look at the week. Maybe Sunday evenings need a plan.
- Long distance. Before a visit, scroll back to the last time you were together and read what you both wrote that week.
- After a disagreement. Open a calm day from last month. Reading your own warm notes can make it easier to start again.
- Anniversaries. Check the milestone countdown, then scroll back to your first month in Phorb on the day itself.
