The best app for keeping the funny things your kids say
If you’re looking for an app for this, you’ve probably already tried a few things. There’s a note on your phone called “Funny things Mia said” with eleven lines in it and a grocery list halfway down. There are voice memos you never named. There are texts to your sister that you’d have to scroll back two years to find. And there’s the nagging feeling that the best ones never got written down at all.
The short answer: Wamemba me is an app just for this, launching soon on iPhone and Android. One press from the Lock Screen, the Action button or Back Tap (or a quick tile on Android), repeat what your little one just said or type it, and it keeps their exact words with the date and their exact age, a whole conversation if it was one, and their voice when they say it again. Share a saying by link in WhatsApp or Messages, and Grandma reads it in her browser with no app. You can download every saying any time. If you’d like to see it next to Cuote, Qeepsake, Kiddings, Keeps and Little Hoots, here’s our side-by-side of kids’ quote apps.
You don’t need convincing that these words are worth keeping. You need something that makes it easy enough to do every time. Here’s what to look for, and an honest look at the options.
What a good app for kids’ quotes should do
Before you download anything, it helps to know what actually matters for this one job.
- It’s quick, one-handed. The funny line comes out in the car, at bath time, with a toddler on your hip. If saving it takes more than a few seconds, you’ll do it twice and then stop.
- It keeps their exact words. “I goed” stays “I goed”. The mistakes are the best part.
- It adds the date and their age for you. “3 years 7 months” means far more in ten years than “Tuesday”. Nobody wants to do that math later, for every child.
- It handles a conversation. Some of the best ones are a back-and-forth, or two siblings at once. You want to keep who said what.
- It keeps the moment. “In the car on the way to Grandma’s” is often the whole joke.
- It’s easy to share. Grandma wants to see it today, not when you finally make a photo book.
- Your family’s words stay yours. You can take a copy any time, you keep them if you stop paying, there are no ads, and nobody uses them to train AI.
The honest options
| With you when they say it | Adds their age | Keeps a conversation | Easy to find in a year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notes app | Yes | No | Sort of | No |
| Voice memos | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Photo apps | Yes | No | No | Sort of |
| Baby journal apps | Yes | Sometimes | No | Yes |
| Paper quote book | No | No | Sort of | Yes |
| Wamemba me | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Your phone’s notes app
Free, already there and fast. For a lot of parents it’s where this starts. The trouble comes later: no ages, no dates unless you type them, and the sayings end up mixed in with passwords and packing lists. If you stick with it, keep one pinned note just for sayings and add the date and their age every time.
Voice memos
The best way to keep how they sounded, the little lisp and the pause for effect. The worst way to find anything again. Recordings pile up as “New Recording 63”.
Photo and family-sharing apps
Wonderful for pictures, and some let you add a caption. But a saying needs a photo to live under, so the words get buried under the pictures, and it’s hard to see all the funny things one child said this year in one place.
Baby journal and milestone apps
Lovely for the big picture: first steps, first tooth, monthly photos, gentle prompts. Sayings are one small part of what they do, so saving a single line from the back seat can take more taps than you have in the moment.
A paper quote book
A beautiful thing to hand your child one day, in your handwriting. It just isn’t in the car with you, you have to work out their age by hand, and if there’s only one copy, there’s only one copy. (We compared a paper quote journal and an app in more detail.)
An app made just for sayings
This is the gap we made Wamemba me for. One press from the Lock Screen, the Action button or Back Tap, or a quick tile on Android, without opening the app, then repeat what your little one just said, or type it. Your words turn into text on your phone. Then tap who said each line (one saying or a whole conversation, even all three siblings), add what was happening if you want to, and that’s it. It’s saved with the date and their exact age, and when they say it again, you can keep their voice too.
From there, share it and the family gets a link in WhatsApp or Messages that opens in the browser, in big, easy words, with no app or login needed. Or send it as a card, or save it to Photos. You can download every saying whenever you like. If you stop paying, you can still read and download everything. And there are no ads, and we never train AI on your family’s words.
Questions to ask before you choose any app
Whichever way you go, these four questions are worth asking:
- How many taps from “she just said something” to “saved”? Try it with one hand.
- Can I get my sayings out? Look for a download of everything, not just a share button.
- What happens if I stop paying? You should still be able to read and keep what you saved.
- Does it show ads or use my family’s words to train AI? It’s worth checking the privacy promises.
The best one is the one you’ll actually open in the car.
FAQ
What’s the best app to record the funny things my kids say?
Look for one that’s quick to use one-handed, keeps their exact words, adds the date and their age for you, and lets you download everything. Wamemba me, launching soon, is made for exactly this: one press, repeat what they said, and it’s saved with the date and their exact age.
Can I just use the notes app on my phone?
You can, and it’s a fine start. Keep one pinned note just for sayings and add the date and their age each time. Most parents find it gets messy and hard to search after a year or so.
What should a kids’ quotes app do?
Save a saying in seconds, keep the exact words and the moment around them, work out the child’s age, handle conversations between siblings, and make it easy to share with family and to download everything.
What happens to my sayings if I stop paying for Wamemba me?
You can still read and download every saying. Your family’s words stay yours.