Serial & Story
A record of what you own, made before you need it — encrypted on the phone with AES-256 before anything is stored, and exported for an insurer or a police report.
The app itself
Screens from the build submitted to Apple.
Encrypted before it is written down, not after
Every sensitive field is encrypted on the phone with AES-256-GCM before it reaches storage at all — descriptions, serial numbers, values, dates and photographs. What gets stored is ciphertext. Because the encryption happens first, the synced copy is unreadable to Apple, to the studio, and to anyone who obtains it.
What it does
Records the facts that help
After a theft or a fire, a claim turns on specifics: the serial number, what was paid, and photographs taken while the thing still existed. Each entry holds those, with the receipt, distinguishing marks, and where the item was kept.
Reads the receipt for you
Photograph a receipt or a serial plate and the app reads it on the phone, offering the values it found so you can correct them rather than type them. The image is never sent anywhere to be read.
Exports a document, not a spreadsheet
One tap produces a PDF laid out for an insurance claim or a police theft report, photographs included. It also watches warranty dates and reminds you once, on the phone, before one runs out.
What it stores, and where
- Every sensitive field
- Encrypted on the phone with AES-256-GCM before it is written to storage at all. What is stored is ciphertext, not text.
- Sync
- Part of Serial & Story+, through your own private iCloud; without a subscription the app stores everything on the one device. Because encryption happens first, what iCloud holds is unreadable to Apple, to the studio, and to anyone who obtains a copy.
- Accounts
- None. No sign-up, no password, no profile — the key stays with your own devices.
- Sharing
- Not in version 1.0. Sharing a bundle with another person is turned off in the shipping build, and returns in a later version. Nothing is public and nothing is discoverable.
- What the studio can see
- Nothing about your belongings. No analytics SDK ships in the app, and crash diagnostics stay on your phone.
Serial & Story is not on the App Store yet. Version 1.0 is finished and not yet released; this page will say so until it ships.
What it costs
- Household
- Free, with no item limit and no time limit — adding, viewing, editing and exporting items in that bundle costs nothing, ever.
- Serial & Story+
- An optional subscription that unlocks the Equipment, Vehicles, Collectibles & Jewelry and Firearms bundles, encrypted iCloud sync across your own devices, Digital Legacy tools, and one combined report across bundles.
- Price and term
- $3.99 a month or $39.99 a year in the United States, auto-renewing until cancelled. Other territories are priced in local currency by Apple. Family Sharing is on.
- Billing
- Apple bills the subscription through your Apple Account; the studio never sees a card number. Cancel any time in the Settings app, under your name, then Subscriptions.
- Your own data
- Viewing and exporting items you have already added never requires an active subscription, in any bundle, and CSV export is always free.
Full details in the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy.
Questions
What is Serial & Story?
Serial & Story is an iPhone app for recording what you own before you need to prove it — serial numbers, values, receipts and photographs — and exporting that record for an insurance claim or a police report.
Is Serial & Story on the App Store?
Not yet. Version 1.0 is finished and not yet released. It is made by Anchorwright LLC, a one-person software studio in Bryan/College Station, Texas.
What does Serial & Story cost?
The Household bundle is free, with no item limit and no time limit. Serial & Story+ is an optional auto-renewing subscription — $3.99 a month or $39.99 a year in the US — that unlocks the Equipment, Vehicles, Collectibles & Jewelry and Firearms bundles, encrypted iCloud sync across your own devices, Digital Legacy tools, and combined reports across bundles. Apple bills it; cancel any time in the Settings app.
Is my inventory encrypted?
Yes. Every sensitive field is encrypted on the phone with AES-256-GCM before it is written to storage at all — descriptions, serial numbers, values, dates and photographs. What is stored is ciphertext, not text.
Can Anchorwright see what I own?
No. Because encryption happens before storage and before sync, the data is unreadable to Anchorwright, to Apple, and to anyone who obtains a copy of the synced file. No analytics SDK ships in the app.
Does it require an account?
No. There is no sign-up, no password and no profile. The encryption key stays with your own devices.
Does it read receipts automatically?
Yes, and it does so on the device. Photograph a receipt or a serial plate and the app reads it locally with Apple’s own frameworks, then offers the values for you to correct. The image is never uploaded.
Know when Serial & Story ships
One email when it reaches the App Store — nothing else. Questions about how it works get a real answer at the same address.