HereAfter AI Is Shutting Down: How to Preserve and Move Your Family Memories

HereAfter AI says it is shutting down, so families should retrieve their recordings and document what they have before choosing a replacement. Start with the source material: request the life-story recordings, inventory photographs and written memories, create at least two independent copies, and only then rebuild selected stories in a new service. StoryBank can become a new home for organised stories, but it should not be treated as an automatic HereAfter importer or the sole backup.

The shutdown reminds advisers that service continuity is not preservation. A good migration preserves files, context, permissions, and family understanding.

What HereAfter has announced

An archived copy of HereAfter AI's official homepage displays a shutdown notice and directs customers seeking their life-story recordings to contact its support team. Its former product combined a virtual interviewer, recorded memories in the storyteller's actual voice, photographs, and a conversational experience through which relatives could ask about those memories.

Because the notice is current and operational details may change, use HereAfter's own site and direct support communication as the authoritative source. Do not rely on old reviews that still describe new subscriptions or long-term access as if the service were continuing normally.

The migration priority order

Use this order to avoid spending time rebuilding an attractive archive before the irreplaceable files are safe.

Do not wait for a perfect filing system before making the first copy. Retrieval and organisation are separate stages.

Step 1: Request everything available

Contact HereAfter through the route named on its official website and ask what can be supplied. Be precise. Request original or highest-available-quality audio, written transcripts, uploaded photographs, story titles, dates, prompt text, and any available account or access information.

Keep the request and response. Record:

• The account holder's name and email.
• The storyteller represented in the archive.
• The date the export was requested and received.
• The number and type of files delivered.
• Any known omissions or failed downloads.
• Any deadline stated by the provider.

If the storyteller has died or cannot manage the account, do not assume a relative is automatically entitled to every file. Follow the provider's identity and authority process. Professionals should avoid asking a client to share passwords or bypass account controls.

Step 2: Create a preservation copy before editing

When files arrive, copy the complete package without renaming, converting, trimming, or reorganising it. Label this folder as the untouched source export and record the date received. If the delivery includes a compressed archive, retain that archive as well as an extracted working copy.

Put the untouched source package in at least two independent locations—for example, an encrypted local drive and a reputable cloud account controlled by the family. A sync folder alone is not necessarily a backup: accidental deletion or corruption can synchronise too.

StoryBank's own terms make the same broader point: no online service can guarantee permanent, uninterrupted storage, and users should keep copies of important memories and media.

Step 3: Build a simple inventory

An inventory prevents a folder of anonymous audio from becoming a second loss. A spreadsheet is sufficient. Give each item a stable reference and record what is known without guessing.

Recommended columns include:

Keep uncertainty visible. Use “circa 1958” or “date unknown” rather than inventing precision. A useful archive distinguishes remembered information, editorial interpretation, and verified fact.

Step 4: Review consent and family expectations

A HereAfter account may have been created under one set of expectations: perhaps only named relatives would hear the recordings through a private app. Moving a story to a public web page is a new use, even when the words are unchanged.

Before rebuilding, ask:

• Did the narrator agree to recording?
• Who was originally expected to have access?
• Are living third parties discussed in sensitive ways?
• May the written story be shared more widely than the audio?
• Should any topic remain unavailable until a future date?
• Who will make decisions if the narrator cannot be consulted later?

The Oral History Association's ethics guidance treats informed consent, clear communication of potential uses, dignity, privacy, and safety as continuing responsibilities. A private family project may use a simpler process, but it should still respect those principles.

Step 5: Choose the new primary experience

Do not choose a replacement merely because it also uses conversational language. Decide what the family needs now.

Choose an app-based archive when

• Stories should remain separate, searchable entries.
• New memories will continue to be added.
• Photos, dates, people, places, and tags need to stay with each account.
• Different stories need different visibility choices.
• Family members value narration or conversational discovery.

Choose a book-led service when

• A physical memoir is the main deliverable.
• The storyteller responds best to scheduled prompts by email, text, or telephone.
• The project needs a fixed duration and conclusion.
• Relatives want to contribute prompts around one storyteller.

Choose a managed archive or specialist service when

• An institution must retain recordings for the long term.
• Formal rights agreements or restricted access must be enforced.
• Multiple staff need roles, approvals, or audit history.
• Material will be deposited with a library, museum, or research repository.

Consumer apps can be valuable access tools, but they should not be represented as institutional record systems.

Step 6: Rebuild selected memories in StoryBank

StoryBank can hold a structured version of selected HereAfter memories. The migration is manual. That limitation is useful to state clearly because it shapes the project budget and review process.

For each chosen memory:

1. Listen to the source recording and read any existing transcript.
2. Identify one focused story rather than importing a long interview as a single block.
3. Draft a title and readable account without changing the narrator's meaning.
4. Add the date or mark it as approximate in project notes if uncertain.
5. Choose the relevant photograph and retain the original file separately.
6. Add tags for people, place, event, or theme.
7. Keep the StoryBank story private during review.
8. Publish only if the narrator or authorised decision-maker approves that wider access.

StoryBank supports typed and voice-led capture, story images, dates, tags, private/public choices, narration, and Digital Twin memory updates for published stories. It does not claim to preserve the old HereAfter interactive persona, import HereAfter data automatically, or reproduce the exact original voice recording as a source artefact.

Step 7: Treat voice carefully

HereAfter's experience played actual recorded memories in the storyteller's voice. StoryBank can create optional own-voice narration from a consented sample, but only the user may create a clone of their own voice under StoryBank's voice rules. Do not upload a deceased relative's or another living person's recording to create a clone.

Keep these labels distinct in the inventory:

• Original interview audio: the historical source.
• Transcript: a written representation of that source.
• Edited story: a curated reading version.
• Generated narration: synthetic playback of written text.

If hearing the original voice is essential, preserve and deliver those recordings through an appropriate, permissioned method alongside—not replaced by—the new story archive.

A shutdown-resilient standard for the next service

Before committing to any replacement, require answers to these questions:

• Can source recordings and images be downloaded?
• Is there a human-readable export of story text and metadata?
• Can the family maintain an independent catalogue?
• What happens to private and shared links after cancellation?
• Can account ownership be transferred or recovered?
• Is the service clear about third-party processors and generated media?
• What is the family's recurring backup schedule?

For a complete selection framework, use How to Choose a Life Story App.

Conclusion

The responsible response to HereAfter AI's shutdown is to secure the source material first, then rebuild the access experience. Request the recordings, preserve the untouched export, create an inventory, revisit consent, and test a small migration before scaling it.

StoryBank can provide a new, structured home for selected memories without pretending the transition is automatic. Explore StoryBank when the family wants an ongoing archive, and keep the independent files and catalogue that make the legacy resilient if another service changes in future.