Who to keep track of
- Close friends who live far away. The ones where a month between texts turns into a year without anyone deciding it.
- Family you don’t see often. Cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents, and what each of them is up to.
- Friends going through something. A move, a new job, a new baby or a hard stretch, where a check-in matters.
- Old friends you want back. College roommates, former coworkers and neighbors you meant to reconnect with.
What to write down
- What is going on in their life right now, in a line or two
- Something they were looking forward to, so you can ask how it went
- Names of partners, kids and pets, and how you met
- Birthdays and other dates that matter to them
- Anything you promised, with a reminder to follow up
These notes are for you, so be kind in what you write. BlackBook is a private notebook, not a place for anything you wouldn’t want to read later. Keep passwords and other sensitive details out of it.
Texting reminders vs a personal CRM
| Calendar, Reminders and your memory | BlackBook | |
|---|---|---|
| What they told you last time | Scattered across texts and your head | Notes on each person’s own page |
| Birthdays and important dates | Birthdays from Contacts, other dates in separate places | Important dates on each person’s page |
| Follow-up reminders | A repeating event that doesn’t know what you wanted to say | Reminders per person, with notifications |
| Who to reach out to next | Up to you to notice | Pulse suggests who to reach out to next from your notes, history and reminders |
| Account | Depends on the app | No BlackBook account; data on your iPhone and in your own private iCloud |
A simple routine
After a call or visit, add a line about what you talked about and one thing to ask next time, and set a reminder if you promised something. Once a week, open Pulse and send a short message to one or two people you haven’t talked to in a while. A text like “Thinking of you, how did the interview go?” lands much better when you remember the interview. Before a birthday or a visit, read your last note so you pick up where you left off.
The free plan covers 25 people, which is enough to start with your closest friends and family.
More on this: a keep-in-touch reminder app for iPhone, a birthday reminder app for iPhone, how to keep in touch with people, and how to remember birthdays and follow up with friends.
BlackBook facts
- Platform: iPhone, iOS 17.6 or later
- Price: free download; optional BlackBook Pro subscription (prices shown in the app)
- Free plan: 25 people, 2 notes per person, 30 days of interaction history
- Pro: optional subscription with VIP reminders and insights, relationship notes with tags, duplicate detection, BlackBook AI
- AI: on-device via Apple Intelligence (Pro, iOS 26, compatible iPhone)
- Privacy: data lives on your iPhone and in your private iCloud, no account, no ad SDKs, data never sold
- Developer: Preston Earnest / Earnestly Studios LLC
Frequently asked questions
Isn’t a CRM for sales and business?
Many CRMs are, with pipelines and teams. A personal CRM is different: it is one person’s private notebook for relationships. BlackBook has no deals, pipelines or sharing. It keeps notes, history, important dates and reminders for the people in your life.
Who should I add first?
Start with the few people you would feel bad about losing touch with: close friends who live far away, family you don’t see often, and a handful of people you want to be better about reaching out to. The free plan covers 25 people, which is plenty for that list.
What should I write down?
One or two lines after you talk: what is going on in their life (a job search, a move, a sick parent), something they were excited about, and anything you said you would do, like send a photo or call after their appointment. Add a birthday or other important date if you know it.
Will it nag me or feel like work?
You choose which people get reminders and when. A reminder is a nudge to send a text, not a task list for a friendship. Pulse suggests who you haven’t talked to in a while from your notes, history and reminders, and you can ignore it any week.
Is my data private?
BlackBook needs no account. Your people and notes live on your iPhone and in your own private iCloud, not on a BlackBook server. There are no ad SDKs, and your data is never sold.
Is BlackBook free?
BlackBook is free to download with a free plan of 25 people, two notes per person and 30 days of interaction history. BlackBook Pro is an optional subscription: in the US it’s $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year, and the annual plan includes a 1-week free trial. Prices are shown in the app.
What iPhones does it run on?
BlackBook requires iOS 17.6 or later. On iOS 26 with a compatible iPhone, BlackBook Pro adds on-device Apple Intelligence features.
Stay close to the people who matter. Start with 25 people.
BlackBook is free to download for iPhone (iOS 17.6+). Start with 25 people, no account needed.
Get BlackBook – Personal CRM