Find current Inks help for writing, reading and replay, sharing and export, styling, accounts and plans, privacy, backups, and data safety.
Tap Compose to enter Quick Write and get the words down first. Touch and hold it to enter the full flow: choose stationery, write, then add pauses, an envelope, opening effects, atmosphere, and music. On first use, complete the full flow once by touching and holding Compose. Both entry points are available afterward.
Use quick writing when you want to get the words down first. Use the full writing flow when you want a completed letter with stationery, pauses, an envelope, effects, and music. Both paths can produce a completed letter.
Tap Inspiration in the editor toolbar to see recommendations or browse all prompts. Selecting one adds an expandable inspiration bar above the editor; it never inserts text into your letter automatically. On first use, you can choose the life situations that feel relevant or continue with universal prompts, then change this anytime in Settings > Inspiration.
No. A letter begins as something that belongs to you. Write for yourself or decide later whether to share it with someone. Finishing a letter saves it locally; it is never sent unless you initiate sharing.
You can keep adding content pages. In the editor, swipe horizontally from the left or right edge of the paper to write on the back as a postscript. In page overview, swipe a page card left or right to edit its postscript. Page turning and postscript flipping are separate gestures.
In the current version, sharing mainly uses a .mbx letter file. Send the file to the recipient, and they can import it into Inks to view the text, playback, postscript, and related effects. It works like sending a complete letter file, not a normal image link.
A .mbx file is for complete delivery: it can be imported back into Inks and preserves text, playback, postscript, and effects as much as possible. Letters without access protection can also be exported as images, PDF, video, or Live Photo. Images and PDF are for static saving or quick sharing; video and Live Photo are playable clips but cannot be imported as letters again. To prevent protection from being bypassed, a letter protected by a password, security question, time, location, page, or selected-area rule can currently be exported only as .mbx.
Inks preserves not only the finished words but also how they came together. A letter opens on its final content; pauses, deletions, and rewrites appear only when you actively start Replay.
On the Pauses step of the full writing flow, expand a detected pause and choose a built-in label such as Taking a Call, Replying to a Message, Watching the Road, or Picking Up Food. You can also write your own note. Built-in labels are available on Free; custom text requires Lifetime, Inks Pass, or an available trial use. Built-in labels follow the app language when viewed, while custom text keeps exactly what you wrote.
Everyday reading should begin with what the letter says. Both your own and imported letters open on the finished content, with no required first playback. Start Replay on the current page whenever you want to revisit the writing process.
Swipe up or down to move between body pages. Swipe horizontally from the left or right paper edge to flip to the back for a postscript. A newly opened page shows its finished content first; replay is optional.
No. An interrupted position is kept only during the current viewing session. Reopening the letter returns to the finished content first, and the next replay starts from the beginning.
If the match is protected by a letter, page, or region rule, you must satisfy the currently valid access conditions first. A previous unlock does not make protected content permanently accessible.
Long-press a letter in the list to quickly share, favorite, hide, delete, or view details. Some letters may also show actions such as Reply or Configure Access.
A follow-up note is a present-day annotation added from the letter’s detail view. It joins the timeline with its own timestamp without replacing the letter or an earlier follow-up note.
A follow-up note records what you left at that moment. Inks lets the timeline grow by adding a new note instead of rewriting an expression that already happened.
Deleting a letter is permanent, not just removing it from a list. Inks keeps a small confirmation step so you can make the decision deliberately.
Open the top-right menu on the letter list and choose Timeline Mode or Chat Mode under Display Mode. Timeline Mode is better for reviewing all records; Chat Mode groups letters by contact.
No. A single segment of the original writing timeline cannot be deleted. Pauses, revisions, and rewrites are saved as part of the expression. Video or Live Photo export can use a selected playback range, but it does not change the original letter.
Long-press a paper style on the stationery selection page and choose Customize. Font size and the horizontal and vertical guide toggles are available on Free; page margins, text color, and horizontal guide settings require Lifetime or Inks Pass. Paper edges support Overlay or Cutout mode and intensity adjustment, while the edge resources you can use depend on your current access. Previewing and adjusting do not rewrite existing letters; saving checks the premium resources and advanced fields changed in this customization.
In the full writing flow, go to Envelope Appearance > Stamps, touch and hold an available stamp, then choose Customize. Everyone can choose Square, Portrait, or Landscape and adjust the crop by dragging or pinching. Lifetime and Inks Pass also unlock border width, texture presets, paper grain, ink density variation, paper warmth, and print fading. Uploading personal images is an Inks Pass feature; Free and Lifetime users can also try it while they have an upload trial available. Official stamp names stay unchanged, while stamps you upload can be renamed.
No. The stamp image is stored separately from its shape, crop, border, and texture settings; perforations, borders, and surface texture are generated when the stamp is displayed. Updating a library stamp only changes the default used the next time you place that resource. It does not rewrite stamps already placed, existing stamps in the current draft, or previously exported .mbx letters. A finished .mbx continues to display the appearance saved when it was sealed.
Yes. Some ambient effects support long-press customization, such as density, color bias, or motion style. Background music can be changed in the Music section of the Effects page.
Touching and holding a resource opens its own action menu. Paper styles and stamps usually support Favorite and Customize; stickers and fonts usually support Favorite; some effects and music may also support customization. Stamps you uploaded can also be deleted here. Favorites, advanced adjustments, and premium resource use are checked against your current access.
Statistics shows overview data, writing habits, interaction rankings, and graph views. You can switch time ranges, and data is generated as you create or import letters.
It usually means the selected time range has no letter records that can form a graph. Try another time range, or check again after creating or importing more letters.
Basic statistics are available directly. Contact graphs, letter graphs, saved graph settings, and some sharing customizations belong to Advanced Statistics. Before unlock, they may show sample data or temporary previews only.
After import, Inks can check for reusable music, sound effects, and special fonts. Saving them to your private resource library requires an active Inks Pass. Declining does not affect reading or replaying the original .mbx letter.
Write to yourself or to someone else. Use it as a private journal, a record of everyday life, or a place for something you may want to read again. The letter is saved locally first, and sharing is your choice.
The complete Inks experience is currently available on iOS; there is no Android or web app yet. An .mbx file keeps the letter body, writing process, attachments, and resources needed for reading together in one file. If Inks is no longer maintained, we will provide a standalone reader that can be downloaded and used offline as a long-term safeguard for the private format. It will not be a full cross-platform version of Inks. Other platforms will be announced only when they are ready.
Yes. Go to Settings > Storage & Cache > Cache Management > Reset Ignored Tips & Guidance to show dismissed guidance again.
After a letter is sealed, the same access rules apply to everyone, including the author. This keeps promises like “read it in the future” or “read it at this place” meaningful.
Drafts remain editable, so completed-letter access rules do not apply yet. Time, location, password, or security-question rules begin after you complete and save the letter.
Letter applies to the whole letter. Page applies to the selected full page. Region applies to the selected masked area on that page. The rule is saved to the scope you choose.
No. On the same page, Page-level and Region-level locks are mutually exclusive. Page-level rules control the whole page; Region-level rules control selected blocks separately.
Time and location are objective conditions, while password and Q&A are credentials. The app checks objective conditions first, then asks for credentials when needed. If a letter has multiple conditions, the access sheet shows each stage and may give a subtle haptic when a stage is completed, so you can tell what is still blocking access.
If a letter is already protected by a password or Q&A, you must pass the current check before editing its access rules. This prevents someone with the device from bypassing the old rule and changing a protected letter to open access. After verification, the app can read the letter and safely rewrite the new rules.
Currently, one Inks account can be active on up to 3 devices. To view or switch devices, go to Settings > Account & Benefits > Devices & Entitlements, or contact support for help.
Yes. Trial uses recorded before sign-in stay on this device first, then become associated with the current cloud account after sign-in. A trial used in a completed letter must be confirmed online before the letter is sealed. If the network is unavailable, the app asks you to retry later or save a draft first. Pending trial records remain separate between accounts.
Lifetime is for advanced local creation: pay once to keep advanced styling, stats, access controls, and official Lifetime resources. Inks Pass is for complete creation: while subscribed, it includes everything in Lifetime, plus tools to upload and manage your own writing resources, save reusable resources from imported letters, and use Pass-exclusive resources updated by Inks. Lifetime owners can subscribe to Inks Pass at an exclusive price.
Yes. Stamps uploaded while your subscription was active remain in your library, and their saved shape, crop, border, and texture continue to appear and can be used on new envelopes. You can still touch and hold a stamp and choose Customize after expiry: shape and crop remain editable, while changing border or texture depends on your current access. Existing advanced settings are not cleared when access changes. A new upload is checked against your current Inks Pass access or any remaining upload trial.
Founder Edition is available to eligible first-time purchasers. It includes Lifetime permanently and Inks Pass access for the first year. After that year, Lifetime remains available; Founder Edition is not a fourth access tier beyond Free, Lifetime, and Inks Pass. Current eligibility and pricing are shown in the app and the App Store.
The access is the same; only eligibility and price differ. Lifetime owners can subscribe to “Inks Pass (Lifetime Exclusive)” at a lower exclusive price. While active, it provides exactly the same access as the standard Inks Pass. When it expires, the Lifetime purchase remains available.
A trial use is deducted only when the feature produces a saved result. Postscript and custom pause labels are counted per letter, so editing the same letter again does not deduct another use. A custom-resource upload counts only after the resource is saved. Premium opening and ambient effects can be previewed first and count only when sealed into a completed letter. Tutorial letters do not use your trial allowance.
Preview lets you decide whether a resource fits the letter; it does not unlock the resource. Access depends on your current plan. If the resource is not included, Inks checks for an available trial use when you seal the letter. After the available trials are used, choose an included resource or upgrade your plan.
Sign in to your cloud account first, then go to Settings > Account & Benefits > My Benefits and tap Restore App Store Purchases. The app checks active purchases for the current Apple ID, and benefits are applied after server verification.
No. In the current version, letter bodies, attachments, and .mbx content stay on this device by default. Signing in or finishing a letter does not upload them automatically. Export a copy yourself when you want to back up or send one.
No. Analytics is limited to usage data and necessary technical information that does not include letter content. You can turn it off anytime in Settings > Privacy & Data.
You can currently request an export or deletion of analytics data in Settings > Privacy & Data. Submitting a request does not mean processing has finished; you will be notified after completion. One-step export and deletion of all app data are not yet available. To keep a copy of a letter, use its Share & Export options. Deleting a letter in the app is permanent.
No. Deleting a letter is permanent. If you did not export a backup before deleting, the app does not keep an extra cloud copy and there is no recycle bin to restore from.
Uninstalling the app normally removes locally stored letters from that device. Whether a system-level device backup can restore them depends on your iOS and backup settings and is not guaranteed by Inks. Export important letters as .mbx files and keep them somewhere you trust.
After you unlock an encrypted letter, the app can cache its list cover thumbnail on this device for faster display next time. You can clear it manually in Settings > Storage & Cache > Cache Management.
If the letter is still locked, cover cache is disabled, or the cache was cleared manually, the list will not show the real cover texture. It uses the default style to reduce sensitive information exposure.
No. Inks processes only the images you actively choose through the system picker for a profile photo, custom resource, or letter decoration. It does not browse or analyze your full library in the background.
No. Biometric verification is handled locally by iOS. Inks receives only a success or failure result and cannot read, store, or upload your face or fingerprint source data.
Yes. As long as you keep an intact export, you will still have a way to read it even if Inks is no longer maintained. An .mbx file keeps the letter body, writing process, attachments, and resources needed for reading together in one file; Inks also already supports image, PDF, video, and Live Photo exports. We will continue to support .mbx files that Inks has already created. Even if Inks is no longer maintained, we will provide a standalone reader that can be downloaded and used offline so core content—including text, images, and handwriting—remains viewable. Password-protected letters will still require the original password, processed only on your device; neither the file nor the password will be uploaded for this purpose. This commitment protects long-term readability, but it cannot recover the only copy after device damage, accidental deletion, or app removal.
An .mbx file keeps the body, writing process, attachments, and resources needed for reading together so you can store, back up, or share a letter without automatically uploading its text. Images, PDF, video, and Live Photo are useful for presentation but do not replace the complete letter file.