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Imagine reliving each of your days one second at a time. In today’s world, journaling is no longer just pen and paper but can be visible, dynamic and personal. If you like online journaling, One Second Everyday (1SE) is the app for you. This app allows you to document your days with a one-second video. The main feature of this app is its simplicity, as users can either record videos directly from the app or upload existing videos. Selecting a clip up to 1.5 seconds long represents the entire day. These parts of the day are then put together to create longer videos. For example, recaps come out at the end of each month and at the end of each year. 

I have been a 1SE user since May 17, 2022, and I can see in the “Streaks” section of the app that I have made a total of 985 videos, totaling 20 minutes and 58 seconds. 

At first, as you might expect, I would sometimes forget to record my one second. However, as time goes on, it becomes a habit thanks to daily the notifications the app sends you to remind you to record a second of your day. I find myself looking at my seconds recorded in the past. This makes me appreciate even the small moments of the days that might otherwise be taken for granted.

The emotional impact of 1SE is definitely its strong point. Collecting memories and having them all in one place drives users to use the app frequently. Daily reminders and series tracking help to develop a consistent habit. This makes users appreciate the little things in everyday life. 

One aspect I would improve is the fact that videos take up so much storage space. Although this problem has been solved in the app’s pro version, the fact that it is paid can discourage some users, especially if they use the app long term. The pro version costs $50 per year.

Once users open the app and sign in, 1SE comes up with three sections: in the first, users can do a review of the last month if you have them. Next, a calendar appears with previews of the videos uploaded in the past days and a plus sign to add today’s video. The third is an invitation to buy their premium version. 

The second section is the most articulated, as it is divided into four parts, which are calendar, rewind, watch, and 1SE Pro. If you click on “rewind,” it brings up all the videos you have made on today’s day in past years, while in the watch section, you can select dates on which you want to review a summary. It can be a week, a month, a year or a range. Or you can specifically select from the calendar the mini videos that you want included in the larger video.

The app is free but of course, the pro version would enhance user experience. It version allows you to record longer videos with higher quality. This optimizes the space taken up by the videos and eliminates ads and watermarks. An important aspect of the pro version is that you can create several projects for various aspects of your life, upload a video for each project separately and have multiple video memories of the year.  The customization options are various; once you choose the video to upload, you can cut, flip, take down the volume and rotate it. With the pro version, there are extra features, such as longer clips, collaboration options and cloud backup. I asked Juana Wulff, a user of two years, about her experience with the app.  

“I use the application to be able to document at least a little bit of every day of the year. It’s my daily life. I usually try to report an interesting and different part of the day. I’ve been using the application for two years now, and although I don’t remember a specific one, I was able to document special moments. I can’t think of one in particular, but I do remember special occasions, such as Christmas or family trips,” Wulff said.    

Wulff added that the notifications that the app sends every day are really helpful to her. 

“Notifications help me a lot. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t remember to document most of the year. There were only a very few times that I remembered by my memory and not by a notification,” Wulff said.

The only criticism she had for the app was a technical issue. 

Wulff mentioned that a problem happens when she wants to record a second and play music at the same time, she has to re-open the app and stop the music.

Overall, Wulff is satisfied with the app and uses it to collect personal memories.1SE is definitely an app to try for everyone who likes to cherish their memories and find beauty in their everyday moments. 

If you are looking for a creative way to document your life, choose 1SE.