Getting the initial versions of FolioPro and FolioPlayer live on their respective app stores in October 2024 was a major milestone, but it took a huge amount of effort to get them over the line, so as soon as they were published I stepped away from Folios to recharge the batteries.

When I came back earlier this year I took a look at the products to see what could be improved. The two areas that I identified were improved use of AI and support for multiple timelines in a Folio.

AI is fairly self-evident as it’s changing so fast and we need to stay on top of it.

Supporting multiple timelines allows us to create a Folio with more depth and gives easier access to what we’re looking for. To understand what could be achieved with multiple timelines I looked at some of the Folios that I’d already created and how I might improve them.

By means of example, this is a snapshot of my own life story. In total there are 300+ events on the timeline, so if I want to just browse the various places that I’ve travelled to over the years I have to look through all of those events, whereas an additional timeline just for “Holidays” would allow me to focus on that subset of events. I could add additional timelines for hobbies, education etc, and when it comes to connections, I could create a separate timeline for each of my children.

Applying the same approach to other Folios, there are cases where additional timelines are not warranted, but once you reach a certain level of detail, they start to become really desirable.

There’s no release date for V2 yet, but I am working on it with a view to making it available asap.