Sanct opens App Store pre-orders as Episode 4 of its family film series is released

Sanct, the Singapore-registered social app for close friends and family, released Episode 4 of its short film series on YouTube on Tuesday 22 September at 5pm Singapore time. Titled “I remember.”, the film follows a family split between Jakarta and Singapore through one evening in the Sanctum, the small beach inside the app, and the three different mornings that follow. Every app screen in the film is real: the family group chat, the sleep check-in, the good-morning screen, and Sancty’s optional habit reminders, which are switched off by default. Sanct is now available for pre-order on the App Store, with release in Singapore on 28 September and in Indonesia on 29 September. It has more than 350 active users, and the 1,600 people on its waiting list are being let in gradually.

SINGAPORE – It is 10.24pm in Jakarta and 11.24pm in Singapore, and a family of four is still on the same beach. Not a real one: the Sanctum, the small beach inside the Sanct app that opens at 6pm every day. The parents are in bed with the lamp still on. The younger daughter is cross-legged on her bed in Jakarta. The elder daughter is in her rented room in Singapore. Nobody wants to leave. Then the same notification arrives on all three phones: “Time to wind down. Your usual sleep time is coming up.”

That is the middle of “I remember.”, the fourth film in Sanct’s series about a family living an hour’s flight apart, released on YouTube on Tuesday 22 September at 5pm Singapore time. The Singapore-registered start-up has told the story of the same four people since August: a daughter who moved to Singapore for work, her sister and their parents in Jakarta.

Episode 3 ended with the family agreeing to meet in the Sanctum. Episode 4 opens there. They enjoy it so much they forget the time. Sancty, the small companion inside the app, reminds each of them that their usual sleep time is close. Three OK signs to three phones, three sleep check-ins, three lights out.

The next morning is three mornings. The parents’ old bedside clock rings at 5am. The younger daughter’s phone alarm rings at 6am, and she hits snooze once. The elder daughter’s rings at 6.30am in Singapore, and she sits straight up. Each taps “I’m Awake”, and each gets a different good morning: 6 hours 29 minutes of rest, 7 hours 36 minutes, 6 hours 56 minutes. At 5.05am Sancty reminds the parents of their weekly rhythm; at 6.20am and 7am she asks the two daughters about breakfast. The parents walk their street together in the early light. Two daughters, two buses, two cities. Everyone on time.

The film closes on Sancty with a small notebook marked “Schedule” and two lines on screen: “Good job. Everyone on time today.” and “I remember.”

Nobody in the film says they miss anyone. The family group chat settles it in six messages: the elder daughter’s ticket home for her father’s birthday is booked for 12 October, two weeks this time, and “Papa is already counting the days.” The Sanctum is where they meet until then.

What is real in the film

Every app screen in the film comes from the Sanct app as it is today, rebuilt only for the characters’ names, photos, messages and times. The family group chat, the sleep check-in that lets friends see when someone is asleep, the good-morning screen with the night’s rest, and Sancty’s breakfast question are all in the app.

Sancty’s habit reminders, the wind-down and weekly-rhythm notifications in the film, are optional and switched off by default. A user turns them on in their own settings, and the wording is Sancty’s own: “Time to wind down. Your usual sleep time is coming up.” and “Your weekly rhythm. Around this time last week, you were waking up.” Sancty does not report anyone’s sleep or wake time to anyone else.

“In this episode nobody says ‘I miss you’. The ticket is booked, the parents are counting the days, and until then they meet on the beach after dinner,” said Mr Sion Abednego, founder of Sanct. “Sancty only does what a good housemate does. She reminds you that it is late, and she says good morning. She remembers the time each of you keeps, and that is all. Sanct is only the bridge. The homecoming is still the point.”

How user data is handled

Sanct has no ads and no public feed, and it does not sell user data to third parties. Every moment a user shares has an audience they choose: everyone in their circle, selected friends, or only themselves. Sancty processes data only inside the user’s own account in order to respond, and this data is not used to train public AI models. Sanct’s privacy policy is published at https://sanctsocial.app/privacy

Traction and what comes next

Sanct opened its closed beta on 23 August at Jakarta’s Car Free Day, where 147 people signed up on the first day. It now has more than 350 active users, and the 1,600 people on its waiting list are being let in gradually. Last week the start-up met 78 visitors at its first Singapore booth, at Tech in Asia Conference 2026. Sanct is now available for pre-order on the App Store at https://apps.apple.com/app/sanct-social/id6806056237 and will be released in Singapore on 28 September and in Indonesia on 29 September. The app follows a freemium model: core features stay free, and optional premium features will follow, with no ads in either. Malaysia is among the first three launch countries.

On Sanct, first friends are added by meeting in person and scanning each other’s QR code; search and friend suggestions open only after five friends, and reach only friends of friends.

Sign-ups for Sanct are open at https://sanct.social

This press release has also been published on VRITIMES