The people at your table.

Why it matters

The who is half the memory.

A photo of dumplings is nice. A photo of dumplings with “with Mei, the night she got the job” is a memory. Adding companions to a moment takes one tap per person, and like everything in PlateDiary it’s optional — you can add people later, or never.

Your people

Most at your table.

The Companions page opens on a round table of the six people you share the most meals with, seated around a plate. Below them, everyone else, searchable by name. Your board has a Companions view too, so you can browse your history by person.

A page each

A page for each person.

• Times together, places and saves, at a glance.
• Where it started — your first meal together, with its saves.
• Your usual together — the dish you keep ordering when they’re there.
• Your spots — the places you go together most.
• Often joined by — who else tends to be at that table.
• A year ago today — when there’s a memory to bring back.
• Every time together — the whole timeline, newest first.

A checklist

What’s worth remembering about the people you eat with.

Good hosts and good friends carry these in their heads. A note on a meal carries them for you:

• What they always order, so you can order it for them when they’re late.
• What they won’t touch — coriander, raw onion, anything with eyes.
• The dish they introduced you to.
• Their birthday dinner spot, and whether they want it again or something new.
• Who they get on with at a big table.
• The place you went the night of big news — theirs or yours.

Faces

A face from a photo, a save, or an initial.

Give each person an avatar from a photo in your library, from a save — their usual dish as their face is a crowd favourite — or a simple initial. Typed “Sam” on one night and “Samantha” on another? Merge them into one person. Remove someone and their meals stay; only the name comes off.

Ideas

Little rituals to try with your people.

• A dish you only order with your sister — and a page that proves it.
• A first-time pact: every month, one place neither of you has been.
• An anniversary dinner where you open “Where it started” at the table.
• A collage of every table you’ve shared, sent on their birthday.
• Sunday lunch with your parents, kept as one long timeline.
• For the friend who always picks: let them spin your craving wheel instead.

Privacy

Private by design.

Companions are a memory, not a social network. PlateDiary doesn’t read your contacts, the people you add don’t need the app, and nothing is sent to them or shared with them. Their names live on your phone with the rest of your diary.

The one exception is a choice you make: if you use a PlateDiary AI feature such as Ask or the words in your year story, companions’ first names can go up with that one request so the answer makes sense. Nothing is stored on the server.