Sanct Social sets its ninth short film in a Johor Bahru home on Deepavali eve and uses it to teach four new features: Sancty's schedule, community guest links, sleep music and Re-live

KUALA LUMPUR: Sanct Social, a social app for family and close friends, released the ninth episode of its short film series on YouTube on Saturday (Nov 7), the eve of Deepavali.

The film, "Two mothers.", runs under two minutes with no dialogue and is the first in the series set in a Malaysian home. Sanct Social is free on the App Store in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore and nine more countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, India and Japan. The episode is also the first made with version 1.2 of the app, which reached the App Store on Oct 25.

The company said the film was written for families on both sides of the Causeway, where a daughter who works in Singapore is forty minutes from a Johor kitchen, and that each new feature appears because the story needs it.

What the film is about

In Episode 8, Rivani's mother crossed the Causeway to Singapore with a tiffin carrier for Keisha, who was unwell. In Episode 9 Keisha makes the trip the other way. On Friday night she tells Sancty, the companion in the app, about tomorrow and sets her day in Schedule. On Saturday she takes the bus from Singapore to Johor Bahru, kneels beside Rivani to draw the kolam in rice flour, and is handed a folded kurti by Rivani's mother, who had one ready for her. At dusk the three light the lamps. Rivani creates a community for the evening and shares a guest link so that Keisha's mother in Jakarta can see the lamps too. In that chat, the mother in Jakarta thanks the mother in Johor for feeding her daughter. The answer is an invitation: next year, both of you.

"A Malaysian mother fed a Singapore-based girl she had never met in the last film. This time the girl comes to her house for Deepavali, and the two mothers finally speak. That is the whole film," Sanct Social founder Sion Abednego said in a statement.

Sion said the four features in the film were all part of version 1.2, which had been on the App Store for two weeks, and that the release listed the steps so new users could follow them.

"We would like people in Johor and Singapore to watch it on Deepavali eve and know exactly what to tap the next morning. Selamat Hari Deepavali to every family lighting the lamps tonight," he added.

The four new features, their purpose, and how to use them

1. Talk to Sancty and plan the day. Why it is there: a companion to tell about your day, and a list that becomes reminders. Steps: in Sancty's room, type or speak. Tap "Daily schedule", add each item with a time, then "Save & enable reminders". A bell comes at each time; the lock screen says only what kind of plan it is, never the words.

2. Communities, with a guest invite for one more person. Why it is there: a group needs a place, and sometimes a door for one more person who is not a friend yet. Steps: open Communities, create one, invite friends from the list (they accept or decline privately). For anyone else tap "Invite with QR or link", pick "Whole community" or one room, and share the link or QR code. Until they are accepted, new people see pandas rather than names.

3. Sleep music. Why it is there: the sleep screen already tells friends you are resting; now it helps you rest. Steps: on Sancty's sleep screen choose Sleep, tap the music button, pick one of five free tracks (Paper Lantern is the one in the film) and choose when it stops: 15, 30 or 60 minutes, or all night.

4. Re-live, a room for memories. Why it is there: the moments worth keeping get a room, not a feed. Steps: from The Verse open Re-live, take the album from the shelf, sit in the reading chair, open a person's album and turn its pages, then tap "Frame a photo" and pick the one for the wall.

The update also added the Toko, where Sancty's look and the app icon can be changed, and two optional Premium plans; the film sticks to the free app.

About the app

The company said every app screen in the film is taken from Sanct Social version 1.2 as it is on the App Store today, with only the characters' names, words, photos and times changed.

Sanct Social is a free download for iPhone on the Apple App Store in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, and in nine more countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, India and Japan, with no advertisements. It supports Bahasa Melayu, English, Bahasa Indonesia and Hindi. The Android version is not ready yet. More than a thousand people are already on the platform, and all nine episodes of the series are on YouTube.

Sanct Social wishes all Malaysians celebrating a Happy Deepavali.

For more information and to download the app, visit https://sanct.social