Indonesian start-up Sanct, the social app where friends can only be added in person, releases two short films ahead of its Singapore launch

SINGAPORE – It is 6.30pm in Singapore and Keisha is already in bed when her family's group chat lights up. Her younger sister Clarissa, an hour behind in Jakarta, is asking their parents what they want to makan tonight. Mum says chicken. Dad says fried chicken. Keisha types the only thing she can: "I miss the fried chicken stall near our house."

That scene opens the second of two one-minute short films released this week by Sanct, an Indonesian personal networking app built for close friends and family. Instead of a launch advertisement, the company made films. They arrive as Sanct prepares to open in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The first film grew out of a real story a beta user shared with her permission. Clarissa, the character at the centre of both films, tells no one about a hard day. All she shares on Sanct is a song. But in a circle made only of the people closest to her, that is enough: her best friend notices, and shows up.

The second film stays on the same evening. Clarissa orders the family's usual chicken rice and checks in at the stall on Sanct. Keisha, in Singapore, comments asking for a share. Clarissa replies with one question: "Come back soon?" Keisha's answer is a single word, "Soon", and a heart. A question about dinner has become a promise to come home.

Many people in Singapore have parents or siblings living in another country. For them, the second film will feel familiar: it is their own family group chat.

Friends are added in person, or not at all

What sets Sanct apart is not its feature list but how friendships begin. A user's first friends can only be added by meeting in person and scanning each other's QR code. Search and friend suggestions reach friends of friends only; strangers cannot be found or added. Every moment a user shares reaches that circle and no one else.

The features in both films are already live in the closed beta: group chats for family and close friends with reactions and replies, check-ins at real places visible only to one's circle, comments in the form of stickers, songs or photos, and Sancty, a small companion character inside Sanct who appears at certain moments, such as reminding a user to have dinner.

Traction and what comes next

Sanct opened its closed beta on 23 August at Jakarta's Sunday Car Free Day, where 147 people signed up on the first day. A week later the first wave of invitations was complete, with more than 150 active users and over 1,600 people on the waiting list. Sanct is preparing a staged launch across Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, and will run on a freemium model: core features stay free, with optional premium features to follow after launch.

"We hope these two teasers get the message across," said Mr Sion Abednego, founder of Sanct. "Everyone deserves quality time with the people closest to them. Sanct is only the bridge. There is a Malay saying, jauh di mata, dekat di hati: far from the eyes, close to the heart. Sanct is for that, and for making the people already near you feel nearer still. And most of all, when you are not okay, your friends and family will be there to support you."

Registration for the second closed-beta batch remains open to anyone who wants early access, at https://sanct.social