Stories and uses

Nine stories,
nine summaries.

The people in these stories are fictional. The situations come back every week: a committee, a residents' meeting, an appointment where you remember half. Each film ends on the summary as it appears in Aparté.

Monday · 09:30 · Sorel Workshop · iPhone

The Monday team meeting

Eight promises at Monday's team meeting. How many are left by Thursday?

Every Monday at 09:30, the eight people at Sorel Workshop go round the table: two minutes each, what they did, what they're doing, what's stuck. Everyone talks, everyone promises: chase a client, book a studio, send a quote. Before, half of those commitments had vanished by noon.

Now Léa sets her iPhone in the middle of the table and asks if everyone is OK with it; nobody minds. An hour later, the summary is out: two decisions, five actions, each with a name and a date. On Thursday, nobody asks who was meant to do what. The next Monday, the team starts by reading last week's list.

Always tell everyone before you record.

The summary

Summary readyiPhone

Monday team meeting

Sorel Workshop · 30 min

Overview

Eight progress updates in thirty minutes. Acceptance testing for the Orée website is on Thursday; the Lumen campaign is waiting for the client; the photo shoot moves to Friday.

Decisions

Orée website acceptance testing on Thursday 22 October.
Lumen photo shoot moved to Friday 23 October.

Actions

Camille: Follow up with Lumen on the visualsTuesday 20 October
Hugo: Prepare the Orée website testingWednesday 21 October
Sarah: Book the studio for the shootTuesday 20 October
Tom: Send the winter campaign quoteThursday 22 October
Léa: Update this week's scheduleMonday 19 October

Tuesday · 10:30 · Cardiology clinic · iPhone

Hélène, at the cardiologist's with her mother

At the cardiologist's, you remember half. Hélène kept it all.

Hélène goes with her mother to the cardiologist. She had her questions ready, but in the consulting room everything moves fast: an ultrasound to redo, one medicine stopped, another started, a check-up in three months. On arrival, she asked the doctor if she could record. He said yes.

In the lab waiting room, she reads the summary with her mother, then sends it to her brother, who lives in Lyon. For the first time, they all have the same version of what was said. Aparté doesn't interpret anything: it takes note. The doctor is still the one who treats.

Always ask the doctor before you record.

The summary

Summary readyiPhone

Cardiology appointment

Jeanne Morel · 22 min

Overview

The cardiologist reviews Jeanne's treatment. A heart ultrasound must be repeated before the next check-up. The beta blocker is stopped and replaced with one tablet each morning. Check-up in three months.

Decisions

Heart ultrasound to repeat before the next check-up.
Beta blocker stopped from tomorrow.
New treatment: one tablet each morning, with breakfast.

Actions

Hélène Morel: Book the heart ultrasoundBefore 20 November
Jeanne Morel: Start the new treatmentWednesday 21 October
Practice secretary: Schedule the January check-up

Tuesday · 18:30 · Linden Court · iPad

Sophie and the Linden Court AGM

A two-hour residents' meeting. The summary the same evening.

Sophie sits on the residents' committee at Linden Court. The annual general meeting lasts two hours and the votes come one after another: the front façade works, £42,000, collected in two instalments; the managing agent renewed for one year; the intercom pushed back to next year. Before the start, she asks the room if she can record, then sets her iPad on the table. She follows the debate instead of taking notes.

That same evening, she sends the summary to the owners who couldn't come. The official minutes will take a month. The next day, two neighbours stop her on the stairs to thank her, and a third asks how she did it.

Always tell participants before you record.

The summary

Summary readyiPad

Residents' association AGM

Linden Court · 1 hr 32 min

Overview

The meeting approved the front façade works and renewed the managing agent for one year. Replacing the intercom will wait until next year.

Decisions

Front façade works approved: £42,000, collected in two instalments.
Managing agent renewed for one year.
Intercom replacement postponed to next year.

Actions

Residents' committee: Ask for three quotes for the façadeEnd of November
Managing agent: Send the first call for fundsEarly January

Wednesday · 15:00 · Lucas's workshop · iPhone

Lucas and the distributor from Rotterdam

A negotiation in English, and English isn't Lucas's first language. The summary has it all.

Lucas makes jam in his workshop in France. Sanne van Dijk, who supplies delicatessens in the Netherlands, comes to see him: forty shops, pallets of 120 jars, payment at sixty days. She talks fast, in English, and Lucas's English is rusty. Before the meeting, he set the meeting language to English; at the start, he asks Sanne if he can record for the summary. She agrees.

That evening, the summary is ready, in English like the meeting: eight products in 40 shops from March, one order a month, payment at 45 days, after he asked for thirty and she for sixty. He sends it to Sanne to confirm, with nothing to translate back.

Always ask before you record.

The summary

Summary readyiPhone

Distribution deal with Van Dijk Foods

Netherlands distribution · 50 min

Overview

Sanne van Dijk will list six jams and two honeys in 40 Dutch delicatessens from March. Orders come monthly, in pallets of 120 jars. Lucas asked for payment at 30 days, Sanne at 60: they settled on 45.

Decisions

Eight products listed in 40 shops from March.
Monthly orders, pallets of 120 jars.
Payment terms: 45 days.

Actions

Lucas Bernard: Send the price list in euros, excluding VATFriday 23 October
Sanne van Dijk: Confirm the 40 shops and the launch dateEnd of October
Lucas Bernard: Prepare the Dutch labelsMid-January

Wednesday · 18:00 · Ms Laurent's office · iPad

Paul and his lawyer

First meeting with the lawyer. He leaves with his list.

Paul is in a dispute with his former landlord. At Ms Laurent's office, everything comes at once: the options, the deadlines, the documents to gather, what it might cost. He asks if he can record to read it again at home; she agrees.

That evening, his list is ready: the lease, the rent receipts, the emails, by the 15th. He arrives at the second meeting with a complete file, and they save half an hour.

Always ask before you record.

The summary

Summary readyiPad

First consultation

Dispute with former landlord · 55 min

Overview

Ms Laurent suggests sending a formal notice first, then going to mediation if the landlord does not reply within a month. There are three years to take action. The first step is at a fixed fee.

Decisions

Formal notice first, mediation next if needed.
Fixed fee of £600 for the first step.

Actions

Paul Girard: Gather the lease and the move-out inventoryThursday 15 October
Paul Girard: Collect the rent receiptsThursday 15 October
Paul Girard: Export the emails with the landlordThursday 15 October
Ms Laurent: Draft the formal noticeOnce the documents arrive

Thursday · 14:00 · Urban Futures Fair · iPad

Inès at the panel discussion

A round table, four speakers, one notebook. Inès chose to listen.

Inès is a researcher working on the city of tomorrow. At the Urban Futures Fair, four speakers trade figures: cycling, cooler school playgrounds, renovating apartment buildings, deliveries. At the start, the moderator says the session may be recorded. Inès keeps her iPad on her lap and listens.

That evening, at the hotel, she has every speaker, every figure, and the two studies she wanted to read. She turns it into a thread for her team before dinner.

Only record when the organisers and the speakers allow it.

The summary

Summary readyiPad

Round table · The city of tomorrow

Urban Futures Fair · 1 hr 30 min

Overview

Four speakers on the city of tomorrow: room for cycling, cooler school playgrounds, renovating apartment buildings and last-mile deliveries.

Topics

Mobility · Anne Ferrand

A continuous cycle network would double cycling's share by 2035.

Cooling · Malik Diop

Green school playgrounds are 4 °C cooler in summer.

Renovation · Claire Morin

Renovated buildings halve their heating bill.

Deliveries · Paul Weber

Neighbourhood pick-up points replace a third of home deliveries.

Actions

Inès Haddad: Find the City 2040 report quoted by Anne Ferrand
Inès Haddad: Read the green playground study quoted by Malik Diop

Friday · 17:00 · Orée Studio · Apple Watch and iPhone

Claire and the Friday committee

The Friday committee, with no one stuck taking notes.

Claire Vasseur leads the new website project at Orée Studio. Every Friday, it's the committee: five people, one hour, and until now an assistant who spent the evening tidying up her notes. This Friday, Claire tells the table, taps her watch and sets down her iPhone. She takes part in the debate instead of writing it down.

An hour later, in the taxi, the summary is ready: mock-up B chosen for the home page, launch set for Monday 30 November, photo budget raised to £8,000. Three actions, three names, three dates. She sends it as a PDF before she even gets home. On Monday, nobody asks what was decided.

Always tell participants before you record.

The summary

Summary readyApple Watch and iPhone

New website steering committee

Orée Studio · 1 hr 5 min

Overview

The committee chose mock-up B for the home page and set the launch for Monday 30 November. The photo shoot budget rises to £8,000, taken from the reserve. The English version will wait until January.

Topics

Home page

Mock-up B: full-screen visual, direct access to the shop.
Two comments to address on the mobile menu.

Schedule

Testing from 16 to 20 November, launch on the 30th.

Decisions

Mock-up B chosen for the home page.
Launch set for Monday 30 November.
Photo budget raised to £8,000, taken from the reserve.

Actions

Claire Vasseur: Send the final product page copyFriday 23 October
Julien Marchetti: Rework the mobile menu based on the two commentsWednesday 28 October
Inès Darmon: Book the photographer for the 5 November shootMonday 26 October

Friday · 19:00 · Along the canal · Apple Watch

Mehdi, the project review on foot

The only meeting of the week where no one interrupts him.

Mehdi founded his company on his own. No board, no colleague to keep him on track. So on Friday evening, he walks twenty minutes along the canal and talks to his watch: where the fundraising stands, what's stuck with the contractor, what to do on Monday.

Back home, his summary is waiting: two decisions he hadn't admitted to himself he'd made, four actions with their due dates. He copies them into his calendar. He says it's the only meeting of the week where no one interrupts him.

The summary

Summary readyApple Watch

Weekly review

Solo, on foot · 20 min

Overview

Mehdi takes stock of the week. Two funds out of five are still interested in the round. The contractor is stuck on the data export. Monday starts with a call to the contractor.

Decisions

Focus on the two interested funds before approaching others.
Split the contractor's delivery into two phases.

Actions

Mehdi: Call the contractor to set the first phaseMonday 26 October
Mehdi: Send the updated figures to both fundsTuesday 27 October
Mehdi: Review the contractor's agreementWednesday 28 October
Mehdi: Block two hours for the fundraising fileThursday 29 October

Saturday · 09:00 · Julien's house · iPhone

Julien and the builder

“We start on the 4th, allow six weeks.” And everything else?

Julien is renovating his house. The builder comes by on a Saturday morning, walks through the rooms and talks fast: the screed, the load-bearing wall, the plumber's dates, “we start on the 4th, allow six weeks”. Julien asks if he can record so he doesn't forget anything; the builder smiles: “Go ahead.”

That evening, Julien reads the summary, fixes a name and sends it back to the builder, to make sure they understood each other. The quote arrives three days later, with the same lines.

Always tell the other person before you record.

The summary

Summary readyiPhone

Builder's visit

House renovation · 1 hr 5 min

Overview

Work starts on Wednesday 4 November and lasts six weeks. The screed is poured first; the load-bearing wall waits for the structural engineer's opinion. The plumber comes in week three.

Decisions

Start on Wednesday 4 November, six weeks of work.
Screed poured before the load-bearing wall.
Plumber in week three, 16 to 20 November.

Actions

Morin Builders: Send the detailed quoteTuesday 20 October
Julien Roche: Ask the structural engineer for an opinionFriday 30 October
Julien Roche: Clear the living room before work startsTuesday 3 November

What Aparté does

It records with one tap, on iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch.
It transcribes the meeting on the device: the audio never leaves it.
With your consent, the transcript goes to Claude, which writes the summary: an overview, the topics, the decisions, and the actions with their owner and due date, when they were said.
Your calendar can supply the title and the participants; you add a client or notes.
The summary can be shared as a PDF, as text or as Markdown.
A recording made elsewhere, a voice memo or a dictaphone file, can be imported and become a summary.

What it doesn't do

It doesn't join any video call: it listens to the room.
It can't tell who is speaking yet.
It gives no advice, medical, legal or financial: it notes what was said.
It records no one without their knowledge: always tell participants before you record.

More than forty uses

Wherever people talk and decide. Always telling everyone before you record.

With a team

Project review: Progress, blockers, next steps. The summary separates what was decided from what is still open, and every action has a name.
Team round: Eight people, two minutes each. The iPhone in the middle of the table; at the end, each person's actions, without anyone holding the pen.
Steering committee: The day's trade-offs, figures included, ready to send to those who weren't there.
Weekly check-in: The same meeting every Monday: the list of summaries becomes the project's history, sorted by client.
Retrospective: What worked, what got stuck, what changes. Decisions from the retro no longer get lost from one sprint to the next.
Handover: The person leaving explains, the person arriving listens. The summary stays as the file's memory.
Crisis meeting: People talk fast, decide fast. The summary keeps the order of the decisions and who handles what.
Job interview: With the candidate's consent. You listen to the person instead of taking notes, then compare summaries, not memories.

On your own, out loud

Solo project review: On Friday evening, walking: where I stand, what's stuck, what I do on Monday. The watch listens, Claude sorts it: decisions on one side, actions on the other.
Instant debrief: Leaving an appointment, in the parked car: three minutes to say what happened. The summary is ready before you reach the office.
Rehearsing a presentation: Rehearse out loud; the summary gives you the outline you just told.
Site or field log: Every evening, what was done, what's missing, what needs ordering.
Planning the week: On Monday morning, talk to yourself; the week's actions come out with their due dates.

Clients, suppliers, tradespeople

Client meeting: The need, the budget, the deadlines, in the client's own words. The summary goes out that evening: the client sees they were heard.
Talking with a builder: Renovation, extension, kitchen: what the builder promised, by when, at what price. A written record to send back, before the quote.
Site visit: You walk, point, talk. Snags and fixes become a list of dated actions.
Negotiation: Each side's concessions, in the order they were made.
Agency or freelance brief: What's expected, what isn't, the delivery date: the brief in writing, without having to write it.
Trade fair: Ten conversations in a day; in the evening, ten summaries sorted by company.
Supplier call: Phone on speaker, watch beside it; or the call recorded by your carrier, imported afterwards. Always telling the other person.

Advice and client-facing work

Consulting workshop: Three hours of sticky notes and debate; the summary gives the synthesis and the workstreams.
Coaching session: With the coachee's consent. The commitments made for the next session.
Architect and client: The choices, materials, budget, constraints, and what is still to be decided.
Estate agent viewing: What the buyer liked, what holds them back, the questions to pass on to the seller.
Photographer and couple: The running order of the day, the shots not to miss, the names to remember.

The appointments you're allowed to forget

At the doctor's: With their consent. The specialist talks fast, you're worried, you remember half. The summary keeps the tests planned, the treatment given, the questions for next time. Aparté takes note; the doctor is still the one who treats.
At the lawyer's: With their consent. The options, the deadlines, the documents to gather. Read it again at home, calmly.
At the notary's: An estate, a purchase: the steps, the documents, the signing dates.
At the bank: The loan, the rate, the conditions said out loud.
Pension adviser, insurer, loss adjuster: What was promised, what to send, and to whom.
At a public office: The list of documents to provide, complete at last.

Family, school, neighbours, associations

Parent-teacher meeting: What the teacher said about your child, what is suggested, the next appointment. Shared with the other parent, who couldn't come.
Residents' meeting: The votes, the amounts, the works decided, long before the official minutes.
Residents' committee, association board, sports club: The evening's decisions, sent to members the next morning.
Family around an elderly parent: The siblings meet: who goes to the appointments, who handles the paperwork. The summary avoids the “I thought you were doing it”.
Planning a wedding, a trip, a move: Every planning meeting gives its list of tasks.

Learning and sharing

Conference and panel: When the organiser allows it. Each speaker's key ideas, the figures quoted, the references to look up.
Training, seminar: The day's synthesis and the exercises to redo.
Mentoring: The advice received and what you commit to trying.
Research or reporting interview: With the interviewee's consent. The raw material, transcribed, and a first synthesis.

In several languages

A meeting in English with a partner: The transcript and the summary in English, or in the language chosen for the meeting.
A European team: One meeting in German, another in Spanish: each gets its summary, in its own language.

Your next meeting,
already summarized.

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The people and places in these stories are fictional. iPad 3D model: “Apple Pencil & iPad Pro” by eltayerkebulan (Sketchfab), CC BY 4.0.