How to make a year-in-review story for your app

Why it works

People love seeing numbers about themselves, especially numbers that make them look good. A recap reminds active users how much they got out of your app, brings quiet users back for a look, and every shared card shows your app’s name to that person’s friends. It is one of the few marketing pieces your users want to post.

1. Pick your dates

Most recaps cover January 1 to the day you export. If you send in early December, export in the last days of November and say so in your email (“your year so far”). Nobody minds missing two weeks of December; they do mind getting the story after the holidays, when everyone has moved on.

2. Choose four to six stats

Fewer is better. A story with five strong slides beats one with twelve slides of filler. Good stats have three things in common: the user did them (not your app), they get bigger with use, and they mean something without explanation.

• One big total. Kilometers run, books finished, words written, minutes practiced. This is the headline slide.
• One count of effort. Sessions, workouts, lessons, check-ins. It pairs with the total.
• One best. Longest streak, longest run, biggest day. People are proud of these.
• One favorite. Top genre, most-used habit, favorite lift. It makes the story feel personal, not just numerical.
• Twelve month columns. One number per month draws a chart of their year and names their best month.

Leave out anything that could embarrass someone (weight, money lost, missed goals) and anything only your team understands (“sync events”, “XP” if users don’t know what it is). For more ideas by kind of app, see year-in-review examples.

3. Export one spreadsheet (CSV)

You need one file with one row per user and one column per stat. Column names become the starting point for the words on each slide, so name them plainly: km_run beats dist_sum_2.

• A user id (required). Any id that is unique per user.
• A first name (optional). The story opens with “Hey Ava.” and the share card says “Ava’s 2026”.
• An email (optional). Only needed if you want the stories emailed for you.
• Number columns for each stat, and month columns named jan to dec, runs_jan, or 2026-01.
• List columns for favorites, written as fantasy:14; sci-fi:9; romance:3. The story shows the winner, or a top 3 to 5 when it is close.

If your data is in Postgres, one query usually does it. Here is the shape for a running app:

-- One row per user, one column per stat, twelve month columns for the chart.
select
  u.id                                   as user_id,
  u.first_name,
  u.email,
  count(*)                               as runs,
  round(sum(a.distance_km))              as km_run,
  round(max(a.distance_km), 1)           as longest_run_km,
  count(distinct a.started_at::date)     as active_days,
  count(*) filter (where extract(month from a.started_at) = 1)  as runs_jan,
  count(*) filter (where extract(month from a.started_at) = 2)  as runs_feb,
  -- ...one line per month...
  count(*) filter (where extract(month from a.started_at) = 12) as runs_dec
from users u
join activities a on a.user_id = u.id
where a.started_at >= '2026-01-01' and a.started_at < '2027-01-01'
group by u.id, u.first_name, u.email
having count(*) >= 3;  -- skip people who barely used the app this year

The same idea works in MySQL with sum(case when month(started_at) = 1 then 1 else 0 end), or in a spreadsheet with a pivot table. Not sure what the file should look like? Download a sample: running, reading, language learning, or habits.

4. Let ranks do the bragging

“You ran 561 km” is nice. “You ran more than 95% of runners on our app” is what gets posted. A rank needs every user’s numbers, which is why the whole user base goes in one file. Two rules keep ranks kind:

• Only show a rank when it flatters. Yearcap shows a “top X%” slide only when the user is in the top 30%.
• Hide small numbers. “You tracked 2 habits” deflates more than it celebrates, so Yearcap skips a number under 10 unless the user is in the top quarter for it.

5. Write the words

Each slide is one short sentence before the number and one after. Write to the user, about the user:

• Use “you”, not “our users”. Keep each line under ten words.
• Give people a persona: “The Marathoner”, “The Night Owl”, “The Archivist”. Each user gets the one for the stat they rank best on, so everyone wins at something.
• End with a summary card that lists their top stats on one screen. That is the image people share.

6. Test with real rows

Before anything goes out, look at the story for at least three people: your most active user, a typical one, and someone who barely used the app. Check long names, missing values, and a user with zero in a month. If the quiet user’s story looks sad, raise the minimum in your export (the having line above) and send those people a plain “we missed you” email instead.

7. Send it in early December

The first two weeks of December are the sweet spot: people are in a year-in-review mood and the big apps haven’t filled every feed yet. Give each user a private link to their own story and get it to them three ways:

• Email. One email, a clear subject, one button. See the year-in-review email guide for subject lines and copy.
• An in-app banner for signed-in users, up for the whole month.
• A push notification on send day, if your app has them.

The step-by-step for each is in how to send your stories.

Checklist

1. Data cutoff picked, export date in the calendar.
2. Four to six stats, plus twelve month columns and one favorite.
3. One CSV, one row per user, plain column names.
4. Ranks only where they flatter, small numbers hidden.
5. Short lines in the second person, a persona, a summary card.
6. Stories checked for a power user, a typical user and a quiet one.
7. Email, banner and push ready for the first week of December.

Yearcap handles the ranks, the story and the sending for you: drop in the CSV, and AI suggests the stats and writes the words (it reads your column names and ranges, never a user’s row). You see the story play live while you edit it. Start with your file.