In 2021, Matt Moss was a recent computer science graduate from UC Santa Barbara. He had just moved away from his girlfriend Ava, and the reality of a long-distance relationship was setting in. He wanted a way to stay connected with her that didn’t feel performative or public. Something smaller. Something personal.
So he built her a digital birthday gift: a simple widget that allowed them to send each other photos that would appear directly on their iPhone home screens. No comments, no likes, no filters. Just a photo from someone who mattered. He called it “Locket.”
At the time, it was just for the two of them. But once Ava started showing the app to friends, they started asking how they could get it. At first, Matt resisted. It wasn’t designed to be public. But the more people asked, the more he started to wonder if this little side project might mean something to others too.
By New Year’s Day 2022, he released it on the App Store. Within days, Locket was the number one free app in the United States. Within months, it had been downloaded more than 20 million times and over 1 billion photos had been sent through the platform.
It’s been exciting to see the product resonate with people, but going forward, we have an even bigger opportunity to become the best way for people to stay in contact with those 10 to 15 people that matter the most.
Matt Moss
A Quiet Alternative to Traditional Social Media
Locket’s core premise is simple. You add your closest friends and family, up to 20 people, and any time one of them sends a photo, it appears right on your home screen via a widget. There’s no feed to scroll through. No public profile. No filters, likes, or comments.
That simplicity is deliberate.
Matt built Locket around a frustration he had with traditional social networks. Platforms like Instagram and Snapchat were full of noise. They encouraged users to share with hundreds of people at once, to perform for an audience, and to measure their value in likes and reactions. But the people Matt, and millions of others, actually wanted to hear from weren’t the crowd. They were the handful of close friends, partners, and family members we care about most.
Locket’s limited circle, a maximum of 20 people, is not a limitation, it’s a feature. According to Matt, it reflects what people naturally want from social connection: not more content, but deeper intimacy.
And because Locket is a widget, the photo is always visible. You’re not opening an app to check in. You’re just unlocking your phone and seeing a real moment from someone you love.
From Personal Project to Venture-Backed Company
Locket might have started as a gift, but it didn’t stay small for long.
After the initial launch, the app’s growth was explosive. A short video Matt posted on TikTok demonstrating how it worked quickly gained traction, reaching 100,000 views in just a few days. Users started making their own videos, often showing their Lockets filled with pictures from best friends, siblings, and partners. One TikTok in the UK got five million views in a single day.
This viral attention pushed Locket to the top of the App Store charts. But what made it stick was the emotional connection. People weren’t just using it because it was new. They were using it because it gave them a small but meaningful way to feel close to someone they missed.
Matt raised $12.5m in funding to support the app’s growth, including a $10m round led by Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, and an earlier $2.5m round from friends and family. Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger also backed the company.
With that funding, Matt began building out the team, which is now about ten people, and started developing new features, such as captions and themed holiday frames. More recently, Locket has begun working on messaging features, though carefully, to avoid over-complicating what people already love about the app.
What Makes Locket Different
At a time when social media is often overwhelming and filled with endless content, Locket offers something much smaller. There’s no incentive to post more or try to grow your audience. Instead, users are encouraged to share just one photo at a time, and only with the people who matter.
Locket’s design avoids many of the addictive patterns that dominate traditional apps. You can’t endlessly scroll. You can’t post to strangers. You can’t even “like” anything. All you can do is send and receive photos, directly and quietly.
And that’s what users love.
Matt has said that he wants Locket to be the best way to stay in contact with the 10 to 15 people who matter most. That idea, simple, specific, and emotionally resonant, has helped the app grow without needing massive ad spend or influencer campaigns.
Instead, growth has come from real users sharing real stories. Word of mouth. Screenshots. TikToks that feel like journal entries. That kind of sharing isn’t scalable in the traditional sense, but it’s far more powerful in building loyalty.
Global Reach, Local Feel
Although it started with one couple in California, Locket now has users all over the world. It’s especially popular among younger audiences in countries like the UK, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and the US. Its appeal is cross-cultural because it doesn’t rely on language or trends, just the basic desire to stay close to people you care about.
Despite the growth, Matt and his team are not rushing to commercialize the app. Locket remains free, though the team is exploring subscription options for advanced features. Monetization will happen, but not at the expense of the app’s core values.
Where Locket Goes From Here
The roadmap is careful and focused. New features like messaging and improved group support are in development, but each addition is weighed against one core question: does this make it easier to stay close to someone you care about?
That’s the vision Matt is committed to. Not building a massive network. Not launching flashy features. Just continuing to be the small, quiet corner of your phone where your most important people live.
