Messages That Grow Trees: How Shared Gardens Work in amend
In amend, every conversation grows a tree you share with your friend. When it blooms, a new species is planted. Here is how shared gardens, flowering species and achievements work.
In short: In amend, every conversation grows a tree that you and your friend share. The more you talk, the more it grows. When it reaches 100%, it blooms, and a new tree of a different species is planted next to it, so over time each friendship becomes a small forest.
Most messengers measure how long you stay in the app. We wanted amend to show something kinder: the relationships you grow. That is where the idea of the shared garden came from.
How a shared garden grows
- A seed is planted when you start a chat. You can see it in the chat header.
- It grows with your conversation. Messages from both of you count, so it is a garden you grow together.
- It blooms at 100%. Roughly every 80 messages, the tree is fully grown.
- A new species is planted. The next tree is always a different species from the last one, so your garden keeps changing.
22 species, 14 of them flowering
Each tree is drawn on your phone from a unique seed, so no two look exactly the same: different branches, a shaded canopy, swaying leaves and petals. Besides the classic eight trees, amend now has fourteen flowering species, including some that anyone from Bangladesh will recognise:
- Krishnachura and Radhachura, with their fiery summer blossoms
- Sonalu (golden shower), Jarul, Shimul and Kadam
- Sakura, Magnolia, Champa, Bougainvillea and Wisteria
- Dogwood, Apple blossom and Rhododendron
Your forest, and your friends’ forests
Your own forest lives in the Forest tab. If you and a friend both choose to share your stats, you can see each other on the friends leaderboard and tap to visit their forest. Sharing is off unless you turn it on, and only the numbers needed for the leaderboard are sent, encrypted like every other amend message.
Achievements you can share
amend has achievements for things like trees grown, streaks, eco challenges and gardens that bloomed. Each one has four tiers, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Emerald, with an animated badge. When you unlock one, you can send it to a friend inside amend or share it as an image anywhere else.
Are these real trees?
Not yet. The trees in amend are digital: a reminder that small daily habits add up. amend also has 30 daily eco challenges and an Impact tab that estimates the carbon footprint of the data you send, so the forest is connected to real-world habits. Planting real trees is something we would love to do with a partner in the future, and we will share it here if it happens.
Curious? See all amend features, read what Nostr is, or check the Get amend page to join.
