OsPais.app

Project: ospais — Personal Records for Separated Parents
Development: Custom Web Application

When parents separate, everyday family life often becomes more complicated.

Between messages, phone calls, parenting schedules, school activities, shared expenses and changes to arrangements, there is a lot of information to keep track of.

The problem isn't necessarily a lack of communication. It's that important information ends up scattered across dozens of different places.

An agreement might be buried in a WhatsApp conversation, a payment recorded in a banking app, and a change to a parenting schedule mentioned during a phone call.

Months later, finding out exactly what was agreed, when something happened or which expenses were paid can become a frustrating task.

That was the challenge behind ospais, a web application I developed to help separated parents keep their family-related information organised, accessible and properly documented.

The objective was simple: bring everything together in one place, making it easier to understand what happened, keep reliable records and access the information whenever it is needed.

The Challenge: Important Information Everywhere

Managing parenting responsibilities after a separation involves much more than organising a calendar.

There are school commitments, medical appointments, collection times, holidays, unexpected changes and expenses that may need to be shared.

Many of these arrangements are discussed through messages or phone calls, while other information is stored in emails, documents, invoices and personal notes.

Over time, this creates a considerable amount of information that can be difficult to organise.

Finding a particular message from several months earlier may mean searching through thousands of conversations.

Understanding how an arrangement changed may require comparing messages, calendar entries and personal records.

And when information needs to be shared with a lawyer, mediator or another authorised professional, preparing a clear account of events can become even more challenging.

The problem isn't remembering everything. It's having a reliable way to find and organise what matters.

One Place for Everyday Family Life

I developed ospais as a central platform for organising information related to parenting responsibilities after separation.

Rather than switching between different applications, parents can keep relevant records within one structured environment.

The platform brings together conversations, phone calls, parenting schedules, appointments, expenses, documents and personal notes.

Each area has its own purpose, but the information can be viewed together when necessary.

This makes it easier to follow events over time, understand previous arrangements and find supporting documents without having to search through several different sources.

The goal is to turn scattered information into a clear, organised record of family life.

A Timeline That Connects Everything

The Timeline is one of the most important features of ospais.

It brings together different events in chronological order, allowing users to see what happened on a particular day or during a selected period.

Messages, calls, diary entries, documents and expenses can all be viewed within the same timeline.

For example, a parent can review a conversation about a change to the parenting schedule and then see related events or records from the following days.

Instead of looking at each piece of information separately, the timeline provides context.

This is particularly useful when trying to understand the sequence of events or prepare a summary covering several weeks or months.

Everything has its place, its date and its context.

Conversations and Calls, Properly Organised

A significant part of communication between separated parents takes place through messaging applications.

WhatsApp conversations can contain important agreements, changes to arrangements, requests and confirmations.

However, finding specific information in a long conversation isn't always easy.

ospais allows users to import their WhatsApp conversation exports, including messages and available attachments.

The application organises these records so they can be searched and reviewed alongside other relevant information.

It also supports the import of phone call records from files supplied by telephone operators.

Contacts can be organised according to their relationship with the family, helping distinguish between parents, schools, relatives and other relevant people.

The result is a clearer view of communication history, without having to navigate between several applications.

Imported conversations and call records preserve what was recorded, but they do not independently establish whether every statement made during a conversation was accurate.

Parenting Schedules Without the Confusion

Organising parenting time can be one of the most demanding parts of family life after separation.

Regular schedules may be relatively straightforward, but holidays, school breaks, appointments and unexpected changes often require adjustments.

ospais includes a dedicated Parenting Responsibilities area, with a calendar designed to record the agreed parenting schedule.

Users can follow the planned arrangements, register changes and associate relevant information with specific dates.

The application also helps identify days for which supporting records are available.

This makes it easier to review previous arrangements and understand what was originally planned and what was subsequently recorded.

Rather than relying on memory or searching through old messages, users have a structured history available whenever they need it.

School Activities, Appointments and Daily Commitments

Children's schedules involve more than parenting arrangements.

There are school timetables, extracurricular activities, appointments, collection times and important dates that need to be remembered.

ospais includes an Agenda designed to organise these commitments.

Parents can register regular activities, appointments and other relevant events.

Notifications can be sent to a smartphone, helping users remember when they need to collect or take a child somewhere.

The platform also includes a way to keep track of commitments and whether they have been fulfilled.

These features help organise everyday responsibilities and reduce the need to keep important information in separate calendars or personal notes.

Shared Expenses, With Everything Accounted For

Managing expenses can become another source of confusion after separation.

School materials, medical appointments, activities and other costs may need to be recorded and divided according to existing arrangements.

ospais includes a dedicated area for family expenses, allowing users to associate costs with individual children and organise them by category.

Each expense can include relevant information and supporting documents, such as invoices or receipts.

The application also tracks whether an amount has been requested, paid or remains outstanding.

This provides a clearer view of financial records over time.

Instead of relying on spreadsheets, screenshots and informal calculations, users can consult an organised history of recorded expenses.

Every amount has a purpose, a date and a corresponding record.

Invoices That Organise Themselves

Recording expenses manually can be time-consuming, especially when there are numerous invoices to process.

To simplify this task, ospais includes a dedicated email inbox for receiving invoices.

When supported PDF invoices arrive, the application can read the relevant information and prepare the corresponding expense entry.

This reduces the need to enter the same details manually.

Users can then review the information and maintain an organised record of the documents.

The objective is to make expense management easier while preserving the original invoice for future consultation.

A Clearer View of Loans and Financial Responsibilities

One of the more distinctive features of ospais concerns the management of loans.

A monthly loan repayment isn't necessarily the same as an ordinary household expense.

For example, a mortgage repayment may include both interest and a reduction in the outstanding loan balance.

These components have different financial meanings, particularly when the loan is associated with jointly owned property.

ospais separates principal repayments from interest, allowing users to understand how each instalment is composed.

This provides greater clarity when reviewing financial information or preparing records for discussion.

The application can also maintain running balances of amounts owed, payments made and outstanding entries.

It doesn't decide what either parent is legally required to pay. Instead, it provides an organised and transparent record of the figures, helping users apply and review the arrangements relevant to their circumstances.

Documents, Files and Supporting Records

Important family information doesn't exist only in messages and financial records.

Documents, photographs, letters, agreements and other files may also need to be preserved.

ospais includes a dedicated Document Archive, where users can organise and access files associated with their records.

Original documents are preserved, allowing them to be consulted whenever necessary.

The application also provides tools for recording personal notes, maintaining a daily journal and identifying information that still needs supporting documentation.

This allows users to build a more complete picture of their family-related records over time.

Rather than keeping information in several unrelated folders, everything can be organised within a single application.

Reports That Are Easier to Understand and Share

One of the main objectives behind ospais was making it easier to prepare information for situations where a clear account of events is needed.

The platform allows users to generate reports covering selected periods, bringing together relevant records in chronological order.

These reports can be reviewed, printed or exported as PDF documents.

They can help organise information before a meeting with a lawyer, mediator or another authorised professional.

Each exported document includes measures that allow its integrity to be checked, helping recipients confirm whether the file has been modified after it was generated.

There is, however, an important distinction.

Document integrity confirms that an exported file has not been changed. It does not prove that every event or statement recorded within it is factually correct.

The value of the application lies in preserving and organising information, making it easier to review and present, not in replacing legal assessment or independently verifying what happened.

Privacy Was a Priority from the Beginning

The information stored in ospais can be extremely personal.

Conversations about children, family arrangements, financial records and private documents deserve particular care.

For that reason, privacy and separation of information were central considerations throughout development.

Each family has its own dedicated data storage, kept separate from other families using the platform.

Users can also decide whether to grant access to other people and which sections those people are allowed to view.

For example, a lawyer may be given access to financial information without receiving access to private conversations.

The application also provides encrypted backups and options for exporting family records.

The aim is to give users greater control over their information while reducing unnecessary exposure.

Available on Different Devices and in Four Languages

ospais was designed to be accessible without requiring users to install complicated software.

As a web application, it can be used from computers, tablets and smartphones.

Its interface adapts to different screen sizes, making it possible to consult records, review appointments or add information while away from home.

The application is available in Portuguese, English, Spanish and French, allowing people with different language preferences to use its features.

Notifications help users keep track of relevant events and everyday commitments.

The goal is to provide a practical tool that fits into everyday life, rather than becoming another complicated system to manage.

Designed for Years of Family Records

Family history isn't something that can always be reduced to a few weeks or months.

Messages, documents and financial information may need to remain accessible for several years.

For that reason, ospais was developed with long-term use in mind.

The platform is designed to handle extensive records, including large conversation histories and substantial collections of documents.

It also provides ways to export information in accessible formats, reducing dependence on the application itself.

This approach reflects one of the most important principles of the project:

Information should remain organised, accessible and useful as time passes.

The Result: More Clarity, Less Searching

ospais is currently in production and continues to evolve through real-world use.

The application brings together areas that would otherwise require several separate tools: conversations, calls, calendars, personal notes, expenses, financial records and document management.

Its central timeline provides context, while reports make it easier to review selected periods.

The parenting calendar helps organise responsibilities, the expense management tools provide financial clarity, and the document archive keeps supporting records accessible.

The result is a platform designed to reduce the effort involved in finding and organising information.

It cannot eliminate disagreements or resolve the personal difficulties associated with separation.

But it can help remove some of the confusion caused by missing, scattered or poorly organised records.

Technology Built Around a Real Human Need

ospais is one of those projects where the challenge goes far beyond developing software.

The objective wasn't simply to create another calendar, messaging archive or expense tracker.

It was to understand a sensitive and complicated reality and develop a practical tool that could make it easier to manage.

Every feature was designed around a specific need, whether organising a conversation, checking a parenting arrangement, recording a payment or preparing a report.

Privacy, clarity and long-term access to information played a fundamental role in the decisions behind the platform.

For me, this project reflects what software development should ultimately be about: using technology to solve meaningful problems and make people's lives a little easier.

Because when family life becomes complicated, having everything clearly organised can make a genuine difference.

ospais — Less confusion. More clarity. Everything in one place.