We use our phones to manage almost everything: work, money, calendars, and conversations. Yet when a relationship becomes confusing or a major life change leaves us feeling lost, finding somewhere to talk it through can still be difficult.
Iris, also known as IrisChat, was created to make everyday emotional support easier to access—through a conversation in iMessage.
What Is Iris?
Iris is an AI-powered companion adults can text to explore their thoughts, process feelings, and work through everyday situations. Available 24/7, it offers a familiar starting point: open iMessage and say what is on your mind.
There is no separate app to download or complicated interface to learn. Users can bring a specific question, describe something that happened, or start with, “I don’t really know how to explain this.”
Iris is designed to listen without judgment, ask thoughtful questions, and offer gentle reframes or next steps. It also remembers context from previous conversations, helping users continue discussing a situation as it develops.
Why Was Iris Created?
Iris grew out of a simple question: how can technology help people understand themselves better?
Everyday life presents situations that take time to process. A friend may be busy when something happens. A family disagreement may feel too personal for a group chat. Someone may have talked about a breakup several times and still have unresolved feelings.
Iris was created to provide an additional place for those conversations. Its purpose is to make reflection accessible in the moment, without requiring users to schedule time, establish a new routine, or arrive with a clearly defined question.
That could mean talking through a divorce, adjusting to an empty nest, processing grief, or understanding why a familiar relationship pattern keeps returning.
How Does Iris Help?
The experience starts with whatever the user brings to the conversation.
Someone might write, “Every time my daughter doesn’t reply, I assume she’s upset with me.” Another person might say, “I agreed to something I didn’t want to do, and now I’m frustrated.”
Iris is designed to help users explore these situations through conversation:
- Put feelings into words. Describe what happened and identify what feels difficult.
- Explore another perspective. Consider interpretations that may not have occurred to them.
- Notice recurring patterns. Revisit familiar reactions or situations using previously shared context.
- Consider a next step. Think through a conversation, a boundary, or a decision while remaining in control of what happens next.
Continuity is central to the approach. A difficult relationship or life transition rarely fits into one question. Remembering context allows the conversation to develop as the user’s circumstances change.
Why Can Talking Things Through Be Useful?
Research offers support for two ideas behind this approach: putting feelings into words can affect emotional experience, and a thoughtful response can help people feel heard.
Putting feelings into words
In a 2011 study published in Emotion, researchers examined how labeling emotions affected people’s responses to emotional images. Participants reported less distress when labeling their emotional responses to negative pictures than when simply viewing them.
The research involved controlled laboratory tasks, so it does not establish that every text conversation will produce the same result. It does, however, provide evidence that naming an emotional experience can change how it feels.
Receiving a response that makes you feel heard
A 2024 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examined whether AI-generated responses could make people feel heard.
Participants rated AI-generated responses more favorably on that measure than responses from untrained human responders. However, knowing that a response came from AI reduced the effect. The findings highlight both the potential of conversational technology and the importance of how people perceive the interaction.
Neither study tested Iris. They provide context for the approach, rather than evidence of Iris-specific outcomes.
Why Put It Inside iMessage?
Accessibility is part of Iris’s product design. When something is bothering you, even the effort of opening an unfamiliar app and deciding where to begin can become a reason to put it off.
With Iris, the entry point is a text message. Users can start a conversation after a difficult interaction, revisit it during a quiet evening, or return when something changes.
The goal is to make thoughtful conversation easy to fit into everyday life, with space for both immediate concerns and ongoing reflection.
Who Is Iris For?
Iris is intended for adults who have something on their mind and want help thinking it through. Common situations include:
- Relationship uncertainty, breakups, and divorce.
- Overthinking after a text or disagreement.
- Grief and significant life changes.
- Everyday stress and difficult decisions.
- Understanding personal patterns and expressing needs.
Built by a team that includes clinicians, therapists, scientists, and mental health professionals, Iris is designed to communicate in a warm, grounded, and direct way.
It is a non-clinical wellness companion for adults aged 18 and older. Its responses are generated by AI; it does not provide diagnosis, treatment, or emergency support, and it does not replace professional care.
To learn more or start a conversation, visit chatwithiris.com.