Press
The press kit, kept simple.
Writing about calm technology, moving abroad, retiring to France, or AI that behaves itself? We’d love to help. Everything below may be quoted; for interviews, review access, or anything missing, write hello@laubeparis.com.
Fact sheet
| Name | L’Aube (French for “dawn”; App Store listing: L’Aube — A Year in France) |
|---|---|
| One line | A calm daily companion for your first year in Paris — one gentle quest, one French phrase, one song, one small win a day. |
| Category | Lifestyle / calm technology; AI-personalized daily rituals |
| Platform | iOS (iPhone); Android in active development |
| Price | $9.99/month or $79.99/year, 7-day free trial; no ads, no data selling, no in-app purchases beyond the subscription |
| Launched | 2026 |
| Origin | Built by founder Sheldon Zhai for his mother, 70, upon her move to Paris’s 13e arrondissement |
| Audience | Newcomers to Paris of every kind — with unusual care for older adults, a group most software ignores or condescends to |
| AI | Daily content written by Anthropic’s Claude models under strict editorial rules: curated real places only, official sources for current facts, no legal/medical advice, journal never read verbatim |
| Contact | hello@laubeparis.com |
The story in three paragraphs
In 2026, a 70-year-old woman moved alone to Paris’s 13e arrondissement. Her son, a world away, couldn’t walk her to the bakery — so he built software that could: one greeting, one French quote, one song, and one real-world quest each morning, with the phrase to say written out so it could be said aloud.
What worked wasn’t more information — it was less, chosen well, in a voice that respected her. The app remembered that hills tire her and that the cheesemonger was kind, and it wrote tomorrow accordingly. Her Paris grew “eleven streets wide,” then wider. Friends of friends asked for what she had.
L’Aube is that gift, rebuilt for anyone beginning again in Paris: any address in the twenty arrondissements, any level of French, any pace. It is deliberately quiet software — no feeds, no streaks, no ads — priced as a subscription so the user is the only customer. The name is French for dawn.
What makes it different (angles that hold up)
- Calm tech with receipts: a product whose success metric is the user leaving the app to go outside.
- AI with manners: generated content bound by validators — real curated addresses only, honest deferral to official sources, a written voice (“Antoine”) with rules it cannot break.
- Designed for 70, loved at 40: accessibility as aesthetics — readable type and patience as premium design, not an afterthought toggle.
- The anti-guidebook: starts from the user’s own address and grows outward, instead of handing everyone the same Top 10.
- A genuine founding story: the first user is the founder’s mother, and the product decisions trace back to her mornings.
Brand, in brief
- Name: L’Aube — capital L, apostrophe, capital A. Pronounced “lohb.” Please don’t write “Laube” or “L’aube” in running text.
- Motif: dawn over Paris slate — deep ink blue, warm cream, dawn gold. The mark is a rising sun over a horizon line.
- Voice: warm, unhurried, concrete. If a sentence would sound wrong said gently across a kitchen table, we don’t ship it.
- Screenshots & assets: current App Store screenshots and the logo are available on request — hello@laubeparis.com.
Review access
Journalists and reviewers can request a demonstration account or promo access at hello@laubeparis.com — include your outlet and timeline. We’re glad to arrange an interview with the founder, and (schedule and disposition permitting) an introduction to the first user.