The first lightweight web tool that truly understands chat fiction — from group chat POV switching to message quoting, so writers can focus on storytelling.
Used by fanfiction writers in China to create "捡手机文学" (pick-up-phone stories) — fictional narratives told entirely through chat screenshots.
On China social media, there's a wildly popular fanfiction format called "捡手机文学" (pick-up-phone literature) — stories told entirely through fake chat screenshots, as if you picked up someone's phone and scrolled through their conversations.
Writers build these scenes message by message: choosing who says what, when, and from whose perspective — then export the result as a long image to post on social media (Rednote, Weibo, LOFTER).
Chat Crafter is a visual editor for building these scenes. Think of it as a screenplay editor, but the output looks like a real chat app.
There are a few chat screenshot tools out there. None of them were built for fiction writers. Here's what Chat Crafter does that they can't:
Switch whose phone you're looking at. All bubbles swap sides, and contact names update to match that character's address book. Works in both single chat and group chat.
No existing tool supports group chat POV switching. The closest competitor only handles single chat.
Characters can quote-reply to earlier messages, just like in a real chat. This is essential for realistic group conversations — and zero competitors support it.
Change a message's timestamp, and all subsequent timestamps shift to stay in order. No more manually fixing 50 messages because you moved one scene earlier.
Paste your script in Character: Dialogue format and it parses into message cards instantly. Writers draft in notes apps first — this bridges the gap.
Export your entire conversation as a paginated long image — the exact format readers expect on Rednote and Weibo. On iOS, saves directly to Photos via Web Share API.
Group conversations into stories and fandoms. Because writers think in narratives, not chat logs.
Inspiration strikes at midnight on your phone. Chat Crafter is a lightweight web app — open it in any browser, no download, no app store. Desktop works too.
- Undo (20 steps per conversation)
- Bulk select — copy text, reorder, delete multiple messages
- Local auto-save — IndexedDB persistence, never lose your work
Chat Crafter isn't a portfolio toy — writers are using it to publish real works. ---- last update: April 6, 2026
I'm a data scientist, not a frontend developer. I built Chat Crafter using Claude Code as my coding partner. I made every product and architecture decision, Claude wrote the code, and I reviewed every line.
The interesting part isn't the React code. It's the product thinking:
- User research first — interviewed real fanfiction writers, analyzed 170+ comments of current fanfiction writers, mapped every pain point before writing the code
- Real competitive analysis — tested the top 3 most popular existing tools (微截图, Talkmaker, 真言截图) hands-on, identified the gaps no one was filling
This is a product built on research, not vibes.