Sanct Social, a Singapore-registered social app for close friends and family, is introducing itself to Malaysian readers with the first episode of its short film series, “She didn’t tell anyone”, now on YouTube. On Sanct, a user’s first friends are added by meeting in person and scanning each other’s QR code, so every circle is made up of people the user actually knows, and every moment shared has an audience the user chooses. The app is available in Bahasa Melayu, English and Bahasa Indonesia. Malaysia is one of Sanct’s first three launch countries, alongside Singapore and Indonesia, where the app is now on App Store pre-order for 28 and 29 September. Sanct has more than 350 active users from its closed beta, and 1,600 people on its waiting list.
KUALA LUMPUR, 23 September 2026 – A young woman has a bad day at work. On the bus home she tells no one. All she does is share a song with her closest friends on Sanct. Within minutes a sticker arrives, then another song, then a selfie from a friend on her way over. By the end of the evening, they are together.
That is the whole of “She didn’t tell anyone”, the first film in the series that Sanct, a social app for close friends and family, is bringing to Malaysia this week. The film grew out of a real story from a beta user, shared with permission. Nothing in it is invented except the names: the app screens are the app as it is.
A circle of people you actually know
Sanct is built for the people who would notice. A user’s first friends are added by meeting in person and scanning each other’s QR code. Search and friend suggestions open only after five friends, and reach only friends of friends. There is no public feed and there are no ads. Every moment a user shares has an audience they choose: everyone in their circle, selected friends, or only themselves.
Inside that circle the app follows a day: group chats for family and close friends with reactions, voice and video calls, a check-in at a real place, a sleep check-in that lets friends see when someone is asleep, and a good-morning screen with the night’s rest. Sancty, the small companion inside the app, is there when a user needs company. At 6pm every day the Sanctum opens, a small beach inside the app where a user can spend time with whoever comes in.
The app is available in Bahasa Melayu, as well as English and Bahasa Indonesia, with the language chosen in the user’s settings.
Made for families that live across a border
The films that follow Episode 1 tell the story of one family living between two countries: a daughter who works abroad, her sister and their parents at home. Singapore is home to more than a million people born in Malaysia, and the Causeway and Second Link carry more than 300,000 crossings a day. For many Malaysian families, a daughter who “cannot come home yet” is not a film plot; it is Sunday dinner with one chair empty.
“Malaysia was in our plans from the first day, because so many Malaysian families live the way the family in our films does: one person across the Causeway, the rest at home,” said Mr Sion Abednego, founder of Sanct. “Sanct is not there to replace going home. It is the bridge for the evenings in between, in a circle where nobody is a stranger, and in your own language.”
How user data is handled
Sanct has no ads and no public feed, and it does not sell user data to third parties. Sancty processes data only inside the user’s own account in order to respond, and this data is not used to train public AI models. Sanct’s privacy policy is published at https://sanctsocial.app/privacy
Where Sanct is now
Sanct opened its closed beta on 23 August in Jakarta, where 147 people signed up on the first day. It now has more than 350 active users, and the 1,600 people on its waiting list are being let in gradually. Last week the start-up met 78 visitors at its first booth, at Tech in Asia Conference 2026 in Singapore. The app is now on App Store pre-order, with release in Singapore on 28 September and in Indonesia on 29 September. Malaysia is one of the first three launch countries; its release date will be announced separately. Core features are free, and optional premium features will follow, with no ads in either.
Episodes 1 to 4 of the series are on YouTube. Sign-ups are open at https://sanct.social
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