Custom Roles: Teaching SharkeyBoard Your Unique Relationships
How SharkeyBoard learns your communication patterns and adapts to every relationship in your life
Published: October 28, 2025 | Reading time: 10 minutes
Every relationship in your life is unique. The way you talk to your romantic partner is different from how you chat with your boss. Your conversations with your best friend have a distinct rhythm compared to how you text your parents. Traditional AI keyboards ignore these nuances, treating every conversation the same.
SharkeyBoard's Custom Roles feature changes everything. It's an intelligent system that learns the unique communication patterns of each relationship in your life, adapting its suggestions to match the specific dynamic, tone, and history you share with each person.
What You'll Learn
- ✓ How Custom Roles work and why they're revolutionary
- ✓ The four types of relationship roles you can create
- ✓ How SharkeyBoard learns from your conversation history
- ✓ Real-world examples of Custom Roles in action
- ✓ Best practices for setting up and managing custom roles
What Are Custom Roles?
Custom Roles are personalized communication profiles that you create for specific people or types of relationships in your life. Unlike generic AI assistants that give the same suggestions to everyone, Custom Roles create unique response patterns tailored to:
- The specific person you're communicating with
- Your relationship history together
- Communication patterns you've established
- Emotional context and dynamics unique to this relationship
- Inside jokes, references, and shared experiences
The Magic of Semantic Memory
SharkeyBoard doesn't just remember words—it understands meaning. When you create a Custom Role, four AI experts work together to build a comprehensive understanding of your relationship:
🔍 The Memory Analyst
Extracts meaningful details from your conversations - personal information, preferences, important dates, ongoing situations, and emotional states.
💡 The Pattern Expert
Identifies communication styles - how formal or casual you are, what kind of humor you use, how you express emotions, and your typical response patterns.
🎯 The Context Master
Understands relationship dynamics - power balance, emotional closeness, shared history, current life situations, and how these affect communication.
🧭 The Response Strategist
Crafts replies that strengthen the relationship - choosing the right tone, referencing shared experiences, and expressing emotions in ways that match your established dynamic.
Four Types of Custom Roles
SharkeyBoard supports four main categories of custom roles, each designed for different relationship types and communication needs:
1. Romantic Partner Role
Purpose: Maintain emotional intimacy and express affection appropriately in your romantic relationship.
What SharkeyBoard Learns:
- • Your preferred terms of endearment (babe, love, sweetheart, honey)
- • How you express affection and love through text
- • Your communication rhythm during different relationship phases
- • How you handle conflicts or disagreements
- • Special dates, inside jokes, and meaningful references
- • Their communication preferences and emotional needs
- • Topics that are sensitive or particularly important
Example Conversation Evolution:
Week 1 (Basic Understanding):
Partner: "Had a rough day at work"
Suggested reply: "I'm sorry to hear that. Want to talk about it?"
After 3 Months (Deep Learning):
Partner: "Had a rough day at work"
Suggested reply: "Oh no, was it the Johnson project again? Want me to bring your favorite ice cream and we can watch that show you love? ❤️"
Pro Tip: SharkeyBoard learns to match your relationship's unique love language - whether that's words of affirmation, playful teasing, deep emotional support, or practical problem-solving.
2. Family Member Role
Purpose: Maintain appropriate respect and warmth while communicating with parents, siblings, or other family members.
What SharkeyBoard Learns:
- • The right balance of respect and familiarity for each family member
- • Family traditions, inside family jokes, and shared memories
- • Topics to approach carefully (finances, relationships, career choices)
- • How different family members prefer to receive information
- • Cultural or generational communication preferences
- • Family communication style (formal vs. casual, emoji usage, etc.)
Example: Communicating with Parents
Early Learning Phase:
Mom: "Did you eat dinner?"
Suggested reply: "Yes, I did. Thanks for checking!"
After Learning Your Style:
Mom: "Did you eat dinner?"
Suggested reply: "Yes Mom, I made that recipe you taught me last month! It turned out great. Missing your cooking though ❤️"
Pro Tip: Create separate roles for different family members (Mom, Dad, Siblings) as each relationship has unique dynamics and communication patterns.
3. Close Friend Role
Purpose: Capture the authentic, playful, and supportive communication style you share with close friends.
What SharkeyBoard Learns:
- • Your unique brand of humor and inside jokes
- • Shared interests, hobbies, and conversation topics
- • How you support each other during tough times
- • Your teasing and joking boundaries
- • Friend group dynamics and shared friend references
- • Emoji and meme usage patterns specific to this friendship
- • Ongoing storylines and situations you discuss regularly
Example: Best Friend Communication
Generic AI Response:
Friend: "Guess who I ran into today..."
Basic suggestion: "Who did you run into?"
SharkeyBoard Custom Role:
Friend: "Guess who I ran into today..."
Smart suggestion: "OMG please tell me it's not your ex again 😱 SPILL THE TEA"
(Based on previous conversations about an awkward ex-encounter and your friend group's "tea spilling" language)
Pro Tip: Friend roles work great in both one-on-one chats and group conversations, adapting to whether you're having a deep heart-to-heart or participating in group banter.
4. Professional Contact Role
Purpose: Maintain professionalism while building genuine work relationships with colleagues, clients, or business contacts.
What SharkeyBoard Learns:
- • Appropriate level of formality for this specific relationship
- • Project names, deadlines, and work context you share
- • Their communication preferences (formal, casual-professional, etc.)
- • Topics you've discussed previously in work context
- • Your working relationship dynamic (peer, manager, client)
- • Industry-specific terminology and jargon you both use
- • Response time expectations and communication urgency levels
Example: Colleague Communication
Week 1 (Formal):
Colleague: "Can you review the quarterly report?"
Suggested reply: "Of course, I'll review it by end of day."
After Building Relationship:
Colleague: "Can you review the quarterly report?"
Suggested reply: "Absolutely! I'll get you feedback by 3pm. Is this for the client meeting tomorrow or the internal review?"
Pro Tip: Professional roles can evolve from formal to warm-professional as relationships develop, and SharkeyBoard adapts to this natural progression.
How SharkeyBoard Learns From Your Conversations
The learning process is automatic, private, and incredibly sophisticated. Here's how SharkeyBoard builds understanding of each custom role:
📚 Phase 1: Initial Setup
You create a custom role and provide basic information:
- • Role type (romantic, family, friend, professional)
- • Person's name or nickname
- • Optional description of your relationship
- • Initial tone preference (warm, playful, respectful, etc.)
🧠 Phase 2: Pattern Recognition
As you communicate, SharkeyBoard analyzes:
- • Words and phrases you commonly use
- • How you structure sentences
- • Emoji and punctuation patterns
- • Response timing and length preferences
- • Topics you discuss frequently
🎯 Phase 3: Contextual Understanding
Over time, SharkeyBoard learns deeper patterns:
- • Relationship dynamics and power balance
- • Emotional intelligence and sensitivity needs
- • Reference points and shared memories
- • Communication triggers and preferences
- • Evolving relationship status
🔒 Your Privacy is Protected
All relationship learning happens securely and privately:
- • Your conversation data is stored locally on your device first
- • Only anonymized patterns are analyzed for learning
- • You control what data is shared and with whom
- • Relationship memories stay private and encrypted
- • You can delete role data anytime, completely
Real-World Custom Roles in Action
Let's see how Custom Roles transform real communication scenarios across different relationships:
Scenario 1: Long-Distance Romantic Partner
Incoming Message:
"Missing you extra today... it's raining and reminds me of that weekend in Portland"
Generic AI Suggestion:
"I miss you too. Hope you have a good day."
❌ Generic, misses emotional context
SharkeyBoard Custom Role:
"Missing you so much too, love ❤️ That Portland weekend was perfect - remember how we got caught in the rain at Powell's and ended up staying for hours? Only 12 more days until I see you. Can't wait to hold you again 💕"
✓ Recalls shared memory, uses preferred pet name, references countdown to next visit (learned from previous conversations)
Scenario 2: Work Colleague Relationship Evolution
Month 1 - Professional:
Colleague: "Thanks for your help on the presentation!"
Your style: "You're welcome. Happy to collaborate."
Month 6 - Building Rapport:
Colleague: "Thanks for covering my meeting yesterday!"
SharkeyBoard suggests: "No problem at all! Figured you needed the break after that marathon project sprint. Hope your kid's recital went well! ☕"
(Learned about their child's recital from previous conversations, adapted to warmer tone as relationship developed)
Best Practices for Custom Roles
Get the most out of Custom Roles with these proven strategies:
✓ DO
- • Create separate roles for significantly different relationships
- • Let the AI learn naturally from your actual conversations
- • Update role descriptions as relationships evolve
- • Use roles consistently to improve learning accuracy
- • Review and refine suggested replies to teach the AI
- • Be patient - best results come after 2-3 weeks of usage
✗ DON'T
- • Over-customize with too many similar roles
- • Expect perfect suggestions in the first few days
- • Use the same role for vastly different people
- • Forget to update roles as relationships change
- • Ignore the learning process - always send replies as-is
- • Share sensitive relationship data unnecessarily
How to Set Up Your First Custom Role
Getting started with Custom Roles is simple. Here's a step-by-step guide:
- 1
Open SharkeyBoard Settings
Navigate to Settings → Smart Replies → Custom Roles
- 2
Create New Role
Tap "Add Custom Role" and choose the relationship type (Romantic, Family, Friend, or Professional)
- 3
Add Basic Information
Enter the person's name/nickname and optionally describe your relationship dynamic
- 4
Link to Contact
Connect the role to the appropriate contact in your phone
- 5
Start Communicating
SharkeyBoard will automatically begin learning from your conversations with this person
The Compound Effect of Custom Roles
Here's what makes Custom Roles truly transformative: they get better with every conversation.
Week 1-2: Foundation Building
Learning basic communication patterns, common phrases, and relationship tone
Week 3-4: Pattern Recognition
Understanding emotional dynamics, inside jokes, and contextual references
Month 2+: Deep Intelligence
Anticipating needs, recalling distant conversations, and suggesting contextually perfect responses
Why Custom Roles Change Everything
Generic AI treats all relationships the same. SharkeyBoard's Custom Roles recognize what humans instinctively know: every relationship is unique, with its own language, history, and dynamics.
By learning the nuances of each relationship in your life, Custom Roles help you:
- Strengthen emotional bonds through more authentic, personalized communication
- Save mental energy by not having to constantly adjust your communication style manually
- Build trust by consistently communicating in ways that resonate with each person
- Navigate complexity of managing multiple relationship types throughout your day
- Express yourself better by having AI that truly understands your communication goals
Ready to Transform Your Relationships?
Start using Custom Roles today and experience communication that truly understands your unique relationships.