People shared the things they found on their partner’s phone that instantly changed their relationship – 17 transformative discoveries

Phones can be a tricky topic for couples to navigate. If you’re too protective of them you look suspicious, but everyone needs their privacy.

Every now and then though, people get a glimpse of their partner’s phone and come across something they didn’t expect to see. Redditor gotwire was keen to hear about these discoveries, so they threw this question out to the good people of r/AskReddit:

‘What’s something you found on a partner’s phone that instantly changed the relationship forever — but they never knew you saw it?’

We’re read all the replies – well, quite a few of them – so you don’t have to, and they really are a mixture of the wholesome and the horrific. These 17 were especially memorable.

1.
‘There was a photo album of nothing but pictures of me and our son titled, “My Perfect Men.” There were pictures in there I didn’t even know about — him helping me wash my car, us laying on the couch, him teaching me Minecraft, me helping him ride a bike, etc.

‘I was a mess for a while. Ugly crying. Happy tears, but ugly crying. I had no idea I was loved so deeply by her.
My wife is quiet, introverted and didn’t grow up in an environment that was outwardly loving. I wasn’t snooping at all, but asked her to share some recent pictures of our son after a sports day at his school. I saw her in a different light after that. Our already good marriage hit a level I didn’t even know was possible.’
-fameone098

2.
‘A few years ago, I was adding some items to the Notes app grocery list on my wife’s phone. The app opened to the most recent list, which was a copy of her wedding vows with the promises she made to me (things like supporting my dreams, being my partner in crazy adventures).

‘Besides each one was a list of ideas to match – including some things we had done recently. We were going through a rough patch at the time and seeing that list doubled my resolve to work through it.’
-timothywilliams2017

3.
‘His messenger chats with my mom. He jokes with my mom a lot and would always ask about me, what I was like as a kid, why am I so full of energy and how to take care of me. My mom had cancer and passed away last 2023 but their last messages to each other was him assuring her he’d take care of me the way she wants to.’
-Chispiken

4.
‘Photo of myself shirtless crudely edited to look like I was making out with Shadow the Hedgehog.’
-Less_Party

5.
‘A couple months into dating a girl I was sitting in the passenger seat of her car waiting for her to come back from running inside her house when I saw a text come through on her phone that said, “Happy anniversary, baby. Can’t wait to see you tonight!” So, yeah, that ended.’
-lutlowt

6.
‘A folder with pictures of me, but not pictures on dates or anything, mostly pictures of me making silly faces or sleeping or eating. It showed me that he values me being comfortable and just existing a lot more than being dolled up and perfect constantly.’
-ohmybubbles

7.
‘Not his phone, but my late husband’s tablet. A year after he died, I was clearing his tablet of stuff, and saw he had a Twitter account. I was reading through his posts, and hit one that had me in tears for the rest of the day. He had responded to some thread about keeping women in their place, or some such garbage. Husband had posted a long rant about how being married for 35 years to a woman who never tired of learning, who never let things stop her, she stayed interested in new things, was the best thing in his life, and that a smart, thinking woman kept his life interesting and exciting.

‘I always knew he felt this way, but seeing him say this to a total internet stranger, in a forum he thought I would never see, was just kind of overwhelming for a few days. We were friends for 45 years, best friends for 43 years, married for 37 years. He died 3 1/2 years ago, and the hole in my life is just as big as the day he died. I’m not languishing, or yearning to follow him anytime soon, but I miss him tremendously.’
-hooyah54

8.
‘He handed me his phone when he was driving so I could text his mom for him. When I unlocked his phone it opened to a note that was just a list of everything I’ve ever mentioned that I liked and it was titled “gift ideas”. Like one of the items in the list was something I had seen in the window of a shop and mentioned that I thought it was cute then we just kept walking. It made me feel so loved to know that he paid attention to every tiny thing. We’re married now lol.’
-eugeneugene

9.
‘Notes app with a list of stuff about me – favourite movies, flowers I’d like to get, shoe size, anything and everything. There were subdivisions like potential gifts to buy, what to do if im angry at him, stuff about my seasonal depression and what helps. It was almost 3 pages long and titled “My love”.

‘I fell in love more. It showed he’s serious about me and willing to put in effort.’
-Desperate-Exit692