A Live call on Machine Desktop

The call screen

Part	What it shows
Bot name and status (top left)	Who you're talking to, and what's happening now: Connecting…, Listening, You're talking, Speaking, Muted, or Saving the call…. Every status ends in · Glyph.
✕ (top right)	Ends the call. Same as End call.
The mascot	The bot's avatar. Its mouth moves with its voice when it uses the plush mascot style.
Tool results	What the bot made or looked up during the call, such as a picture. Click a picture to open it in your browser.
The caption	What the bot is saying right now, in large text.
Your last words	What it heard you say, in quotes, underneath. Handy for checking it heard you right.
Microphone button	Mutes and unmutes you. A ring around it grows with your voice.
End call	Hangs up and saves the call to the thread.

Talking

You don't need to press anything. Talk, pause, and the bot answers. The status switches between You're talking, Listening and Speaking so you always know whose turn it is.

If the bot answers before you've finished, or waits too long, change how it takes turns in Live settings: When it answers and Pause before answering.

Mute yourself

Click the microphone button. The status says Muted and the bot can't hear you. Click it again to unmute.

Interrupt the bot

Click (or tap) the mascot while the bot is speaking. Its tooltip says Tap to stop it talking. The bot stops so you can talk.

This works on Glyph's Classic voices. On the newer Live voices, just start talking over the bot and it stops by itself.
On a phone in hands-free mode there's also a Stop button in the thumb bar. With Hold to talk on, that slot is Mute / Unmute instead.

Hold to talk

If you choose Hold to talk in Live settings, the bot only hears you while you hold the Hold to talk button. On Machine Desktop you can also hold Space or Enter, but only while the Hold to talk button has keyboard focus (press Tab to reach it). Use it in noisy places, or when you want to think without the bot jumping in.

Hold to talk isn't available on iPhone and iPad yet: calls there are always hands-free.

What the bot can do on a call

On a call, the bot can use Glyph's tools while you talk. You see each one on the call screen as it works (a spinner), then the result (a wrench icon):

Tool	Shows as	What it's for
Make an image	Image · Made an image: …	Posters, sketches, ideas you're discussing.
Search the web	Web search · Working on: …	Facts, prices, opening hours.
Latest news	News	What's happening today.
Research	Research	Deeper look-ups that take a little longer.
Look at a picture	Picture	Describing or checking an image.
Do a calculation	Code	Sums, conversions, quick numbers.

The last three results stay on screen, and the last four pictures show as thumbnails.

Bigger jobs happen after the call

The call is for talking. Work that needs the bot's own computer, such as writing files, building a website, or using your connected apps, happens in the thread after you hang up. Just say what you want on the call, and the bot picks it up from the transcript. See After the call.

Hang up

Click End call, click ✕, or press Esc.

The status changes to Saving the call… for a few seconds while the last words and any final results arrive. Then the call closes and the transcript appears in the thread. If nobody said anything, nothing is saved.

Keep the screen on

While a call is starting or running, Machine keeps your screen from going to sleep, so the call doesn't drop because you stopped touching the keyboard.

If the call drops

If something goes wrong, the call screen shows a red message. On Machine Desktop and Android it's Glyph's own message, or "Glyph reported a problem." On iPhone and iPad, a lost connection says "The call dropped. End it to save what was said." Either way, click End call. Everything said up to that point is saved to the thread, and you can call again.

More messages and fixes are in Live troubleshooting.

During a call