What we mean by "only when you ask"

TL;DR:

• DuckyHelper listens and looks only while the pill is open and for that answer.

• When it is idle there is no listening and no watching.

• The pill on your screen shows what it is doing: a soft glow while it listens, and its words as it talks.

We say that DuckyHelper only listens and looks when you ask. It is a short phrase, and it is easy to say without meaning anything. Here is exactly what we mean by it.

The key is the switch

To ask DuckyHelper something, you press one key: fn on a Mac, or Ctrl+Shift+Space on Windows and Linux. That key is the whole switch. A pill opens, and while it is open DuckyHelper listens to you and looks at your screen. (On Windows and Linux it looks only once you have switched on screen help in the app.) When it has answered and you press the key again or close the pill, that is the end of it.

There is no second, hidden path. There is no mode where it keeps an ear open in case you say something later, and no schedule on which it takes a look around.

What idle means

Between questions, DuckyHelper is idle, and idle has a plain meaning: no listening and no watching. It is not recording your voice, and it is not looking at your screen. It simply waits for the next time you press the key.

This matters for the rest of what we build. The same principle applies when it does work in your apps (early access, on Mac): it works on the job you gave it, and it is still built to ask before it sends a message or pays.

Why a key you press, and not a word you say

There are other ways to wake an assistant. A key under your own hand makes three things obvious.

• You decide the moment. The start of listening is your own action, with your own hand. It never begins because something nearby sounded like a request.

• You can end it. You can stop at any time by closing the pill, and once it is closed everything is idle again.

• It works in any app and in a quiet room. You do not need to say anything out loud to start it, and you do not need to switch tabs.

We are not making claims about how other assistants work. We are saying why we chose this one: it is simple to understand, and simple to check.

How to tell it is listening

You do not have to take our word for what state DuckyHelper is in. A small pill sits on your screen, and it changes as DuckyHelper moves through an answer. While it listens, you see a soft glow. While it thinks, the text shimmers. While it talks, you see the words it is saying as it says them.

None of these states is a blinking dot or a spinner. We wanted the pill to read as calm and clear, so that a glance tells you where things stand.

Common questions

How does the privacy policy word this? It ties the same rule to the pill: your voice is heard while the pill is open and listening, and the app looks at your screen only while the pill is open. If this post and that page ever differ, the privacy page is the one to trust.

Can it hear me when it is idle? No. When it is idle it is not listening, so a conversation in the room is not something it takes in.

Do I have to keep my eyes on the pill? No. The pill is there so you can check the state whenever you like, not so you must watch it.

What changes when it is working in your apps

Early access agent features add a second kind of activity: DuckyHelper working on a job in a window while you do something else. Even then it is the job you gave it that sets what it does: it sees and uses the window it is working in, because that is how the work gets done. The rule about the key still describes how you start a question, and when there is no question and no job, it is idle.

If you ever want to be sure of its state, look at the pill. If it is not glowing, thinking or talking, it is not in the middle of an answer.

What this does not cover

This post is about when DuckyHelper listens and looks. It does not change what happens to the data from an answer you asked for, and for that you should read our privacy page. For the longer version of how looking at your screen works, see when DuckyHelper looks at your screen.