--- title: "Talk to your tutor out loud | DuckyHelper" url: "https://duckyhelper.com/features/voice/" description: "Ask DuckyHelper out loud and it answers out loud while it shows you the steps. On your Mac, press fn in any app, or talk to Eddy in its tab." updated: "2026-10-09" --- Mac app # Talk to your tutor out loud DuckyHelper is a tutor you talk to. You ask out loud, the way you would ask a person, and it answers out loud while it shows you the steps. On a Mac, press fn in any app and a small pill springs up at the bottom of your screen and listens. In the app's Eddy tab, you press Talk to Eddy. [Download for Mac](https://duckyhelper.com/download/)[Meet Eddy](https://duckyhelper.com/eddy/) On a Mac ## Press fn, in any app. Press fn, the globe key, wherever you are working. A dark glass pill springs up near your mouse and listens. Ask about the thing in front of you and Ducky answers out loud, with captions timed to each word, while the steps stream into a card. Press fn again, or the X, to put it away. It stays in front The pill stays in front of your other windows, so you keep working in the app you were in while you talk. fn stays yours While DuckyHelper runs, fn opens the pill instead of the emoji picker. Emoji are still on Control-Command-Space, and uninstalling DuckyHelper gives fn back to macOS. From the menu bar too Click the duck in the menu bar and pick Talk to Ducky. It opens the same pill. What the Mac app needs Apple silicon and macOS 14 Sonoma or later. It asks for the Microphone, to hear you, and Input Monitoring, so fn works from any app. The Eddy tab ## In its own tab, talk to Eddy. Open the Eddy tab in the DuckyHelper app. Click Start talking to Eddy, or press the space bar, and ask. Eddy answers out loud with the words on screen, and shows you on its desk: a blackboard, a picture with labels, a quick check. Eddy never sees your screen; that is Ducky, in the pill. [More about Eddy](https://duckyhelper.com/eddy/) Pick how Eddy answers The chip at the left of the bar: Eddy picks, Just words, Look it up for real sources, A picture, or A scene. Or let Eddy pick. Pick a voice Customize Eddy has eight voices, and each plays a short preview. A new voice starts with your next voice chat. Ask ## Ask like you would ask a person. Say what you are stuck on in your own words, then keep talking. Each follow-up changes what it shows you, the way a tutor at the table would. ### It talks back Answers come out loud, with captions you can read along with. ### It shows while it talks Steps, graphs and drawings appear as the voice reaches them, not after. ### Keep going Ask a follow-up any time: show me on the graph, what if I flip the line. Hands-free ## No button. Just talk. After your first talk, Eddy offers hands-free listening. Turn it on and you can just start talking whenever Eddy's page is in front. Nothing is sent until you talk, and it ends after 20 seconds of quiet on both sides. Only while the page is in front Hands-free listens only while Eddy's page is the one in front of you. Switch tabs and it stops. Turn it off any time Settings, General, Hands-free listening. It is off until you turn it on. ## Press fn. Ask anything. How a question goes on a Mac, from the key to the answer. 1. 1. Press fn In any app. The pill springs up at the bottom of the screen and listens. 2. 2. Ask out loud What does this graph mean? Your words show in the pill as you talk. 3. 3. It answers and shows you It circles what matters on your screen and talks you through the steps, one at a time. 4. 4. Keep talking, then press fn again Ask a follow-up any time. Press fn again and the pill goes away and the mic turns off. In the Eddy tab it is the same idea: Start talking to Eddy, or the space bar. ## A tutor that listens back. Talking it through, one question at a time, is how a tutor at your table teaches. DuckyHelper's model is trained on 1,000,000+ tutoring examples and built on 100+ learning-science papers, so it answers the way a tutor would: a question back, a hint, then the next step. The learning science behind it: [Teach one on one](https://duckyhelper.com/research/principles/teach-one-on-one/). [How DuckyHelper is built to teach](https://duckyhelper.com/research/) ## How to use it [Guide: Talk to Eddy](https://docs.duckyhelper.com/eddy/talk-and-type/)[Guide: Press fn to talk to Ducky](https://docs.duckyhelper.com/mac/fn-pill/)[Guide: Hands-free listening](https://docs.duckyhelper.com/eddy/hands-free/) ## Frequently asked questions ### Do I have to talk? Yes: DuckyHelper is voice only. In the Mac app, press fn and ask Ducky out loud; in the Eddy tab, press Talk to Eddy or the space bar. In a quiz you can still type an answer, like a math step. [Pricing](https://duckyhelper.com/pricing/) shows how much talking each plan includes. ### Which key opens DuckyHelper on a Mac? Press fn, the globe key at the bottom left of the keyboard, in any app. You can also click the duck in the menu bar and pick Talk to Ducky. Press fn again, or the X in the pill, to put it away. ### Does the fn key still open emoji? While DuckyHelper runs, fn opens the pill instead of the emoji picker. The emoji picker is still on Control-Command-Space, so nothing is lost. If you uninstall DuckyHelper, it gives the fn key back to macOS. ### Is it listening all the time? No. On a Mac, Ducky listens while the pill is open, and pressing fn again puts the pill away and turns the mic off. In the Eddy tab, Eddy listens when you press Talk to Eddy, or, with hands-free listening on, while the Eddy tab is in front. Hands-free stops after 20 seconds of quiet. ### What do I need to talk to it? A Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 14 Sonoma or later, a microphone, and the Microphone and Input Monitoring switches the app asks for when you set it up. If the mic is blocked, the app says what to turn on. There is no Chromebook or web version right now. ### Can I change Eddy's voice? Yes. Customize Eddy, on the start page or in Settings, has eight voices to pick from, and each one plays a short preview. You can also pick an animal and a background. A new voice starts with your next voice chat. ## More features ### Write your working and get it checked line by line, or answer a quick check on Eddy's whiteboard Write your working and DuckyHelper checks it: the first wrong line marked with why on a Mac, and Eddy's whiteboard for a quick drawing or check. ### Say quiz me: tap, type math or answer true or false, and every miss comes with why Say quiz me and DuckyHelper writes a quick quiz on what you are learning: tap, type math or answer true or false, and every miss comes with why. ### Worked steps, one move each, that you can keep, and graphs you can hover, zoom and slide Ask DuckyHelper to work it out and get worked steps, one move each, plus graphs you can hover, zoom and change with sliders. Keep the steps as a note. ### Small sandboxes you run yourself: drag the ball, move a slider, read the numbers Ask DuckyHelper to show you how a pendulum, a projectile or a circuit works and get a small sandbox to run yourself: drag, change a slider, read the numbers. ### It asks back and gives the next hint before an answer, so you do the thinking DuckyHelper asks back and gives the next hint before it gives an answer, so you do the thinking. Why that matters, and how it works on a Mac and in Eddy. ### Run your code against tests, then watch it step by step with every variable as it changes DuckyHelper runs your code against tests and plays it back step by step, every variable as it changes, so you see why it gives the wrong answer. ## Keep reading ### Eddy: the voice tutor in the DuckyHelper Mac app's Eddy tab Eddy is the voice tutor in the DuckyHelper Mac app: talk out loud and it teaches on a blackboard, with labelled pictures, quizzes and your own homework file. ### Press fn in any app on a Mac and ask about exactly what is on your screen On a Mac, press fn in any app and DuckyHelper sees what you see, so you can ask about the exact problem in front of you. Hold fn and command to point. ### Download DuckyHelper for Mac: what you need, what it asks for and why Get DuckyHelper for Mac: download it, drag it to Applications, sign in and press fn. Needs Apple silicon and macOS 14 Sonoma or later. ### Every DuckyHelper feature: what it does, where it runs, and a short film of each What DuckyHelper for Mac does: Eddy teaches out loud on a blackboard, and Ducky sees your screen, draws on it and walks you through your own apps. ## Ask your first question Press fn on your Mac, or open the Eddy tab and press Start talking. [Download for Mac](https://duckyhelper.com/download/) [See what it does](https://duckyhelper.com/features/) The Mac app needs Apple silicon and macOS 14 Sonoma or later. There is no Chromebook, Windows or web version right now.