Voice is the primary interface for Hey Friday. Here is everything you need to know to use it effectively.
How Voice Input Works
Hey Friday uses your device's built-in speech recognition engine — not a cloud-based service. On iPhone, this is Apple's on-device speech recognition. On Android, it uses the system's speech-to-text API. Your voice is processed entirely on your device and converted to text before anything is sent to Hey Friday's servers. Your audio recording is never transmitted anywhere.
This design means your voiceprint stays private. Even if there were a data breach on Hey Friday's servers, there would be no audio data to expose.
Starting a Voice Conversation
Tap the microphone button at the bottom of the screen. Speak naturally — Hey Friday handles pauses, corrections, and conversational speech. When you stop speaking, it automatically sends your message and responds in both text and voice.
You can interrupt the AI's voice response at any time by tapping the microphone button again. This is useful when you want to redirect the conversation or ask a follow-up question.
Tips for Better Voice Recognition
- Speak clearly but naturally. You do not need to slow down or over-enunciate. Normal conversational pace works well.
- Reduce background noise. Voice recognition accuracy drops significantly in noisy environments. If you are having trouble, move to a quieter space or use the text input instead.
- Speak the whole thought. Do not pause for long in the middle of a sentence — the speech engine may interpret a long pause as the end of your message.
- Use proper names carefully. Unusual names, technical terms, and jargon may be transcribed incorrectly. You can edit the transcription before sending.
Editing Before Sending
After speaking, your transcribed text appears in the input field. You can edit it before Hey Friday responds. Tap the text to place your cursor, then correct any transcription errors. When you are satisfied, tap send.
Hey Friday Wake Word (Android)
On Android with Chrome, Hey Friday supports a "Hey Friday" wake phrase. When Always-On listening is enabled, say "Hey Friday" and the app will begin listening automatically — no button tap required. See Wake Word Setup Guide for setup instructions.
Voice on iPhone: Siri Shortcut
iOS does not allow third-party apps to use always-on wake words. Instead, you can create a Siri Shortcut to open Hey Friday and start listening automatically. See Wake Word Setup Guide for iPhone instructions.
Microphone Permission Issues
If voice input is not working, the most common cause is a denied microphone permission. To fix this:
- iPhone (Safari): Settings → Safari → Microphone → Allow for heyfriday.co
- Android (Chrome): Chrome Settings → Site Settings → Microphone → Allow for heyfriday.co
After changing the permission, reload Hey Friday and try voice input again.