Questions

Before you begin

• When iPhone asks, allow access to the microphone and to speech recognition. Reverbot can’t hear you without both.
• Connect headphones to keep answers private. Without headphones, answers appear on screen instead, unless Speakerphone is on in Settings.
• Have an internet connection, and either free questions left or your own AI key in Settings › AI & API Keys. The count above the big button shows what’s left, for example “3 questions left”.
• Ask in English. For questions in other languages, light Questions beside Translate Vicinity or Translate 2-way.

Tip: To try it on the real screen first, open Help with the ? button and tap Walk me through Questions. The walkthrough is free and uses an example answer.

Ask a question

1. On the main screen, tap Questions under Listening mode.
2. Tap the big button.
3. Wait until “Listening for questions...” appears under the big button.
4. Ask a complete question, such as “What is the boiling point of water?”
5. Stop talking and wait. The answer comes after the pause set in Silence duration before answering.

The status under the Reverbot logo reads “Listening”, then “Processing” while the answer is prepared and “Speaking” while it plays. Reverbot keeps listening for your next question until you tap the big button again.

Listen to the answer

• While an answer plays, tap Tap to skip under the big button to stop it. Reverbot goes back to listening.
• After an answer, tap Repeat that to hear it again.
• With headphones, Reverbot keeps listening while an answer plays, so you can ask your next question at any time; it’s answered next. Without headphones, listening pauses while Reverbot speaks, so it doesn’t hear itself.
• If “Connect headphones to hear it” appears, the answer is on screen instead of spoken. Connect headphones, or tap Speakerphone to hear it out loud. That turns on Speakerphone in Settings, so later answers play out loud too until you turn it off there.

Things to say

Try these in Questions:

• “Who wrote Pride and Prejudice?” — a short, direct answer.
• “Is a whale a mammal?” — yes or no, with the reason.
• “How do I convert Celsius to Fahrenheit?” — how-to questions are answered too.
• “What’s the difference between weather and climate?” — comparisons and explanations.
• “I don’t know what they meant.” — no answer: Questions stays quiet for statements, small talk, opinions and rhetorical questions.

Tip: Name the subject in the question. Questions doesn’t fill in a missing subject, so “How old is it?” gets no answer, but “How old is the Eiffel Tower?” does.

Choose how much detail you hear

Tap the Concise pill under Input & answer to switch to Extended, and tap it again to switch back.

• Concise gives a direct answer in one or two sentences.
• Extended adds useful context, up to four sentences.

The next answer uses the new length, even while Reverbot is listening. The same choice is in Settings, under Answer Style, and it applies to Dictionary too. It changes how much is said, not how fast: voice speed is in Settings › Voice & Speed.

Choose who Reverbot hears

Tap the microphone pill under Input & answer to switch between Room and Solo. In Questions it switches straight away, even while Reverbot is listening.

• Room hears everyone around you, so other people’s questions are answered too.
• Solo isolates your voice with noise cancellation, which helps in loud places. It favors your voice but can’t promise to leave everyone else out.

The same choice is in Settings, under Microphone Input.

Answer questions in other languages

1. On the main screen, tap Translate Vicinity or Translate 2-way.
2. Tap Questions. Both pills light up.
3. Tap the big button.

A question asked in another language is translated into your language first, and answered once the translation has been read. English questions are answered as usual.

The line under the big button says so, for example “Listening — foreign speech is translated to English, then questions are answered...”. To stop the answers, tap Questions again; the translation keeps running. The Answer questions too topic explains the details.

Answer from your documents

1. Touch and hold Questions, then tap Settings.
2. Under Answer from your information, tap Information Source and choose a source.
3. Tap Done, then ask about your material as usual.

Questions then answers with the source’s subject, reference material, answer policy and AI.

With Only my materials, it answers only from passages it can verify, and says so when it finds nothing. With Materials + general AI knowledge, answers can include facts from outside your material, so check them. Choose None — general questions to go back to ordinary answers.

Note: Neither policy searches the web, and the AI still needs an internet connection.

Make an information source

1. Touch and hold Questions, then tap Settings.
2. Under Answer from your information, tap Manage information sources. The Custom Conversations screen opens.
3. Tap the Add button (+), enter a name such as “Handbook”, then tap Add.
4. Under Purpose, set Use this template for to Information Source.
5. Under Information Source, describe the subject, then choose Only my materials or Materials + general AI knowledge.
6. Tap Use with Questions. It changes to Selected for Questions.
7. Under Reference Documents, tap Upload reference files or Write or paste information, and add your material.

Questions answers from the source once its documents are ready. The Custom Conversation topic explains the rest of the editor.

Change Questions settings

Touch and hold Questions, then tap Settings. Or, in Settings, under Listening Mode, tap the sliders button beside Questions. From top to bottom:

• How Questions works opens this Help topic.
• Under Button style, Different button style for Questions gives Questions its own look in the big button, and Style chooses it.
• How long it waits, under Silence duration before answering, sets the pause after you stop talking. If you stop mid-sentence, it waits one second more.
• AI chooses which AI answers Questions, or keeps the default from AI & API Keys. The same AI answers for Answer questions too in other modes.
• Different voice for Questions and Different speed for Questions give answers their own voice and speed.
• Answer from your information chooses an Information Source.
• Restore Questions defaults puts these settings back after you confirm. Your sources and their documents are kept.

What it costs

• Each answer uses one of your free questions while you have them, even an answer you skip partway through. A question that gets no answer costs nothing.
• An AI chosen under AI in Questions settings answers on your own key for it from the start, and that company bills you.
• When your free questions are used, the line under the big button says what’s next: a free trial, a subscription or your own AI key. The subscription topic explains how free questions work.

If it doesn’t work

• If no words appear under the big button, open iPhone Settings, go to Apps › Reverbot and turn on Microphone and Speech Recognition. Then tap the big button twice to restart.
• If your words appear but nothing is answered, ask again as one complete question that names its subject. Statements, small talk and opinions get no answer on purpose.
• If only the first half of a question is answered, drag How long it waits toward Longest in Questions settings.
• If an answer appears but you don’t hear it, check that your headphones are the audio output, or turn on Speakerphone in Settings.
• If an Information Source says it couldn’t find an answer in the available material, ask a more specific question, or check the source’s documents with Edit selected source.

Note: AI answers can be wrong. Check anything important before you rely on it.

Still not working? In Settings, under Feedback, tap Report a Bug and describe what you did, what you expected and what happened.