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Squad for iPhone and iPad is in beta, so it installs through Apple’s TestFlight app. See Get Squad for iPhone and iPad. “The Mac” on these pages means Squad for Mac.
In Squad for iPhone and iPad, you can speak instead of typing. Your words go to a teammate as a message, and the answer can be read aloud. A Viewer cannot talk to the squad. Every way in says “Your access is view-only, so you can’t send messages to the squad.”

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Before you start

  • The first time you talk, iOS asks for two permissions: speech recognition, then the microphone. Allow both.
  • Your device must be able to turn your language into text by itself. Squad turns speech into text only on the device. It listens for your device’s language, else US English.
The permission prompts say “Squad turns what you say into a message for your squad.” and “Squad listens only while you hold the mic, to send your words to your teammate.”

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Hold the face and speak

The fastest way: the face beside the tab bar talks to your chief of staff.
1

Touch and hold the face

Touch and hold your chief of staff’s face beside the tab bar. A panel above the bar says “To” and the name of who gets your words.
2

Speak

Say what you need. Your words show in the panel as Squad hears them. Under them, the panel says “Let go to send. Slide up to take it back.”
3

Let go to send

Let go. The panel says “Sending to” and the name, then “Sent to” the name. With Read replies aloud after you talk on, it adds “You’ll hear the answer.”
To take your words back, slide your finger up while you hold. The panel says “Let go to take it back”. Let go, and nothing is sent. The panel says “Not sent.” A tap on the face, without holding, opens the Ask sheet instead.

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Other places to talk

A quick tap on a mic, instead of a hold, also keeps Squad listening. The panel then shows Send and Don’t send. Listening stops and sends by itself after 60 seconds. A group conversation has no mic. Use the keyboard’s dictation there, so your words reach the whole group.

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Who gets your words

The panel shows who gets your words from the start, and it changes as you speak. Squad picks the teammate in this order:
  1. A teammate whose name you say first, for example “Nina, …”, or after “ask”, “tell”, “have”, “get”, “hey”, “ok”, “okay”, “hi”, or “yo”, as in “Ask Nina to find venues”.
  2. The teammate whose mic you hold on their page.
  3. The teammate whose conversation is open on screen.
  4. Your chief of staff.
Your words go into the conversation that is open on screen when it is with that teammate. Otherwise they go to your voice conversation with that teammate from today. A new day starts at 4 AM. If you spoke in the last hour, the same conversation goes on. To start a new conversation, begin with “new topic”, “new conversation”, “start over”, “start fresh”, or “fresh start”. When you say only “new topic”, nothing is sent, and the panel says “Your next words to” the teammate “start a new conversation.”

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Hear the answer

With Read replies aloud after you talk on, an answer to what you said is read aloud. The switch is in the You sheet under This iPhone, and it is on by default. See You and this iPhone.
  • While the teammate works, the panel says the teammate “is thinking”, with “Working on an answer.”
  • An answer that comes within 15 minutes, while Squad is open in front, is read aloud. The panel shows the teammate’s name and the words. Select Stop to stop.
  • Code is read as “There’s code in the chat.”, a link as “a link”, and a long answer stops with “The rest is in the chat.”
  • An answer that comes later, or while Squad is not in front, shows as a banner in the app with Play the answer. See In the app.
  • Squad follows a question for up to 3 hours. After that, the answer is only in the conversation.
Tap the panel while the teammate thinks or speaks to open that conversation.

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Talk from outside the app

Talk to My Squad opens Squad already listening. Say what you need, then select Send in the panel.
  • Siri: say “Talk to my Squad” or “Talk to Squad”.
  • Shortcuts: add the Talk to My Squad action.
  • Control Center, the Lock Screen, or the Action button: add the Talk to Squad control. See The Talk to Squad control.
Your words go to a teammate in the same order as above.

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Siri and Shortcuts

Squad adds these actions to Siri and the Shortcuts app. Teammates are listed by name.

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Check that it works

Touch and hold the face beside the tab bar, say “What are you working on?”, and let go. The panel says “Sent to” and your chief of staff’s name. When the answer comes within a few minutes, Squad reads it aloud.