Here's the house.A photo
“Show me the house.”
Here it is.
The picture takes the whole screen. Any toolbar would only be in the way, so there isn't one. Pinch to zoom, or say “closer”.
The screens that are left.
An app with one button still has a screen. It stays blank until there's a reason to use it. Listen in on someone using one: every time they ask for something, the screen that comes up scrolls into view.
When there's something to look at
You can't describe a photo out loud. So the app shows it, as large as it can, with nothing around it.
Here's the house.
A video
“Play the one about fresh pasta.”
Playing it.
It plays straight away and the mic goes quiet so it doesn't hear itself. Press the button and the sound drops while you talk.
Which one?
1
2
3
123A choice
“Find me a room in Lisbon.”
Three good ones. Which do you like?
Some things you pick by looking. Three hotel rooms sit side by side. Tap one, or just say which.
Your lease
The tenant may end this lease with sixty days written notice to the landlord.
The deposit is returned within twenty one days of moving out, less any repairs.
Pets are allowed with written consent.
Something to read
“What does my lease say about the deposit?”
You get it back within twenty one days, less any repairs.
It reads the part you asked about and highlights it, with the rest there if you want it.
“Make it fullscreen.”
- You say it. There's no icon to find, no menu, no double tap.
- An agent works out what you mean and picks the right tool in the background.
- The content fills the screen, and the button steps into the corner, half see-through.
- Press it for the next thing. “Pause it.” Sound drops while you talk and comes back after.
When it has to be you
Anyone in the room can talk to your phone. So anything that matters asks for something only you have, and it shows one thing while it waits.
Touch the sensor
Fingerprint
“Send Maria fifty dollars.”
I need to know it's you. Touch the sensor.
The print fills the middle of the screen and pulses until the sensor answers. Nothing else competes with it.
Look at your phone
Face
“Open my medical records.”
Look at your phone.
On a phone set up for face unlock, the same moment becomes a scan. You look, and it's done. The app never sees your face, only the phone's yes.
••••••••Nobody hears it.
One password box
“Unlock my notes.”
No sensor here, so type your password.
No sensor, or it failed? A single box pops up. You never say a password out loud, and it's the only box you'll see.
Electric bill
Riverside Power$84.20
DueFriday
Say yes to pay.
Before anything final
“Pay the electric bill.”
Eighty four dollars twenty, to Riverside Power. Say yes to pay.
Money, deleting, sending: it shows exactly what's about to happen and waits for a yes, then asks for your touch.
When it heard you wrong
Speech models are good and still mishear names. Fixing it should take one sentence, or one small box.
How do you spell her name?SiobhanSpell it out loud or type it, then say yes.
Spell it
“Send the invoice to Siobhan.”
Sorry, how do you spell that?
It shows its best guess in one box. Say the letters and they fill in as you go, or type it. No form, no keyboard unless you want one.
Which Springfield?
IllinoisYour last trip
Missouri
Massachusetts
Did you mean
“Get me a train to Springfield.”
Which Springfield?
When two answers are both likely, it doesn't guess. It lists them, best first, and you say or tap the one you meant.
It's loud in here.Type it instead
Too loud to hear
“Call the dentist and move my appointment.”
It's loud in here. Type it instead.
Train, kitchen, kids. When it can't make you out, a text box slides up. Same agent, same answer, you just type.
When voice can't do it
Some jobs are about your hand, your eyes or your surroundings. The app admits it and hands you exactly the one tool for the job, then gets out of the way again.
Sign here
Sign with your finger
“Sign the lease.”
Sign on the line with your finger.
A signature has to be your hand. The screen becomes a signing line and nothing else.
Drop it where you parked.
Point at a map
“Tell them where I parked.”
Drop the pin where you parked.
“Over there” means nothing out loud. So you get a map and you put your finger on it.
Hold still. Reading it.Show it the thing
“Add this receipt to my expenses.”
Hold still. Reading it.
A receipt, a broken part, a QR code. The camera opens by itself, frames the thing and reads it. It closes itself too.
Circle the part you mean.Mark the spot
“Take this out of the photo.”
Circle the part you mean.
“That bit, no, left of that” gets old fast. Circle it with a finger, then keep talking about it.
Someone's nearby
Your test results are in. All normal.
Showing this instead of saying it.Private answers
“Are my test results in?”
Some answers shouldn't be read out in a shared room. It writes them down instead, and stays quiet.
To read that receipt I need your camera.
Allow camera?
Not nowAllow
The phone's own questions
“Scan this QR code.”
To read that, I need your camera.
Camera, location, contacts. Only you can answer those, on the phone's own sheet. The app says why it's asking first.
This year
$48,210
Up 12 percent on last year.Numbers you need to see
“How's the shop doing?”
Up twelve percent on last year.
A year of sales doesn't work as a sentence. It tells you the headline and draws the rest.
And the rest of the time
This one. Nothing to show, so it shows nothing. It's the screen you'll see most, and it's the whole point.
Say the next one.
Every screen with a “Try it here” works on this page right now. The button's at the bottom. Ask it to show you something, then tell it to make it fullscreen.