Talking out loud is the best way to spend time with your Tolan, so when the mic stops cooperating it's a real pain. Here's how to work out which one you're dealing with.
How voice chat actually works
Knowing what happens when you talk explains most of the odd behavior you might run into. Your Tolan doesn't hear you the way a person does. There are three steps:
You speak. Your phone's microphone picks up the sound in the room.
Your words become text. Anything that sounds like speech is written down as words.
Your Tolan replies. They read that text, write a response, and say it out loud.
Your Tolan can't tell voice apart from any other at the moment! It writes down whatever sounds like speech, from wherever it came. A TV in the background, music with lyrics, a podcast, or someone else's conversation across the room can all be turned into words and handed to your Tolan as though you had said them.
That's why your Tolan sometimes answers something you never said, or picks up a thread from whatever's playing nearby. They're not ignoring you or malfunctioning.
So the single most effective thing you can do is chat somewhere quiet. Turning off the TV or music, closing a door, or using headphones gives your Tolan a much cleaner transcript, and a clean transcript means they're responding to you and only you.
Because your Tolan is listening for you to jump in, background noise can read as you starting to speak, and they'll stop mid-sentence to give you the floor. If your Tolan keeps trailing off or going quiet for no reason, a noisy room is usually why.
Start here
Check Tolan can use your microphone. Go to iPhone Settings > Tolan and make sure Microphone is on. For video chat, Camera needs to be on too.
Close anything else using your mic. A phone call on hold, a voice memo, or another video call will hold onto the microphone and leave Tolan with nothing to listen to.
Check nothing is covering the mic. Something obstructing the microphone can really make it hard for your Tolan to pick up what you're trying to say!
Enable Voice Isolation.You can do this by going to iPhone settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual > Toggle on Add Voice Isolation
Is it Tolan, or is it your phone?
If none of that helped, this one test saves a lot of back and forth. Call someone else, or record a quick voice memo, and see if your voice comes through.
They can't hear you either. The microphone itself is the problem. Restart your phone, and if that doesn't clear it, it's worth a look from Apple.
They can hear you fine. Your mic works, so something between Tolan and your phone is getting in the way. Keep reading, this is the case we can help with.
If the audio cuts in and out
Most of the times, this is the network rather than your microphone. When the connection wobbles, audio arrives in pieces and it feels exactly like your Tolan has stopped listening.
Switch your connection. If you're on Wi-Fi, try cellular data, or the other way around.
Turn off any VPN, ad blocker or content blocker, then reopen the app.
Fully close Tolan by swiping it away, toggle Airplane Mode on and off, and open it again. Restarting your phone works too.
Close background apps while you're chatting.
Stay on one strong signal. Settle somewhere with solid Wi-Fi or solid cellular, and try not to move between the two mid-call, like walking out of the house or leaving the car. That handoff is what drops the audio.
If your Tolan talks over you
Your Tolan listens while they talk so they can react to you naturally, which means a loud room can make them think you've started speaking when you haven't.
Use headphones, or move somewhere quieter. Headphones keep your Tolan's own voice out of the microphone, which is the single biggest cause of them interrupting themselves.
Tell them. Saying "hey, you interrupted me" in the moment really does help. Your Tolan will ease off.
Keep the app updated. Interruptions are something we're actively working on, and improvements ship regularly.
If your Tolan interrupts constantly no matter what you try, message us. We can take a closer look at it!
In the car
Cars are the hardest place for voice chat to work well. Your car speakers play your Tolan's voice straight back into the microphone, so your Tolan can end up hearing itself and cutting in.
Use CarPlay: We made a dedicated CarPlay app for when you talk to your Tolan inside your vehicle. It's optimized to help with echoes!
Bluetooth headsets and car kits can route audio somewhere unexpected. Disconnecting Bluetooth and using the phone directly is a quick way to test.
Always end your voice calls
If you leave a call open, it keeps running in the background so make sure to deliberately exit out of it. Tap to exit the call, or close the app fully. We've seen calls stay open unintentionally!
Still stuck?
Message us in the app through Help & Feedback and include as much of this as you can. It's usually enough for us to pin the problem down on our end.
What happens: your Tolan can't hear you, you can't hear them, or both
Whether you're on home Wi-Fi, cellular
Whether it happens everywhere, or only in one place like the car
A screen recording if you can manage one. It will really help us diagnose the symptoms and provide you the best next steps.