Enable wake-word activation
Wake word is an opt-in activation mode in the native Mac app. Tap to talk remains the default; double-clicking the orb also works in wake-word mode.
- Open Settings → Voice → Activation → Wake words & tuning.
- Download a phrase. ORBIS downloads its two shared models automatically, verifies all three files, and selects the downloaded phrase.
- Choose Wake word as the activation style, then relaunch ORBIS.
- Wait for the status pill to show the phrase. Say it to open a listening window. After the configured quiet period, ORBIS returns to waiting for the phrase. Thinking, delegated work, and playback hold the window open.
The fresh phrase preference is Hey Jarvis, a stock openWakeWord model. Stock wake classifiers carry the upstream CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license; the picker links each model's source and license. Hey Orbis is available as an experimental custom phrase. Its published model card describes synthetic evaluations; we still need real microphone positive clips and hard negatives before claiming dependable recognition in ORBIS. Every phrase needs spoken QA on the native app before promotion.
The microphone mute button overrides wake detection. Muting closes the window and invalidates buffered wake audio; saying the phrase while muted cannot open it. Detection runs on-device. Audio reaches the configured speech pipeline only when the listening window is open (including a manual double-click).
If downloads fail, retry the download. A corrupt file is never considered installed. Wake-word mode stays unavailable until the selected phrase and both shared models verify. Quick-panel activation uses the same requirement.
If the status says wake word unavailable, use double-click to talk and open Voice settings to download the selected model again. Changes to phrase, activation style, sensitivity, or listen window apply on the next launch. Removing the selected phrase switches the next launch to Tap to talk.
Lowering the sensitivity threshold makes activation easier and can increase false triggers. Test the phrase at your normal distance, with playback and background speech, before settling on a threshold. Timer recognizes specific minute/hour timer phrases rather than a generic “set a timer”.