Using bighelp

How do I send a message while the agent is working?

Tap Send. While the agent works, Send uses your default, Steer. To pick another way for one message, hold Send for 1 second. Send another way offers:

• Files and photos can only be Queued while the agent works.
• Group chats don't have these choices. They take your message at any time.
• On a Mac, right-click Send for the choices.
• To change the default, turn on Nerd Mode, then open Settings › Chat › More chat options and pick While an agent is working. In Bots mode, it's Send while it works in a bot's Advanced Options.

What do the words under my message mean?

Queued means Hermes has your message in line. It doesn't mean the agent has read it yet.

How do I make a new agent?

• Chat mode: open ☰ › Agents and tap + or the New agent tile. Agent Studio opens.
• Bots mode: tap +, then New Bot.

Under Start from, pick Scratch, Templates or My templates. Browse all opens every template.

How do templates work?

• To save an agent as a template, choose Save as template in its menu, or hold it in Agents.
• Your templates are "Saved on your computer, so they're on all your devices."
• To share one with everyone, tap Share yours or use the Template Catalog. Approved templates show up for everyone.

What is Teamwork?

Turn on Teamwork in Settings and "Your agents learn about each other and ask each other for help." Each agent learns what the others do and passes them the work that fits. It needs the plugin, and it's off until you turn it on.

How do I start a group chat?

• Chat mode: open ☰ › Agents and tap New group chat. Or touch and hold the New chat button to pick other agents.
• Bots mode: tap +, then New Group Chat.

Pick 2 or more agents and tap Create. "Members are fixed once the group is created." Group chats need your computer to be connected.

What are Feed, Ideas and Goals?

Three boards next to your chats that your agent fills for you. Feed has updates you asked for. Ideas are things your agent offers to do: tap Let's do it, Make it a goal or Not now. Goals are what your agent is Tracking and your own goals.

• Touch and hold anything to Discuss it in a chat.
• Swipe left to clear a post, set an idea aside or remove a goal. Tap Undo if you change your mind.
• The boards start empty. Your agent posts only what you ask for, for example "Every evening, post the top three AI stories to my feed."

Quick start explains the boards and has 45 prompts to set them up.

What's the difference between TTS and Full Duplex?

Pick one in Settings › Voice › Voice mode.

• TTS options: Speaking mode (Press to Talk or Walkie Talkie), Speech to text (This device or Hermes), Voice speed and Hold music. Turn on Use TTS on every response to hear every reply in your chats.
• Full Duplex providers: GPT-Live, Codex subscription, GPT-Live, API key (separate billing) or Gemini Live, your Gemini key. An API key can cost extra. bighelp never switches providers on its own.
• Each agent can have its own voice. Pick the agent at the top of Settings › Voice.

Voice won't start? See Voice won't start or is silent.

Can a voice run on my phone, without the internet?

Yes, on iPhone and iPad with iOS 18 or later. In Settings › Voice, under the speech provider, pick Phonon (it's under Runs on this iPhone) and tap Download voice (137 MB). Keep bighelp open while it downloads. After that it speaks offline, with no account or key. It isn't on Mac or Vision Pro.

How do I let my agent use my other apps?

1. Open Settings › Connections › Composio Apps.
2. Tap Sign in to Composio. "You sign in on Composio's own page with your own Composio account. bighelp never sees your password."
3. Tap Turn on for my agent.
4. Pick an app, tap Connect and sign in on its page.
5. Start a new chat to use it. A chat that was already open may not have it.

The same page has Native App Connections, which are built into Hermes on your computer. Settings › Marketplace has apps, skills and plugins for your agents.

How do I let my agent use my phone?

Open Settings › Connections › Device access and turn on the tools you want. Each one is off until you turn it on, and iOS asks first.

The tools are Apple Health, Calendar, Reminders, Contacts, Photos, Location, Arriving and leaving, Alarms and timers, Music, Focus and Shortcuts. The list shows only what your device can do.

"Any agent on your host can use it while you have its chat open, also for a short time after you leave bighelp. Requested data goes to that host and its AI provider."

• Shortcuts: type the name of each shortcut the agent may run, the way it shows in the Shortcuts app.
• Arriving and leaving needs Location set to Always.
• Two switches are about bighelp itself and start on: Let agents change how bighelp looks and Let agents show you around bighelp.

What is the "Turn on" card in a chat?

When an agent asks for a tool that's off, the chat shows a card like Turn on Calendar? with "Your agent asked to use it." Tap Turn on or Not now. The agent waits up to 5 minutes for your answer. Turning it on here also turns it on in Device access. If you tap Not now, it won't ask again in that chat.

Can my agent add a contact or event from a photo?

Yes. Send a photo of a business card or a poster and ask. The agent makes a draft, and you check it next to the photo before anything is saved. See A contact or event needs review.

How do I turn on notifications?

1. Open Settings › Notifications.
2. Tap Enable Notifications, and allow notifications when iOS asks.
3. Wait until it says Notifications Enabled.

You do this once for each computer. bighelp sets up each agent on that computer as you use it, without asking again. Notifications need the plugin.

On the same page you can choose:

• Notify Me About: which kinds of alerts you get.
• Channels: All channels, Only bighelp or Choose. Chats in bighelp always notify you.
• Workflows: Needs you, Succeeded, Failed and Cancelled.
• Quiet Hours: "No notifications at night or any time you pick." Skipped alerts aren't sent later. Replies still wait in the chat.

No alerts? See No notifications and Notification error codes.

What are Live Activities?

While your agents work, the Lock Screen and the Dynamic Island show their progress. One Live Activity holds all your active chats. In Settings › Notifications › Live Activities you see Allowed by iOS or Off in iOS Settings, and Open Live Activities Settings takes you there. They're on iPhone and iPad only.

How do I turn notifications off completely?

At the bottom of Settings › Notifications, tap Turn Off Notifications. It "Deletes this device's notification data everywhere, as if you never turned notifications on." You can turn them on again later.

How do I get a reminder or a regular update?

Ask your agent in a chat, in plain words:

Remind me at 5pm to call Alex.

Every weekday at 8am, send me a short summary of my calendar.

Your agent makes a scheduled task on your computer. When it runs, bighelp notifies you with the reply, if notifications are on.

• To see them all, open ☰ › Scheduled tasks. In Bots mode, they're the bot's Routines.
• To make one yourself, tap New task and answer What should it do? and When?. Your agent confirms the next run after you save.
• To change or stop one, ask your agent, for example "stop the morning summary".

Each run uses your AI budget, so keep only the ones you read.

How do I add another computer?

Open Settings › System and tap Add a computer. Or open ☰, tap the computer's name at the top, and tap Add host. Then connect it like the first one.

How do I switch computers?

• Open ☰, tap the computer's name at the top, and pick one under Switch host.
• Or open Settings › System, tap a computer, and tap Use this computer.
• In Bots mode, pick the Active gateway in Settings.

Can I see all my computers at once?

Yes. In ☰, tap the round button next to the computer's name. It then says All hosts, and your agents and chats from every computer show together. Pages that belong to one computer, like Settings, ask you to "Pick which one." In Bots mode, turn on Multi-gateway in Settings instead.

With more than one computer, Manage all gateways in Settings › System lets you "Update and restart every gateway together."

What's different on a Mac?

• Get it from GitHub, not the App Store. It updates itself. To check now, choose Check for Updates… in the bighelp menu.
• Keyboard: New Chat ⌘N, Settings… ⌘,, Show Sidebar ⌃⌘S, modes ⌃⌘1 to ⌃⌘3, Bigger Text ⌘+ and Smaller Text ⌘−.
• Right-click Send to steer, queue or interrupt.
• The Mac has no widgets, Live Activities, Apple Watch or CarPlay, and fewer phone tools.

What's different on iPad?

bighelp works the same as on iPhone. With a keyboard, the Mac shortcuts work too. In landscape, turn on Chat switcher in Settings › Modes to see "Your bots, or your running sessions in Code, beside each chat."

What's different on Vision Pro?

In Settings, In your space has Show your agent in the room, Switch to simple mode and Quick pinch (Talk or Type). To move your agent, pinch and hold the bar under it and drag. Vision Pro has no Live Activities and no on-device voice, and fewer phone tools. Home widgets work.

What does the Apple Watch app do?

Talk to your agent, see what Needs you, read your chats and boards, and answer approvals with Approve, Approve for this chat, Always approve or Deny.

• It works through your iPhone, so keep the iPhone nearby with Bluetooth on.
• If it isn't on your Watch, install it from the Watch app on your iPhone.
• To check the link, open Settings › Apple Watch on your iPhone. It shows Paired, App installed and Connection.

How does CarPlay work?

Open bighelp in CarPlay and it starts a voice chat with your agent. It needs an iPhone with iOS 26.4 or later. Pick the agent in Settings › CarPlay › Agent. On the car screen, tap Talk, End or Mute.

Which Shortcuts does bighelp have?

In the Shortcuts app, bighelp offers Ask an agent, New chat, Continue last chat, Start voice chat, Open group chat, Run scheduled task, Get Feed, Ideas or Goals, Computer status, Open in bighelp and Switch agent. You can also say them to Siri.

• Ask an agent has Wait for response. With it on, the answer comes back to Shortcuts without opening bighelp.
• There's a bighelp Focus filter too: "Tell your agents about this Focus, and keep their alerts quiet while it is on."

Which widgets are there?

Your Agent, Active Chats, Recent Chats, New Chat, Pinned Agents, Bots, Feed, Ideas, Goals, Scheduled Tasks, Kanban, Workflows and Usage.

To add one, touch and hold your Home Screen, tap Edit, then Add Widget, and find bighelp. Keep Background App Refresh on for bighelp so widgets stay current.

What is Nerd Mode?

A switch near the bottom of Settings: Nerd Mode, "Hermes tools and extra chat settings". It's off so everyday use stays simple. Turn it on to see:

• Hermes tools: files, skills, memory, logs and more on your computer.
• Connection & plugin features in Settings › System.
• More chat options in Settings › Chat, including what Send does while an agent works.
• Debug in Settings › Voice.
• Extra detail in chats, like thinking and tool calls.

Nerd Mode changes nothing you've saved. Turn it off and those extras hide again.