Questions and Answers About Amara

Amara is free to download from Google Play onto your Android phone or tablet. It only takes a moment.

Amara is free to download from the App Store onto your iPhone or iPad. It only takes a moment.

The first time you open Amara, it walks you through the setup step by step. It only takes a few minutes, in your own time.

They're built for different things. Siri and Alexa are assistants — you ask them to do a task ("set a timer," "what's the weather," "play the news"), they do it, and that's the end of it. ChatGPT is a clever tool for looking things up and getting answers. They're all useful. But none of them is really there for the conversation itself.

You talk to Amara with your voice — just like talking to a person. Or you can type, if you'd rather.

You can set Amara up for your parent in a few minutes — ideally side by side at the table, or over the phone if you're not there. Here's the whole order.

Amara is a voice-first app — you talk to it out loud, just like a normal conversation, or type if you'd rather. Someone to talk to, with a few things to do alongside.

Amara has games you can play whenever you fancy one. At the moment there's Solitaire, a Quiz, Sudoku and Memory.

Amara can play podcasts for you — conversations, stories and all sorts of subjects, whenever you'd like.

Amara can play the radio for you — turn it on the way you always have, just a bit simpler. There's a choice of stations.

Yes. Amara reminds you by voice — about doctor's appointments, birthdays and daily routines. Kindly and at the right moment, without pressure.

Amara can play TV for you — programmes to watch when you like, in your own time.

You can talk to Amara just like you'd talk to a person. Say whatever's on your mind — Mia and Max are listening.

You can set how fast Mia and Max speak, and how loud — so it sounds just right for you.

Your subscription is managed by Google, so you cancel it in the Google Play Store — not in the Amara app itself.

Your subscription is managed by Apple, so you cancel it in your iPhone or iPad settings — not in the Amara app itself.

Yes. You can try Amara free for seven days before you decide on a subscription. During the trial you can use everything — talk to Mia and Max, play games, listen to the radio and podcasts, and watch TV.

You subscribe right inside the Amara app, then confirm through your App Store (Apple) or Google Play.

Your Amara subscription is paid through Apple or Google, depending on your device. Amara doesn't handle refunds itself — you request a refund from whoever you paid.

Everything's included for one price. You can talk to Mia and Max, play games, listen to the radio and podcasts, and watch TV. No ads, no add-ons, nothing extra to buy.

Most of the time this is one of a few simple things — the Talk button wasn't tapped, the volume's turned down, or Amara doesn't have permission to use the microphone. Try these in order.

Most of the time, closing the app fully and opening it again sorts this. If that doesn't do it, work through these in order.

Amara needs an internet connection to talk with you. Most of the time, moving closer to your wi-fi box — the router — sorts it. If it's still playing up, go through these in order.

Most of the time this is a shaky internet connection or a small slip during sign-in — both easily sorted. If it still won't work, go through these in order.

Amara needs to use the microphone so Mia and Max can hear you.

Most of the time the volume is just turned down. Press the upper volume button on the side of your phone a few times, while Amara is open, until the sound is nice and clear. If you still can't hear anything, work through these in order.

Updates bring improvements and fix small problems. You get them from the same shop you downloaded Amara from — it only takes a minute.

You can make the text bigger right inside Amara — and if you'd like everything on your phone easier to read, you can change it there too. It only takes a minute, and you can change it back whenever you like.

If Mia and Max talk a little too fast for you, you can slow them down — either by asking them, or in the settings. You can change it as often as you like.

The quickest fix is usually your phone's volume. You can also connect headphones or hearing aids, and there are a few settings that help if you hear better on one side. You can change any of these back whenever you like.

In short: your conversations with Mia and Max are kept private, and your data is handled under European data protection law (GDPR). Amara is made by H2 Technologies GmbH, a small team in Berlin — not a big tech company.