Repository navigation
Releases
Buddy 2.0.2
Ask about anything on your screen. Buddy explains it out loud and draws on it while it talks.
2.0 is the biggest release yet: learn, get things done, fix errors, review your work, and remember all of it.
New in 2.0.2: follows the lecture, stops only for you
Buddy now turns a video's sound into words on your Mac as it plays, and only stops talking when you say its name.
| Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|
| "What did he just say?" | The last minute of sound sent to be transcribed first | Answered from words already heard on your Mac, with nothing sent |
| Asking after a pause, a rewind or a look at another app | Only the last minute it happened to hear | The minute before where you are, for any part Buddy heard play, at any speed |
| A lecturer on your speakers | Could be taken for your question | Left out of what you said |
| Talking to a friend while Buddy explains | "Wait" or "sorry" stopped Buddy | Ignored. Say "Buddy, wait…" to cut in |
| AirPods in | Couldn't cut in by voice | Buddy listens through your Mac's own microphone, so your headphones keep full sound |
| Drawing while the video plays | Rings drifted off as the video moved | Explained on a card instead |
| "What did he explain?" | Sometimes taken as "explain your answer again" | Understood as a question about the video |
| The first question after Buddy starts | Sometimes sized before Haiku could answer | Sized by Haiku |
Note
Lecture mode still needs System Audio Recording, asked once. The words stay in memory for that video while Buddy runs and are never written to disk; calls, chats and music apps are never heard.
2.0.1 made small talk small: "thanks, that's helpful" gets "Anytime, glad it helped." and no notebook page.
Everything below is what 2.0 brought, for anyone updating from 1.5 or earlier.
Talk over it
While Buddy explains, say its name and speak. No keys, nothing to switch on. Without the name it keeps going, so a friend in the room or a video playing never interrupts it.
| Say | Buddy |
|---|---|
| "Buddy, wait, why does high start at the length?" | Stops and answers your question |
| "Buddy, hold on" | Pauses mid-sentence |
| "Go on" | Carries on from where it stopped |
| "Buddy, slower" | Slows the rest of the answer |
| "Buddy, go back" | Says the last sentence again |
| "Buddy, say that again" | Replays the whole answer, free |
Note
The microphone is open only while an answer plays, and the notch shows a mic whenever it is. Esc or Stop closes it. Buddy's own voice is filtered out, so it never cuts itself off.
Learn anything from scratch
Say "teach me TCP from scratch" and the screen turns into a whiteboard. Buddy teaches it part by part, over as many questions as you like.
Teach it back
Say "let me explain binary search back to you" and explain it out loud. Buddy draws what you said in purple, exactly as you said it, then marks the gaps in red.
| You said | Buddy marked |
|---|---|
| "You keep halving, so it takes linear time" | Ringed, with logarithmic time, log n beside it |
| Nothing about when it stops | Middle equals target: found, stop and range empty: not found, dashed |
What you got right counts as remembered; what you missed comes back sooner on the map.
Explain the error you just hit
When an error appears in a terminal or editor, a soft red glow shows under the notch. Tap Control + Option, or hover and pick Explain this error, and Buddy rings the line that caused it. Nothing is sent anywhere until you ask, and the same error is never offered twice.
| On errors written after the recognizer was built | |
|---|---|
| Errors recognized | 20 of 20 |
| False alarms on output that only looks like an error | 0 of 18 |
| Rings the right file and line | 17 of 17 |
Knows what the lecture said
Watching a video lecture? Ask "what did she mean by that?" and Buddy knows the last minute of what was said, from the page's transcript, or from the video's own sound once you allow it. Never your microphone, never calls or meetings, kept in memory only.
A notebook that writes itself
Every lesson becomes a page: its drawing, a sharp picture of what it marked on your screen, what Buddy said, and links to teach it back. Search it, and export a day, a range or everything as a PDF in the background.
A map of what you know
Every idea Buddy has taught you, joined to related ideas, coloured by how well you still remember it: Strong, Fading, or Time to review. Click one for a quick recap or to teach it back.
Answers the size of your question
| You said | Before 2.0 | Now |
|---|---|---|
| "hello buddy" | Started describing your screen and ringing things | "Hey Rajeev, good to see you." |
| "what's the time complexity of binary search?" | Sized as a long answer | Two sentences, one ring on the line that halves |
| "what all can you do?" | A vague list | A card of all five areas, each with one thing to try |
A new look
The notch, Settings and setup are rebuilt. Settings is eight controls with nothing to scroll. Hover Spent today to see what Claude, Gemini and Deepgram each cost, and what for. Setup ends by checking your shortcut and microphone for real. How to use Buddy now opens the guide.
Also in this release
| Area | What changed |
|---|---|
| First word sooner | The screen is read while you are still talking |
| Point at what you mean | Select text, or rest the pointer on a line while you hold the keys, and that is what... |
Buddy 2.0.1
Ask about anything on your screen. Buddy explains it out loud and draws on it while it talks.
2.0 is the biggest release yet: learn, get things done, fix errors, review your work, and remember all of it.
Tip
New in 2.0.1: small talk is just small talk. Say "thanks, that's helpful" and Buddy says something like "Anytime, Rajeev, glad it helped." and leaves it there: no drawing, no notebook page. Questions are also sized more accurately: 94 or 95 of 100 blind study questions over three runs, up from 90.
Everything below is what 2.0 brought, for anyone updating from 1.5 or earlier.
Talk over it
While Buddy explains, just speak. No keys, nothing to switch on.
| Say | Buddy |
|---|---|
| "Wait, why does high start at the length?" | Stops and answers your question |
| "Hold on" | Pauses mid-sentence |
| "Go on" | Carries on from where it stopped |
| "Slower" | Slows the rest of the answer |
| "Go back" | Says the last sentence again |
| "Say that again" | Replays the whole answer, free |
Note
The microphone is open only while an answer plays, and the notch shows a mic whenever it is. Esc or Stop closes it. Buddy's own voice is filtered out, so it never cuts itself off.
Learn anything from scratch
Say "teach me TCP from scratch" and the screen turns into a whiteboard. Buddy teaches it part by part, over as many questions as you like.
Teach it back
Say "let me explain binary search back to you" and explain it out loud. Buddy draws what you said in purple, exactly as you said it, then marks the gaps in red.
| You said | Buddy marked |
|---|---|
| "You keep halving, so it takes linear time" | Ringed, with logarithmic time, log n beside it |
| Nothing about when it stops | Middle equals target: found, stop and range empty: not found, dashed |
What you got right counts as remembered; what you missed comes back sooner on the map.
Explain the error you just hit
When an error appears in a terminal or editor, a soft red glow shows under the notch. Tap Control + Option, or hover and pick Explain this error, and Buddy rings the line that caused it. Nothing is sent anywhere until you ask, and the same error is never offered twice.
| On errors written after the recognizer was built | |
|---|---|
| Errors recognized | 20 of 20 |
| False alarms on output that only looks like an error | 0 of 18 |
| Rings the right file and line | 17 of 17 |
Knows what the lecture said
Watching a video lecture? Ask "what did she mean by that?" and Buddy knows the last minute of what was said, from the page's transcript, or from the video's own sound once you allow it. Never your microphone, never calls or meetings, kept in memory only.
A notebook that writes itself
Every lesson becomes a page: its drawing, a sharp picture of what it marked on your screen, what Buddy said, and links to teach it back. Search it, and export a day, a range or everything as a PDF in the background.
A map of what you know
Every idea Buddy has taught you, joined to related ideas, coloured by how well you still remember it: Strong, Fading, or Time to review. Click one for a quick recap or to teach it back.
Answers the size of your question
| You said | Before 2.0 | Now |
|---|---|---|
| "hello buddy" | Started describing your screen and ringing things | "Hey Rajeev, good to see you." |
| "what's the time complexity of binary search?" | Sized as a long answer | Two sentences, one ring on the line that halves |
| "what all can you do?" | A vague list | A card of all five areas, each with one thing to try |
A new look
The notch, Settings and setup are rebuilt. Settings is eight controls with nothing to scroll. Hover Spent today to see what Claude, Gemini and Deepgram each cost, and what for. Setup ends by checking your shortcut and microphone for real. How to use Buddy now opens the guide.
Also in this release
| Area | What changed |
|---|---|
| First word sooner | The screen is read while you are still talking |
| Point at what you mean | Select text, or rest the pointer on a line while you hold the keys, and that is what "this" means |
| Marks follow | Rings stay on their line when you scroll, move or resize the window |
| Draws only when it helps | Short answers no longer come with a card |
| Replay | Plays the last answer again, voice and drawing, at no cost |
| Steadier | Recovers from sleep, a changed microphone or speaker, and a slow model; a stalling model is set aside for longer each time it keeps failing |
| Fixed | A crash when an error offer appeared; a crash on an answer of only drawing tags; a lesson could overwrite an unrelated idea in memory |
Updating
| You have | Do this |
|---|---|
| Buddy 1.2 or later | Click Update when the notch offers it |
| Buddy 1.0 or 1.1 | Download, drag onto Applications, choose Replace |
| Homebrew | brew upgrade --cask projects-hacks/buddy/buddy |
Note
Your keys, memory and permissions stay as they are. Two permissions are asked only when first needed: System Audio Recording for a lecture with no transcript, and Notifications for your first PDF export.
First time installing?
Buddy 2.0
Ask about anything on your screen. Buddy explains it out loud and draws on it while it talks.
2.0 is the biggest release yet: learn, get things done, fix errors, review your work, and remember all of it.
Talk over it
While Buddy explains, just speak. No keys, nothing to switch on.
| Say | Buddy |
|---|---|
| "Wait, why does high start at the length?" | Stops and answers your question |
| "Hold on" | Pauses mid-sentence |
| "Go on" | Carries on from where it stopped |
| "Slower" | Slows the rest of the answer |
| "Go back" | Says the last sentence again |
| "Say that again" | Replays the whole answer, free |
Note
The microphone is open only while an answer plays, and the notch shows a mic whenever it is. Esc or Stop closes it. Buddy's own voice is filtered out, so it never cuts itself off.
Learn anything from scratch
Say "teach me TCP from scratch" and the screen turns into a whiteboard. Buddy teaches it part by part, over as many questions as you like.
Teach it back
Say "let me explain binary search back to you" and explain it out loud. Buddy draws what you said in purple, exactly as you said it, then marks the gaps in red.
| You said | Buddy marked |
|---|---|
| "You keep halving, so it takes linear time" | Ringed, with logarithmic time, log n beside it |
| Nothing about when it stops | Middle equals target: found, stop and range empty: not found, dashed |
What you got right counts as remembered; what you missed comes back sooner on the map.
Explain the error you just hit
When an error appears in a terminal or editor, a soft red glow shows under the notch. Tap Control + Option, or hover and pick Explain this error, and Buddy rings the line that caused it. Nothing is sent anywhere until you ask, and the same error is never offered twice.
| On errors written after the recognizer was built | |
|---|---|
| Errors recognized | 20 of 20 |
| False alarms on output that only looks like an error | 0 of 18 |
| Rings the right file and line | 17 of 17 |
Knows what the lecture said
Watching a video lecture? Ask "what did she mean by that?" and Buddy knows the last minute of what was said, from the page's transcript, or from the video's own sound once you allow it. Never your microphone, never calls or meetings, kept in memory only.
A notebook that writes itself
Every lesson becomes a page: its drawing, a sharp picture of what it marked on your screen, what Buddy said, and links to teach it back. Search it, and export a day, a range or everything as a PDF in the background.
A map of what you know
Every idea Buddy has taught you, joined to related ideas, coloured by how well you still remember it: Strong, Fading, or Time to review. Click one for a quick recap or to teach it back.
Answers the size of your question
| You said | Before 2.0 | Now |
|---|---|---|
| "hello buddy" | Started describing your screen and ringing things | "Hey Rajeev, good to see you." |
| "what's the time complexity of binary search?" | Sized as a long answer | Two sentences, one ring on the line that halves |
| "what all can you do?" | A vague list | A card of all five areas, each with one thing to try |
A new look
The notch, Settings and setup are rebuilt. Settings is eight controls with nothing to scroll. Hover Spent today to see what Claude, Gemini and Deepgram each cost, and what for. Setup ends by checking your shortcut and microphone for real. How to use Buddy now opens the guide.
Also in this release
| Area | What changed |
|---|---|
| First word sooner | The screen is read while you are still talking |
| Point at what you mean | Select text, or rest the pointer on a line while you hold the keys, and that is what "this" means |
| Marks follow | Rings stay on their line when you scroll, move or resize the window |
| Draws only when it helps | Short answers no longer come with a card |
| Replay | Plays the last answer again, voice and drawing, at no cost |
| Steadier | Recovers from sleep, a changed microphone or speaker, and a slow model; a stalling model is set aside for longer each time it keeps failing |
| Fixed | A crash when an error offer appeared; a crash on an answer of only drawing tags; a lesson could overwrite an unrelated idea in memory |
Updating
| You have | Do this |
|---|---|
| Buddy 1.2 or later | Click Update when the notch offers it |
| Buddy 1.0 or 1.1 | Download, drag onto Applications, choose Replace |
| Homebrew | brew upgrade --cask projects-hacks/buddy/buddy |
Note
Your keys, memory and permissions stay as they are. Two permissions are asked only when first needed: System Audio Recording for a lecture with no transcript, and Notifications for your first PDF export.
First time installing?
Or with Homebrew:
brew tap projects-hacks/buddy https://github.com/projects-hacks/buddy
brew trust projects-hacks/buddy
brew install --cask projects-hacks/buddy/buddyMore help: [install guide](https://github.com/projects-hacks/buddy/blo...
Buddy 1.5
Gets technical words right
With a Deepgram key, Deepgram now hears your questions as well as speaking the answers. The same questions, on the same microphone:
| You said | The Mac's recognizer heard | Buddy 1.5 hears |
|---|---|---|
| Kafka | Kafka | |
| idempotent | idempotent | |
| Postgres | Postgres |
Before you speak, Buddy tells it which words to expect: the labels on your screen, the terms on cards it just drew, and the ideas you have been learning. About a third of a cent per question, shown in Spent today.
Tip
No Deepgram key? Nothing changes: the Mac's own recognizer hears you as before. With a key, it still listens alongside, in case the connection drops.
Take your time
| Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|
| Pause to think mid-question | Only the words after the pause arrived | The whole question arrives |
| Let go too early, press again | Two separate questions | Joined into one, if the answer has not started |
Long sessions stay in view
| Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|
| Questions kept in view | 10 | 40 |
| Older answers | Forgotten | What was said is kept |
Recent answers are kept with their drawings; older ones keep what was said, so long sessions stay cheap.
Also in this release
| Area | What changed |
|---|---|
| Fixed | Buddy could stop responding when the microphone changed, for example AirPods connecting. It now keeps listening. |
| Spent today | Counts answers you cut off, and keeps the last cents of the day when Buddy quits. |
| Mishearings | When a word is still misheard, Buddy answers what you meant. |
| Chat | Long folded answers no longer draw over the messages below. |
Updating
| You have | Do this |
|---|---|
| Buddy 1.2 or later | Click Update when the notch offers it |
| Buddy 1.0 or 1.1 | Download, drag onto Applications, choose Replace |
| Homebrew | brew upgrade --cask projects-hacks/buddy/buddy |
Note
Your keys, memory and permissions stay as they are.
First time installing?
Or with Homebrew:
brew tap projects-hacks/buddy https://github.com/projects-hacks/buddy
brew trust projects-hacks/buddy
brew install --cask projects-hacks/buddy/buddyMore help: install guide.
Every update is checked against Buddy.dmg.sha256 and the app's signature before it installs. To check a download by hand: shasum -a 256 -c Buddy.dmg.sha256
Buddy 1.4
Download Buddy for Mac
Install in three steps
- Open the downloaded Buddy.dmg and drag Buddy onto Applications.
- Open Buddy from Applications. The first time only, macOS says it can't check the app: click Done, then open System Settings > Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway.
- Follow the setup window: your name, your keys, three permissions.
Already have Buddy 1.2 or 1.3? It offers this update in the notch by itself: click Update. On 1.0 or 1.1, download it once and drag it onto Applications, choosing Replace. Your keys, memory and permissions stay.
What's new in 1.4
Repeat tasks, answered from memory
When Buddy walks you through something in an app and you reach the end, it now keeps the steps. Ask for the same thing again, in whatever words, "how do I get a PDF of this" after "how do I save this as a PDF", and Buddy walks you through from memory: the same steps, pointing at the same buttons, without asking a model at all, so it is quicker and costs only the voice. It replays only when the request is plainly the same task; something that just sounds like it, "save as PNG" after "save as PDF", gets a fresh answer. If the app has changed since, Buddy notices the missing button and works out that step afresh. The notch says from memory while it replays.
See what you've spent
Settings now shows Spent today, with this month's total and how many questions Buddy answered. It is worked out from what each reply says it used, at the providers' published prices, so there are no surprises on your bill.
Easier first install
The download window now shows the three install steps as pictures: drag Buddy to Applications, click Done when macOS says it can't check Buddy, then Open Anyway in Privacy & Security. No need to find the instructions anywhere else.
Also in this release
- Control + Option + T has its own sound, three soft key taps, and no longer turns the microphone on or stops an answer that is playing before the chat box opens.
- Buddy points at the right button even when it names it instead of using its place on screen, so fewer arrows go missing.
- A smaller, tighter app: an unused analytics package from the project Buddy grew out of is gone, along with the two permissions it needed, one of them the camera, which Buddy never used.
- Buddy's files on your Mac now live in a folder named Buddy, moved there for you on first launch.
Works on any Mac with macOS 14.2 or later, Apple silicon or Intel. Step-by-step help: docs/install.md.
For the careful: each update is checked against Buddy.dmg.sha256 and against the app's signature before it is installed. To check a download by hand, shasum -a 256 -c Buddy.dmg.sha256 in the folder holding both.
Buddy 1.3
Download Buddy for Mac
Install in three steps
- Open the downloaded Buddy.dmg and drag Buddy onto Applications.
- Open Buddy from Applications. The first time only, macOS says it can't check the app: click Done, then open System Settings > Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway.
- Follow the setup window: your name, your keys, three permissions.
Already have Buddy 1.2? It offers this update in the notch by itself: click Update. On 1.0 or 1.1, download it once and drag it onto Applications, choosing Replace. Your keys, memory and permissions stay.
What's new in 1.3
Two new ways to use Buddy: type instead of talk, and get walked through any app one step at a time.
Type instead of talk
Press Control + Option + T from any app, or click the chat box in the open notch, type your question and press Return. Shift + Return starts a new line, and Esc puts the box away with your text kept. Buddy answers exactly as it does a spoken question, out loud and drawn on your screen, so it works in a library, a shared room, or when the question is a pasted error message. The chat tab in the notch keeps the whole day's conversation, spoken and typed.
Learn any app, step by step
New to an editing app, a design tool, or a settings screen? Ask how to do the thing you want, "how do I export this as a PDF?", and Buddy gives one step at a time: it says what to click and points at the exact button or menu, then waits. Do the step and it notices on its own and says the next one, until the task is done. If you take a wrong turn it tells you how to get back. There is nothing to switch on: Buddy guides whenever the question is a task, and the step it is waiting for shows under the notch. Esc stops it any time.
Watching for your step happens entirely on your Mac and costs nothing. Buddy only looks after you click, type or scroll, and asks the model again only once the screen has changed, which is one ordinary answer, about a cent.
Also in this release
- Setup and the notch describe both new features, and the privacy wording says exactly when the screen is captured.
- Opening Name and API keys from the notch no longer leaves the setup window hidden behind it.
- An answer that started with a stray sentence before its drawing no longer loses the drawing.
Works on any Mac with macOS 14.2 or later, Apple silicon or Intel. Step-by-step help: docs/install.md.
For the careful: each update is checked against Buddy.dmg.sha256 and against the app's signature before it is installed. To check a download by hand, shasum -a 256 -c Buddy.dmg.sha256 in the folder holding both.
Buddy 1.2
Download Buddy for Mac
Install in three steps
- Open the downloaded Buddy.dmg and drag Buddy onto Applications.
- Open Buddy from Applications. The first time only, macOS says it can't check the app: click Done, then open System Settings > Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway.
- Follow the setup window: your name, your keys, three permissions.
Already have Buddy 1.0 or 1.1? Do the same once: download, drag onto Applications, and choose Replace. Your keys, memory and permissions stay. From this version on, updates arrive by themselves.
What's new in 1.2
- Buddy updates itself. Once a day it checks for a newer version; the notch says when one is ready, and Update installs it in a click, keeping everything you had. Settings has Check now and a switch to turn it off.
- A copy of Buddy opened from somewhere else no longer takes away its open-at-login setting.
Works on any Mac with macOS 14.2 or later, Apple silicon or Intel. Step-by-step help: docs/install.md.
For the careful: each update is checked against Buddy.dmg.sha256 and against the app's signature before it is installed. To check a download by hand, shasum -a 256 -c Buddy.dmg.sha256 in the folder holding both.
Buddy 1.1
Buddy 1.1, for Macs on macOS 14.2 or later, now on both Apple silicon and Intel.
Install: download Buddy-1.1.dmg, drag Buddy into Applications, and open it. macOS asks once before opening an app that is not notarized: open System Settings > Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway. Full steps in docs/install.md. Updating from 1.0 keeps your keys, permissions and memory.
New
- The notch says what the wait is spent on: "reading your screen", then "thinking", and which model is answering
- Esc closes the notch, then clears the drawing
- Starting Buddy at login is now your choice, in setup and in Settings, instead of happening on its own
- Buddy's name shows as Buddy in System Settings and in permission prompts
Fixed
- The setup window could open behind the app in front, so it was never seen
- The open notch could sit underneath a drawing's cards, and old drawings covered the setup window
- Labels in a drawing could pile up on each other, and cards cut off boxes at their right edge
- A rejected Anthropic key now goes straight to Gemini instead of trying the second Claude model first, and the notch banner clears once the key works again
- Asking without Screen Recording now says what to allow and opens that step, instead of a general error
- Haiku's question sorting and memory recall now stop at their deadline instead of sometimes delaying the answer, and memory gets enough time to recall an earlier lesson
- Learning memory could fail to file a long lesson; it now keeps every idea it could read
- Testing a Google Cloud project now checks the project itself, not only the gcloud sign-in, and never freezes the window
- The Gemini key travels in a header, never in a URL
- Several memory edge cases found in review: a crash when ideas were filed before macOS had its sentence model, forgetting that could come back, and an "I didn't follow" that could mark the wrong lesson
Verify the download with the .sha256 file attached: shasum -a 256 -c Buddy-1.1.dmg.sha256.
Buddy 1.0
The first downloadable Buddy, for Macs with Apple silicon on macOS 14.2 or later.
Install: download Buddy-1.0.dmg, drag Buddy into Applications, and open it. macOS asks once before opening an app that is not notarized: open System Settings > Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway. Full steps in docs/install.md.
Bring your own keys: an Anthropic key (recommended), and optionally a Gemini key and a Deepgram key. Setup tests each one as you paste it.
In this release
- Explains out loud while drawing on your screen, in step with the voice
- Lives in the notch, with your words live as you speak, the last lesson and the day's transcript
- Auto picks Claude Sonnet, Claude Opus or Gemini Argon per question, from measured quality, wait and cost
- Learning memory: answers build on what you learned in earlier sessions, kept on your Mac
- Hints before answers on LeetCode, HackerRank and similar
- Reviews your own diagrams as a peer, with suggestions drawn beside your boxes
- First-run setup with tested keys, and clear messages when a key stops working
Verify the download with the .sha256 file attached: shasum -a 256 -c Buddy-1.0.dmg.sha256.