For the person who will use Ozen, and anyone helping to set up the phone.
Ozen for iPhone and iPad is free in the App Store (iOS 17 or newer). This guide follows the iPhone and iPad.
On Android (see Installing on Android), the app asks the same things in nearly the same words. It has no setup page, because it always starts with the phone's own speech model, and its microphone page has its own buttons to approve the microphone and notifications.
Ozen turns what the people around you say into large captions on your phone, as they speak. It was made for someone who is deaf or hard of hearing. The captions are written in the language the people around you speak, chosen from twelve (Hebrew unless you pick another). The buttons and settings can be in any of the same twelve languages. Once the speech model is on the phone, the captions are written on the phone itself, with no internet.
The first time Ozen opens, it shows short pages in large type: eight when the captions use a downloaded speech model (the usual choice), seven when they don't, because then page 5 is left out and the pages after it move up one. Swipe, or tap Next (ha-ba) at the bottom. Tap Skip (dilug) to leave the pages; on the microphone page it shows only once iOS's questions there have been answered. On the last page the button changes to Start (hatchala).
- Welcome. Says what the app is. On a phone that keeps everything inside, it says that nothing is sent to the internet.
- How it works. Four short lines: captions run on their own, the app tells speakers apart, it alerts you to names, doorbells and alarms, and you can type a reply that the phone says aloud.
- The language. Which language the people around you speak, from a list of twelve with Hebrew first. The captions are written in it, and Settings can change it at any time.
- One-time setup. You choose how the captions are written. See the next section.
- Choose the speech model. Only when the captions use a downloaded model. See "The speech model" below.
- The microphone. The first permission. See below.
- When you're called. You type the name, and the phone then vibrates and marks the line whenever someone says it. See below. An iPad can't vibrate: there the edge of the screen flashes yellow instead, and it does the same when someone starts talking after a long quiet stretch.
- Ready. Tells you what to expect on the first run. The button then starts the captions.
If a family member scanned the home computer's code first, the setup page already shows the home computer as chosen. You can leave it that way.
On the setup page, Accurate Hebrew (recommended) (ivrit meduyeket, mumlatz) is the usual choice; for another language it is called Accurate (recommended) (meduyak, mumlatz). It downloads one file, once: about 819 MB for Hebrew. Do this over Wi-Fi, because on mobile data a file this size can cost money or use up the data plan. The page says it then takes a few minutes to set the model up for the phone. After that it works without the internet.
- If the phone is short of room, the page says how much to free up.
- When you keep a downloaded model, the next page, Choose the speech model, lists the models for the language you picked, the one that suits this phone first and already selected. Each shows its size and whether it Keeps up, is A little behind or is Too slow on this phone. Test this phone checks again, and Keep the recommended model moves on with the suggestion. The same list is under Settings, Whisper, Model. With No download or any other way of writing the captions, this page is left out.
- No download (bli horada) uses Apple's own recognition, built into the phone. It starts right away, but Hebrew is only available on some versions of iOS.
You can change your mind at any time in Settings. After you tap Start, the status button at the bottom of the caption screen shows the download, for example "Downloading the language model · N%" (moridim et model ha-dibur · N%). Keep the app open until it finishes. If the phone is not on Wi-Fi, the button says "Waiting for Wi‑Fi to download the language model" (mamtinim le-Wi-Fi kdei lehorid et model ha-dibur). The download then starts by itself when Wi-Fi comes back. You can also tap the button, and Ozen asks whether to download over mobile data now or to wait for Wi-Fi.
Ozen needs the microphone to hear the conversation. The page explains why, then Next (ha-ba) brings up the question iOS asks; answer it there. The walkthrough doesn't go on until it has been answered, and Skip isn't offered on this page until then. When the audio stays on the phone, the page says that the sound doesn't leave the phone and isn't kept unless you mark a problem.
If the answer is no, the page says the microphone is blocked and that without it there are no captions. Tap Open phone settings (ptichat hagdarot ha-telefon), turn the microphone on for Ozen, and come back. The page checks again by itself when you return. If it is still off later, the status button at the bottom of the caption screen says "No microphone access" (ein gisha la-mikrofon). Tap it and it opens iOS Settings.
Once the microphone is approved, the same page explains notifications, and Next brings up iOS's question about them. They let Ozen tell you about a doorbell, an alarm or your name when the phone is in a pocket or locked. If you say no, the page shows that there are no notifications and that this can be changed in Settings. The captions still work. After this answer, Next goes on to the next page.
Ozen does not ask for this permission during the pages. Only if you chose Apple's own recognition, iOS may ask for permission to recognize speech the first time the captions run. If it is refused, the status button says "No speech recognition permission" (ein ishur le-zihuy dibur). Tap it to open iOS Settings.
The page called "When you're called" has a box, Your name (ha-shem shelachem), and a button, Add (hosafa). Type the name as people say it, in the letters the captions use. When the captions are in Hebrew, use Hebrew letters: a word written in other letters may never be found, and the page says so. Later, Settings → Alerts → Important words lets you add or remove words.
The captions fill the screen, one line for each thing said, and the newest at the bottom. A row of buttons runs along the bottom, from the first button to the last:
- Microphone (mikrofon). Shows which microphone is in use, such as the phone's own, AirPods or a wired one. Tap it to choose another.
- The status button, in the middle. It says what Ozen is doing. While it says "Listening" (me'azina) and "Tap to pause" (hakishu kedei lehashhot), a tap pauses. When it says "Paused" (mushhe) and "Tap to continue" (hakishu kedei lehamshich), a tap goes on. When it says "Captions are off" (ha-ktuviyot kvuyot), a tap starts them. When the phone is saying a typed reply, a tap stops the phone talking.
- Say (lehagid). Opens the reply screen, described below.
- Clear (nikuy). Only shown when there are lines on the screen. It wipes the screen and starts fresh. If conversations are being saved, the lines go to History first. If not, Ozen asks before deleting them.
- Settings (hagdarot).
When the captions follow the newest line, the buttons slide away after a few seconds so they never cover it. Touch the screen to bring them back. With VoiceOver or Switch Control on, they stay. With Voice Control, which apps can't detect, turn the setting below off. To keep them on screen, turn off Hide the buttons while captions are running (hastarat ha-kaftorim bi-zman ha-ha'azana) in Settings, under Display.
There is no separate stop button. To switch the captions off completely, use Siri or a shortcut (see the lock screen section below).
Spread two fingers apart on the captions to make the text bigger, and pinch to make it smaller. A small label shows the size while you do it. Settings also has Text size (godel text), with a preview sentence and a button to go back to the usual size.
Tap Say. Type what you want to say in the box, then tap Play (hashma'a). The phone says it aloud. While it talks, the captions pause, so the phone does not caption itself, and they come back by themselves. Tap Stop (atzira) to cut it off.
Under the box are Quick phrases (mishpatim muchanim), ready sentences you can tap to say at once. Edit (aricha) lets you add phrases or restore the original ones. If the phone has no voice for the language, the screen says where to add one.
Full screen, big letters (masach male be-otiyot gdolot) opens a pad that fills the whole screen with huge letters. Hand the phone to the other person so they can write to you. It has Clear (nikuy), Flip (hipuch), which turns the text upside down for the person facing you, Speak (hashma'a) and Close (sgira).
Press and hold a line to open its menu:
- Mark as important (simun ke-chashuva) stars the line. Tap the same item again (it then says Remove mark, bitul ha-simun) to take the star off.
- Ask them to repeat that (levakesh she-yachzeru al ze) has the phone say that request aloud. It shows only when the phone can speak.
- Who is speaking? (mi medaber?) lets you type a name. From then on, everything that voice says shows with that name. If no voice has been identified for the line yet, try again after the person has talked a bit more.
- Fix a word (tikun mila) corrects a word in the line and teaches Ozen the right spelling. Turn on Fix it every time to always write it that way from now on.
- Copy (ha'atakah) copies the line.
- Captions not good? Mark a problem (ha-ktuviyot lo tovot? lesamen be'aya) saves the details on the phone, so that whoever helps you can see them. See Troubleshooting.
Speaker names can be turned on or off with Show speaker names (hatzagat shemot ha-dovrim) in Settings, under Display.
Settings → Previous conversations (shichot kodmot) opens History, the saved conversations. You can search what was said, and delete one or all of them. The list has a Starred lines (shurot mesumanot) entry that gathers every line you starred. A switch there, Save conversations (shmirat shichot), turns saving off, and an automatic deletion setting removes old conversations. Conversations with a starred line or a name are always kept. They stay on the phone, and in its own backup when the backup is on.
Near the bottom of Settings, Show the initial walkthrough again (lehatzig shuv et ha-hesber ha-rishoni) brings back the pages from the first launch.
Captions on the lock screen. While captions run, the newest lines also show on the lock screen, so they can be read without unlocking the phone. This is on by default. The switch is Captions on the lock screen too (ktuviyot gam be-masach ha-ne'ila) in Settings. If Live Activities are off for Ozen in the iPhone's own settings, Ozen's Settings says so and offers a button to open them. If iOS closes the app, the lock screen says "Captions aren’t updating. Open Ozen." (ha-ktuviyot lo mitaadkenot. pitchu et Ozen) instead of showing an old sentence as new.
Siri and Shortcuts. Ozen understands, in Hebrew or in English, commands such as "Hey Siri, start captions in Ozen" and "Hey Siri, stop captions in Ozen". Another one has the phone say a sentence aloud, and Siri asks what to say. Stopping saves the conversation in History. The commands also work from the lock screen and in automations in the Shortcuts app. Settings has a section with the same examples, called Siri and shortcuts (siri ve-kitzurei derech).
The Action button. One of Ozen's shortcuts opens the big-letters pad straight away, so someone can write to you when the captions cannot keep up. On an iPhone with an Action button, the iPhone's own settings let you give that button a shortcut. Pick the Ozen one for the big-letters pad.
Control Center. On iOS 18 or later, a Start captions button (hatchalat ktuviyot) opens Ozen and starts listening in one press. To add it, press and hold an empty spot in Control Center and search for Ozen. It can also replace the flashlight or camera button at the bottom of the lock screen.
- Cloud services: captions written by an online service, using your own key, for a phone that is too slow for its own model.
- Troubleshooting: what each message on the status button means, and what to do when something looks wrong.
- The README: everything Ozen does, and how it is built.