Voice is the primary way to use Maptero. You can create tasks, update them, create projects and contacts, filter your view, and continue a task, all by speaking. Typing is always available as a fallback.
The microphone button
The round indigo microphone button appears in several places, and what it does depends on where it is:
- On the timeline (the floating button): the most general mic. You can say anything here: create a task, create a project, add a contact, filter your view, clear filters, or continue a task.
- Inside a task's detail view: acts on the task you are looking at. You can update it, continue it, or add a contact, without having to name the task.
- Inside a project: creates tasks that are automatically filed under that project.
- On a goal (inside a project): one mic adds a task to the project and links it to that goal; another adds a goal (it just captures what you say into the goal editor for a quick check).
- In the Continue overlay: set up to create only the next phase of the task you are continuing.
To record on desktop, hold the button down and release to send. On mobile, press and hold the button to record and release to send.
Next to the mic in most places there is a keyboard button. Tap it to open the manual editor and type instead. This is also how you create tasks if you have not allowed microphone access.
The first time you use the mic on mobile
The very first time you tap the mic on a phone, Maptero walks you through enabling the microphone instead of recording straight away:
- A small "Tap to enable microphone" chip gently pulses above the button.
- Tapping the button brings up your phone's microphone permission prompt.
- Once you allow it, you see a brief "Microphone enabled" confirmation, with a reminder to now tap and hold the mic to record.
- From then on the button works normally: press and hold to record, release to send.
If you do not allow the microphone, you can still type using the keyboard button, and Maptero will show you how to turn the microphone on later.
What you see while recording (mobile)
While you are holding the mic, a small card appears near the top of the screen with animated sound bars:
- Grey, still bars with "Wait, preparing...": Maptero is getting the microphone ready.
- Indigo bars that move with your voice, with "I'm listening": Maptero is recording.
When you release, the card fades and a small arc spins on the button while your command is processed.
If a call comes in while recording
If a phone call arrives or your phone switches away from the app while you are recording, Maptero stops the recording cleanly and tells you "Recording interrupted (phone call or app paused)." Nothing half-finished is sent. Just try again once the interruption is over.
The confirmation panel: Maptero never acts without your say-so
After you speak, Maptero shows you a confirmation panel with what it understood: the task title, the words you said, and the fields it inferred (type, deadline, people, and so on). Nothing is saved until you press Confirm. You can edit any field first, or press Cancel.
For creating or updating a task, the panel lets you set:
- The title.
- The type (To-do or Waiting-for).
- The status (when updating an existing task).
- The deadline.
- Intense on or off.
- Important on or off.
- Off-peak on or off.
- A recurrence rule, when relevant.
- The project.
- The contacts involved (you can pick several).
- Blockers (other tasks this one depends on).
If Maptero did not fill in a field, you will see small "add" chips like "+ Deadline", "+ Project", "+ Important", "+ Intense", and "+ Off-peak" so you can add it with a tap. When you are already focused on a small set of projects, those projects also appear as one-tap chips so you can assign one instantly.
A banner at the top of the panel always tells you what kind of action you are about to confirm (for example "Create task" or "Updating: [title]"). When you are updating a task, any field Maptero changed is highlighted with an indigo edge, so you can see at a glance exactly what is about to change.
When you turn off-peak on in the panel, the deadline and recurrence inputs are hidden (because off-peak tasks have neither). Your previous values are kept, though, so turning off-peak back off restores them. The deadline and recurrence are only actually cleared when you save.
What you can do by voice
You can use voice to:
- Create a task. "Remind me to call Sophie tomorrow about the invoice." "Buy groceries." "Email the landlord by Friday, it's intense."
- Create a project. "Create a project called Website Redesign." (A project needs a name and a short uppercase label of up to 12 characters.)
- Add a contact. "Add a contact named Sophie Martin." (A contact needs a first and last name.)
- Update a task. "Mark buy groceries done." "Change the deadline of the proposal to next Monday." "Mark the budget task as important and make it intense."
- Continue a task. "Finish the proposal then send it to Sophie." "Done with the call, next phase is review the contract by Friday."
- Filter your view. "Show me overdue tasks." "Filter by project Alpha." "Tasks with Mike." "What's important and intense."
- Clear filters. "Clear filters." "Show all."
If the audio is silent or Maptero cannot make out what you said, it will tell you it could not understand and ask you to try again.
Updating several things at once
A single command can change several fields. Say "make the budget task intense, important, and due tomorrow" and the confirmation panel will show all three changes ready to confirm.
How voice behaves in different places
- The timeline mic can do everything above.
- The in-task mic focuses on the task you are viewing: you can update it, continue it, or add a contact, without naming the task. Multi-field updates work here too.
- The in-project mic creates tasks that are automatically filed in that project.
- A goal's mic either adds a task linked to that goal (the panel shows the project and goal it will attach to) or captures a new goal into the goal editor for a quick check.
- The Continue overlay mic treats your words as describing only the next phase of the task you are continuing.
Clearing a field by voice (so you never lose data by accident)
Maptero can tell the difference between you wanting to clear a field and you simply not mentioning it. If you say "remove the deadline," "clear the project," "drop the recurrence," and similar phrases (in any of the supported languages), Maptero clears just that field. If you do not mention a field at all, it is left untouched. This protects you from accidentally wiping out a deadline or a project you never meant to change.