Claude AI adds a genuinely useful voice mode to its mobile app that can look inside your inbox and calendar

• Anthropic is rolling out a new voice mode for its AI chatbot Claude
• You can use it to search Google Calendar and Gmail on a paid plan
• Voice mode will also be available on the free tier, but with usage limitations

Claude, the popular AI chatbot from Anthropic, is rolling out a voice mode to all its mobile app users. Whilst still in beta, the new voice mode will be in English and accessible for users on all current plans, including the free plan.

Voice mode with Claude works just like voice mode in Gemini or ChatGPT. In fact, you tap on an icon that looks pretty much identical to the Gemini Live icon to activate it.

Once voice mode is activated, you just start talking to Claude to hear its voice responses. As it talks, it displays its key points on screen, which enables you to seamlessly switch between text and voice within the same conversation.

You get five different Claude voices to choose from, according to the Claude voice mode documentation, and you can change between them at any time by simply going to Settings, then Voice Preferences.

Hey Claude

You can get a preview of how voice mode will work in Claude thanks to a handy video Anthropic has posted on X.com:

The video demonstrates how, by simply talking to Claude (even while brushing your teeth) you can get the AI to check your calendar, search through your Gmail inbox or Google Drive, and even draft an email for you.

This kind of ability moves Claude firmly into the role of a digital assistant however it’s worth noting that Gmail and Google Calendar integrations are only available on Claude’s paid plans, which start at $20 (around £16 / AU$32)for a Pro account, and go up to $200 (around £148 / AU$311) a month for Max 20x.

Usage limits

You don’t get unlimited access to voice conversations in Claude. Each conversation counts towards your regular usage limits based on your subscription plan.

Free users of Claude can expect approximately 20-30 voice messages before reaching session limits, while paid plans have significantly higher limits.

Voice mode is a timely upgrade to Claude, which was lagging behind its rivals, ChatGPT and Gemini, by not providing a voice mode. Anthropic has also just updated Claude's LLM to Claude Opus 4.0 and Claude Sonnet 4.0. Opus 4.0 is a powerful AI model that excels at coding, while Sonnet is a lightweight model designed for regular use and a big improvement on the previous Sonnet 3.7 model.

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