How Soda listens to meetings

Soda notices your calls by itself. No bot joins the meeting, there’s nothing to press, and the audio is transcribed locally on your Mac, then discarded.

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When Soda starts listening

Soda starts listening when we detect your microphone being used by a meeting app (i.e. Google Meet, Zoom, Teams, etc) meeting app it works with. It can detect meetings regardless of whether they happen in your browser or a native desktop app. The call doesn’t need to be on your calendar for Soda to pick it up.

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What Soda hears

Soda hears your voice through your microphone, and everyone else through the sound your Mac plays. It works the same with external speakers, headphones, or AirPods. Other sounds your Mac plays during a live call, like a video or music, can also be heard by Soda. For the best quality memory keep them off while you’re on a call.

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When Soda stops listening

When you leave a call, your meeting app lets go of your microphone. Soda waits about 15 seconds, then wraps up the call and starts writing it up. That 15-second cooldown is there for the times you drop off a call by accident. If your microphone comes back within about 15 seconds, it’s still the same call. Some apps keep hold of your microphone after you leave, which can make it hard for Soda to know when the call ends. To solve this we have a second check, so if Soda hears no one else on the call for 15 minutes, it shows “We haven’t heard anyone in 15 minutes. Wrapping up the meeting”, with a countdown.

• Still on the call? Click Keep listening.
• Already left? Do nothing. Soda wraps up when the countdown ends.

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Why one call can become two memories

Once Soda has wrapped up a call, anything after it becomes a new memory. That can happen when:

• Your microphone dropped for longer than the cooldown, on a bad connection for example, then came back.
• You left and rejoined after more than 15 seconds.
• You moved to a different link or room. That’s always a new memory.

Nothing is captured in the gap between the two memories. Memories can’t be merged, but you can remove the parts you don’t want:

• For a short fragment, Soda asks Keep this memory? Close the prompt, or click Ignore in your Inbox.
• Delete any other fragment from Memories. See Delete a memory.

To keep a call in one memory, stay in the meeting. If you drop, rejoin quickly using the same link.

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Muting and pausing

Muting yourself in the meeting app doesn’t stop Soda hearing your microphone. The other people can’t hear you, but Soda still can. Muting doesn’t end the call for Soda either. To stop Soda from hearing something, use the Pause button. Click the Soda tile in the bottom-left corner, then the sound wave. Nothing from a paused stretch is kept. See Pause Soda during a call.

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After the call

While Soda writes up your call, it’ll let you know what it’s doing, i.e. Transcribing, Processing, Summarising, Creating Action Items. When the label goes, the memory is ready. It can take up to a few minutes, depending on the length of the call.

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Next steps