Ira on iPhone¶

An iPhone gets Ira three ways:

Ira for iPhone, the native app: type or talk, a live call with barge-in, "Hey Siri, Ask Ira" with nothing to build, and your contacts, calendar, reminders, location and calls as tools Ira may use when you ask. It is not in the App Store yet: the owner installs it through TestFlight (below), or builds it with Xcode.
The Ira web app on your Home Screen: everything the web app does, with nothing to install from a store.
"Hey Siri, Ask Ira" as a Shortcut you build, for an iPhone without the app.

Ira for iPhone¶

You need iOS 17 or later, and your own Ira at an https:// address.

Pair it¶

In the Ira web app, open the menu, Your devices. Under Add a device choose iPhone (Ira for iPhone), give it a name, tick what it may do (Contacts, Calendar, Reminders, Location, Calls), type your PIN and press Make a pairing code.
On the iPhone, either:
- scan the QR code with the Camera, open the page, and tap Open in Ira for iPhone; or
- in Ira, on Get Ira ready, tap Pair, then paste the pairing link (Paste asks nothing), or type the code (ABCD-EFGH) and your Ira's address.

A pairing link opened from the Camera, Safari or any other app pairs nothing by itself: Ira first shows the address it would pair with (and the Ira this iPhone is paired with now, which it would forget here), and pairs only when you tap Pair. Pair only with a code you just made on your own Ira.

The code works once, within 10 minutes. The iPhone gets its own key, which stays in its Keychain: readable only on this iPhone, after it has been unlocked once since it started, never synced through iCloud and never in a backup restored to another phone. If iOS will not hand the key over (the iPhone restarted and is still locked), Ira says so and waits; it never forgets the pairing on its own.

Get Ira ready¶

The first time, Ira shows a checklist. Each line says why in one sentence and has the button that does it: Pair, Allow (iOS's own question), or Open Settings when iOS will not ask again (after a "Don't Allow"). Only Pair and Microphone are needed to talk; the rest are for the skills you want. Settings → Get Ira ready shows it again later.

Line	Why	When iOS asks
Pair with your Ira	So this iPhone knows which Ira is yours.	(no iOS question)
Microphone	So you can talk to Ira. It listens only during a call you start.	Allow, or your first call
Speech recognition	So the iPhone can turn your words into text when your Ira has no live calls.	Allow, or the first call in phone mode
Contacts	So Ira can put a name to a number, or find the number to call.	Allow, or the first lookup while Ira is open
Calendar	So Ira can tell you what is on your day, and add an event after your yes. Needs Full Access.	Allow, or the first calendar question
Reminders	So Ira can list your reminders, add one, and tick one off. Needs Full Access.	Allow, or the first reminder
Location	So Ira can say where you are, when you ask. While Using the App only.	Allow, or the first "where am I?"
Calls	So Ira can start a call after your yes. iOS still asks you to tap Call.	(no iOS question)

A skill also has to be switched on for this iPhone on Your devices, with your PIN, as for any device. You can switch it off there at any time, without a PIN.

Talk to Ira¶

Type in the box and press Send. Answers stream in as they are written. A conversation goes on until you tap New conversation; calls and Siri add to the same one, so "usko call karo" knows who "usko" is.
Tap the phone button to start a call; tap it again to end it.
- Live call, when your Ira has live voice (GET /v1/info says live): just talk. The iPhone hears when you start and stop, and sends your voice to your Ira only while you speak, from a moment before you started until you stop (protocol 1 of real-time voice). Ira answers aloud, sentence by sentence, from the speaker unless headphones are in. Speak over Ira and she stops at once; or tap Stop. The iPhone's echo cancellation keeps her own voice from interrupting her.
- Phone mode, when your Ira has no live voice: the iPhone's own speech recognition (in Hindi, then Indian English, or your own language first if your Ira says you speak English only) turns each turn into text, which goes to your Ira like typing. Ira answers in her own voice if your Ira has one, else in the iPhone's (Hindi or Indian English). Ira listens again when she has finished; speaking over her does not stop her, so tap Stop.
- The line under the call says which mode is on, and why.
- The screen stays on during a call. Locking the iPhone keeps the call going; another call, Siri or an alarm ends it. Two quiet minutes end it too.
Typing during a call goes into the call.
Hindi, English and Hinglish all work.
A yes: when Ira proposes something that acts for you (a call, an event), she reads it back with its exact target, and a card shows it with Yes and No; in a live call you can also say "haan" or "nahi". Anything that needs your PIN shows a PIN box: type it there and press Confirm. It goes only to your Ira's confirm step, never into the conversation, and is never kept. Never say a PIN aloud.
While Ira works, a line names the step ("Checking your calendar…") with the seconds after three; after 30 seconds it says your Ira is slow or unreachable. Every problem shows in plain words with what to do next.
Report an answer that is wrong, harmful, offensive or shows something private: tap ⋯ beside it (or touch and hold it), Report this answer…, pick a reason, add a note if you like, and Send. The report goes to the person who runs your Ira, with that answer; nothing else.

"Hey Siri, Ask Ira"¶

The app brings three Siri phrases with it, with nothing to build. They use this iPhone's own key, so they are the same Ira, in the same conversation:

Say	What happens
"Hey Siri, Ask Ira"	Siri asks what you want to ask, sends it to your Ira and says the answer.
"Hey Siri, Tell Ira"	For things you tell Ira ("Avery is my CA", "remind me at 6 to call the bank"); Ira says what it saved.
"Hey Siri, Talk to Ira"	Opens Ira and starts a call.

They also appear in the Shortcuts app and in Spotlight. When Ira proposes something that needs your yes, Siri reads it back and asks; say "yes" or "no". Siri asks only while the iPhone is unlocked: on a locked iPhone, where anyone could answer, it says so and nothing is done; unlock it and ask again. Something that needs your PIN cannot be done through Siri: open Ira and type it there, within two minutes. Through Siri, Ira can use the iPhone's own tools only while the app is open on the iPhone (see below).

Drop: send anything to your other devices¶

Drop (the tray at the top) lists what you sent from any of your devices, newest first: text and links with Copy first (and Open for a link), files with Get, then Save or open through the share sheet. Type or Paste and Send, or pick Files. Swipe left to delete an item from every device. From any other app (Photos, Safari, Files), Share → Ira Drop shows what came in and sends it only when you tap Send to Drop. While Ira is open, something new from another device comes as a notification with Copy. See Privacy.

What Ira can do on your iPhone¶

Each tool belongs to a skill you switch on for this iPhone, and each has a tier, set by the app and never by the model: reading needs nothing more (Tier 0); adding something small, Ira does and tells you (Tier 1); anything that changes your calendar or reaches another person, Ira reads back exactly and waits for your yes (Tier 2).

Tool	Skill	Tier	What it does
`contacts_lookup`	contacts	0	people by name, number or email, with their numbers (with iOS 18's limited access, only the contacts you shared with Ira)
`calendar_read`	calendar	0	events in the calendars on the iPhone (iCloud, Google, Exchange)
`calendar_add`	calendar	2	adds an event, read back first
`reminders_list`	reminders	0	your Apple Reminders, open ones first
`reminders_add`	reminders	1	adds a reminder; with a time, the iPhone alerts then, even with Ira closed
`reminders_done`	reminders	1	marks one done
`location_now`	location	0	where the iPhone is, once, while Ira is open
`call_place`	calls	2	after your yes, opens the iPhone's own Call prompt for that number; you tap Call

What iOS does not allow¶

These are Apple's rules for every app, not choices Ira made:

No call log, no SMS, no other apps' notifications. iOS lets no app read them, so Ira for iPhone has no such skills. (The Android app has.)
No call without your tap. An app can only open the iPhone's "Call …?" prompt, and only while it is on screen. call_place digits only: no * or # codes.
No sending a message for you. iOS shows a message for you to send yourself; Ira for iPhone does not offer it yet.
The iPhone's tools work while Ira is open, or during a call. iOS suspends an app soon after it leaves the screen, which closes its connection to your Ira; the app reconnects when you open it. A call keeps the app running when the screen locks.
Location only while using the app, never in the background.
No "Hey Ira" wake word. iOS lets no app listen in the background for its own phrase; "Hey Siri, Ask Ira" is the iPhone's way.
No notifications from Ira while the app is closed (Ira does not send push notifications yet). A reminder Ira adds with reminders_add is the iPhone's own and alerts on time.

What stays on the iPhone¶

The key (in the Keychain), your Ira's address, this iPhone's name and the conversation's id (in the app's settings). No audio, no transcript, no answer, no contact, no place. What a tool reads goes only to your own Ira, into your conversation, marked as data that can never give Ira orders. In phone mode the iPhone recognises speech on the iPhone when it can; otherwise iOS sends the audio to Apple to recognise, as dictation does. The app's log (the system log, subsystem io.github.helloupendra.ira) holds tool names and outcomes, never what was said or read. Settings → What Ira used on this iPhone lists the last 50 tool calls since the app opened, without contents.

Remove Ira from this iPhone¶

Settings → Remove this iPhone from Ira: your Ira forgets the iPhone at once (its key stops working), and the app forgets the key and your Ira's address. Or remove it on Your devices, from anywhere. Then delete the app as usual.

If something does not work¶

You see	Do this
"That code is used, expired or mistyped"	Make a new code on Your devices and pair again
"Use your Ira's https:// address"	Your Ira's address must start with `https://`
"Your Ira no longer knows this iPhone"	It was removed on Your devices: Settings → Get Ira ready → Pair
"Ira can't read its key yet"	Unlock the iPhone, then open Ira again; you do not need to pair again
"This iPhone's tools are offline"	The iPhone is offline or your Ira is down; typing waits for it too
"Ira cannot hear you: the microphone is off"	Settings → Ira → Microphone on the iPhone
Phone mode, though your Ira should have live calls	Your Ira needs `voice.stt.type: transcribe` and a voice (Real-time voice)
"The iPhone cannot recognise Hindi or English speech"	Check the iPhone is online, or add the language under Settings → General → Keyboard → Dictation Languages; or type
A tool says it is off for Ira	Open Ira's checklist and press Allow, or Open Settings
A call does not start after your yes	Keep Ira on screen: iOS shows the Call prompt only for the app in front

The native app: TestFlight¶

TestFlight is how the owner installs Ira for iPhone before it is in the App Store, and how they invite family or staff. It needs a paid Apple Developer Program membership. The facts below were read on Apple's own pages on 23 October 2026; Apple changes them, so check the linked pages before you start.

(a) Enroll in the Apple Developer Program as an individual¶

The fee: "The Apple Developer Program is 99 USD per membership year … Prices may vary by region and are listed in local currency during the enrollment process" (Enroll). Apple's pages give no rupee price: the Apple Developer app shows it, in rupees, before you subscribe.
In India, only in the app: "Enrollment in India is only available through the Apple Developer app" (Purchase and activation). Apple Account balance (from Apple Gift Cards) is accepted from developers based in India (Enrolling with the Apple Developer app).
You need: an Apple Account with two-factor authentication, in your legal name ("Using an alias, nickname, or company name … will cause a delay"); to be of age in your region; an iPhone with Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode, signed in to iCloud, used for the whole enrollment; and a government photo ID (passports in most regions).
Steps (the Apple Developer app, from the App Store): Account tab → sign in → Enroll Now → Continue → enter your legal name and phone → photograph your ID → Individual as the entity type → agree to the license → Subscribe. Your legal name becomes the app's seller name on the App Store.
It is a yearly subscription that renews until you cancel it; a confirmation email follows the purchase (write to Apple if none comes within 24 hours).

(b) Make the App ID and the app¶

The App ID: in Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles → Identifiers → + → App IDs → Continue → (the type, App, is selected) → Continue; a description (Ira for iPhone), Explicit, Bundle ID io.github.helloupendra.ira (the one in clients/ios/project.yml); tick Keychain Sharing only; Continue → Register (Register an App ID). Make a second one the same way for the share extension (Share → Ira Drop): io.github.helloupendra.ira.share, with Keychain Sharing too. Both use the group io.github.helloupendra.ira.shared, so the extension can read the iPhone's key. With automatic signing, Xcode can also make them for you.
The app in App Store Connect: the Account Holder first signs the latest agreement under Business. Then App Store Connect → Apps → + → New App → platform iOS, name (Ira, or another if it is taken), a primary language, bundle ID io.github.helloupendra.ira, a SKU of your choice (ira-ios), Full Access → Create (Add a new app).

(c) Sign and upload: on your Mac (recommended), or from CI¶

Apple accepts iOS builds made with Xcode 26 or later (Upload builds). CI builds this app for the simulator only and holds no Apple key; there are two ways to sign one for TestFlight:

On your Mac (recommended). Install Xcode from the Mac App Store, sign in under Xcode → Settings → Accounts, then:
```
brew install xcodegen
cd clients/ios && xcodegen generate && open Ira.xcodeproj
```
In the Ira target, Signing & Capabilities: tick Automatically manage signing and choose your team. Xcode then uses Apple's cloud-managed signing certificates (Distributing your app). No key or certificate ever leaves your Mac or reaches GitHub.
From CI, with an App Store Connect API key. An Account Holder or Admin makes a team key under Users and Access → Integrations → App Store Connect API → Team Keys → Generate API Key, with the least role that may upload builds (Developer); its private key "can only be downloaded once" (App Store Connect API, Creating API keys). The key, its ID and the issuer ID would then be GitHub secrets, and a workflow would archive with them and upload. This repository does not do it: a key that uploads builds for the whole account would sit in GitHub, and the person who holds the account should keep it. Use it only if you must, with a key you revoke when you stop.

(d) Archive, upload, test¶

In Xcode, choose the Ira scheme and Any iOS Device (arm64), then Product → Archive. The Organizer opens with the archive.
Distribute App → TestFlight Internal Only ("restricts access to your team", so this build can never be sent for App Store review by mistake) → Distribute. Xcode signs, uploads, and links to the build in App Store Connect. The first build creates the beta; Apple emails when processing is done.
In App Store Connect: the app → TestFlight → + next to Internal Testing → a group (Family) → Invite Testers: up to 100 people with access to your App Store Connect team, you included → Add Builds (Add internal testers). The app's Info.plist says it uses no encryption of its own (ITSAppUsesNonExemptEncryption is false: it uses only iOS's HTTPS), which Apple asks for "so that you don't need to answer encryption questions with each app submission" (Export compliance). If App Store Connect still asks for a build, answer that it uses no encryption beyond what iOS provides.
On the iPhone: install TestFlight from the App Store, open the invitation email, tap View in TestFlight, then Accept and Install. "Each build is available to test for up to 90 days"; TestFlight needs iOS 16 or later (TestFlight), and Ira for iPhone iOS 17.
For people outside your team (up to 10,000 external testers), a build goes to Beta App Review first (Overview of TestFlight). App Review will need a pairing code that lasts: see A code for app reviewers (ira device code --kind ios).

For each new build, raise CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION in project.yml (or let Xcode's Manage version and build number do it) and archive again.

(e) Without paying: your own iPhone, for 7 days¶

With a free Apple Account, Xcode signs as a Personal Team and installs on your own iPhone over a cable or Wi-Fi: "You can install up to 3 apps per device. Provisioning profiles that enable apps to be installed on a device will expire 7 days from issuance. You'll need to rebuild and reinstall your app to your device after expiration"; up to 10 App IDs and 3 devices, each expiring after 7 days (Choosing a membership).

Install Xcode, sign in with your Apple Account (Xcode → Settings → Accounts), generate the project as in (c), and choose your (Personal Team) in Signing & Capabilities. If Xcode says the bundle id is taken, change PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER in project.yml to one of your own and generate again.
Connect the iPhone, choose it as the run destination, and press Run.
On the iPhone, turn on Settings → Privacy & Security → Developer Mode and restart when asked (Enabling Developer Mode).
Every 7 days, run it from Xcode again. No TestFlight, no one else's iPhone.

The Ira web app on your Home Screen¶

Open your Ira's address in Safari (it must be https://), and sign in.
Tap Share, then Add to Home Screen, then Add.
Open Ira from the Home Screen. The first time you talk, allow the microphone.
The call button starts a live call: just talk, Ira answers aloud a moment after you stop, and stops when you speak over her. The screen stays on during a call.
The silent switch does not mute Ira during a call (Safari 17 or later). Outside a call, spoken answers play like any media.
Typing always works, in a call too: what you type goes into the call.
Lock the phone or leave the app, and the call ends. iOS lets no web app use the microphone in the background.
Safari may ask for the microphone again after the app has been closed for a while. That is iOS, not Ira.

"Hey Siri, Ask Ira" with a Shortcut¶

For an iPhone without Ira for iPhone. The Shortcut takes your words with the iPhone's own dictation, sends them to your Ira, and reads the answer aloud. It uses a token that can only ask: it cannot say yes to an action, pair a device or open the console. When Ira proposes something that needs your yes, the Shortcut says so, and you confirm it in the Ira app.

1. Make the token¶

In the Ira app's menu, Siri on iPhone: type your PIN and tap Make a token. Copy it; it is shown once. The same page lists your tokens, with Stop it for a lost phone. (Owners and admins can also make one in the console, Tokens & security, with the scope ask and nothing else.)

2. Build the Shortcut¶

In the Shortcuts app, tap +, name it Ask Ira, and add these actions in this order:

#	Action	Set it to
1	Dictate Text	Language: English (India), or Hindi (India) for Hindi and Hinglish. Stop Listening: After Pause
2	Get Contents of URL	URL: `https://<your Ira>/v1/ask`. Tap Show More. Method: POST. Headers: add `Authorization` = `Bearer <your token>` (the word Bearer, a space, then the token). Request Body: JSON, add a Text field `text` = the Dictated Text variable
3	Get Dictionary Value	Get Value for `text` in Contents of URL
4	Speak Text	Dictionary Value. Optional: Language English (India) or Hindi (India), and a voice

Then say "Hey Siri, Ask Ira", wait for the listening sound, and talk:

kal ka schedule kya hai?

Sunrise ka invoice bhej diya tha?

Each run starts a new conversation, but Ira still knows your people, your businesses and what you asked it to remember.

"Tell Ira": notes and reminders¶

A second Shortcut for things you tell Ira rather than ask, which shows a short note instead of talking back. Make it like Ask Ira, but:

name it Tell Ira;
replace step 4 with Show Notification: the Dictionary Value.

Tell Ira: Avery is my CA

Tell Ira: Sunrise pays in 30 days

Tell Ira: remind me at 6 to call the bank

Ira remembers people and businesses at once, and says what it saved. A reminder goes off in the Ira app while it is open, on your Mac or Android phone if one is paired, and in Telegram if you linked it.

If the Shortcut fails¶

"invalid or revoked token": the token was stopped, or copied wrong. Make a new one.
An error page instead of an answer: check the URL ends in /v1/ask and starts with https://.
It hears the wrong language: set Dictate Text's language; Hindi (India) also understands Hinglish best.

iPhone and Android, compared¶

	Ira for iPhone	iPhone web app and Shortcut	Android app
Talk, type, live call, barge-in	yes	yes, while the app is open	yes
A call with the screen locked	yes	no	yes
Siri / assistant button	"Hey Siri, Ask Ira", "Tell Ira", "Talk to Ira"	a Shortcut you build	long-press the power button
Background wake word	no: iOS allows none	no	not yet
Your contacts, calendar, reminders, location	yes, while Ira is open	no (Ira reads a calendar through Google)	yes
Call for you	the iPhone's Call prompt, after your yes; you tap Call	no	yes, after your yes
Read your calls, SMS, notifications	no: iOS lets no app read them	no	yes, with each skill switched on
Alarms, timers	reminders that alert on time; alarms through Siri	through Siri	yes
Drop	yes: the inbox, Share → Ira Drop, send text and files, Copy	yes, in the web app	yes, with Share → Ira Drop and a clipboard tile

What was tested where¶

Ira for iPhone was built and tested in CI on an iOS simulator (the ios-app job), against a local Ira with the demo model and fake speech: its 95 unit tests (protocols, the voice detector, pairing, the Keychain rules, the tools and their tiers), and a check that pairs as kind ios, offers the iPhone's tools, answers a real tool call, says yes to a Tier 2 proposal and holds a live call (a typed turn, a spoken one, a barge-in, a report). The UI tests run the checklist, a bad code, pairing with a link, a typed question, and a tool call answered from the simulator's contacts. These need a real iPhone to confirm: the microphone, echo cancellation and barge-in with a real voice; the speaker by default and the earpiece, AirPods and CarPlay; the iPhone's speech recognition in Hindi and on the device; a call going on with the screen locked; the Call prompt; location; Siri running "Ask Ira" and asking yes or no; and the TestFlight install itself.

The web app was tested in WebKit (Safari's engine) as an iPhone 15: install tags and icon, the tap that unlocks sound, typing, a live call with a mock microphone (audio up, Ira's MP3 sentences decoded and played back), the screen lock, the audio session, Report, and the Siri token page. These need a real iPhone to confirm: the silent switch, whether a call's sound comes from the speaker or the earpiece, the microphone prompt in a Home Screen app, and Siri running the Shortcut.