Sharp questions and answers

What is Sharp?

Sharp is a phone assistant for Android that turns one short English command, typed or spoken, into one action on your phone: an alarm, a timer, a calendar event, a message draft, a call, an app or a settings panel. Its models run on your phone, and it needs no account.

What can Sharp do?

Sharp has 20 actions in five groups. Time: events, alarms, timers. People: texts, WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal drafts, email, calls, contact cards. Device: flashlight, music, volume, settings panels. Apps: open, search, directions, play media, rides. Create: camera and notes. It does one action per command.

The full list, with which actions show a card, is in the 20 actions.

Does Sharp send messages for me?

No. Sharp opens your messaging app, WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal or your email app with the text filled in, and you tap Send there. Calls, calendar events and rides also show a card first. Sharp has no permission to send texts, so it cannot send one by itself.

Does Sharp work offline?

Yes, on most phones. The built-in models for commands and voice come inside the app, so nothing needs downloading and Sharp works without a connection. On x86_64 devices, such as some Chromebooks, they can’t run, so you need an optional download. The apps Sharp opens may need their own connection.

Is Sharp always listening?

No. Sharp has no wake word and no listening service. The microphone records only while you hold the mic, or after you tap it until you stop talking, and the audio is turned into text on your phone. Sliding off the mic or tapping Cancel discards it.

Which permissions does Sharp ask for?

Microphone, contacts, calendar and phone, each only the first time a command needs it. Without them Sharp still helps: you can type, pick a contact in Android’s picker, finish an event in your Calendar app, or place a call from the dialer. It also uses the internet only for optional model downloads.

How do I open Sharp with a long-press?

In Sharp’s Settings, use the row in the Assistant section to make Sharp your default digital assistant, or choose it in Android’s “Digital assistant app” setting. Then a long-press of home or power opens Sharp over the app you’re using, already listening. You can also add the “Assistant” Quick Settings tile.

What are the optional models?

Settings → Models lets you choose engines. Gemma 4 E2B is a download of about 2.6 GB that suggests 6 GB of memory and can also answer a plain question in text; the answer can be wrong and never triggers an action. You can also pick another speech engine, including your phone’s own.

Downloads come from Hugging Face or GitHub and start only when you tap Download. See Models.

Why did Sharp say it isn’t sure?

Sharp acts only when it can match your words to one action. Some short phrasings, like “louder” or “standup at 9”, aren’t understood. It then suggests the closest actions and keeps your words to edit. Naming the action usually helps: “volume up”, “add standup at 9”.

More in Inputs and limits.

Which languages does Sharp understand?

English only, for typing and for voice. Sharp handles one command at a time, up to 500 characters, so “set a timer and text Mom” needs two commands. If you write mostly in another script, such as Devanagari, Sharp says only English is supported. Other languages written in English letters usually get “I’m not sure what to do”.

Which apps can Sharp hand off to?

Sharp has hand-off routes for WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Spotify, YouTube, YouTube Music, Amazon, Flipkart, Zomato, Swiggy, Uber, Ola, Rapido and Google Keep. Only the YouTube and YouTube Music routes have been tested, on an Android emulator, so check that the other app opened as expected. A missing app isn’t swapped: Sharp offers its Play Store page.

See hand-offs in Inputs and limits.

Does Sharp collect my data?

No. Sharp has no account, ads or analytics, and we run no server for it. Your commands, voice and contacts are processed on your phone. The app’s own network use is a model download you start, from Hugging Face or GitHub over HTTPS. Speak results, when on, uses your phone’s text-to-speech engine. Details are in Sharp’s privacy policy.