Why Audon works the way it does
Six design decisions, and the reason behind each
Photo: Daniel Romero on Unsplash
Audon lets you talk to Claude Code on your own Mac, from your earbuds, wherever you are. Here are the decisions that shape it, and why each one was made.
Your Mac does the work
The phone is only a microphone and a speaker. The work happens on your Mac at home, in your own files, with your own tools.
Why: that is where your projects already live. A copy in someone else's cloud is never quite the real thing.
One tap, no wake word
Double-tap your earbud to talk. Your phone stays locked in your pocket, and nothing listens until you tap.
Why: a wake word needs a microphone that is always on. A tap means Audon only listens when you ask.
One small detail took four builds to find: on the iPhone, a tap only reaches an app that has played a sound. So Audon plays a short tone.
Your voice goes only to your Mac
Your speech is turned into text on your own Mac. The default speech engines have no network code at all.
Why: your voice is personal. Your words go to Claude, the same as if you had typed them. Your audio does not.
Built for mixed languages
Audon first works out which language you are speaking, then picks the engine for it: Apple's for English, Whisper for Mandarin, Malay and the rest.
Why: in Malaysia, people switch between Mandarin, English and Malay in one sentence. Forcing a single language turns that into nonsense.
It never talks over you
The microphone is off while Audon speaks, and a tap stops the reply mid-sentence.
Why: in earbuds, a cough, an echo or the TV could otherwise interrupt it. Only you should be able to.
No VPN
A new phone pairs with a short code. At home it connects straight to your Mac. Away from home it goes through a relay that cannot read what it carries.
Why: something you use on a walk should not need a network setup to work.
Audon isn't public yet. To try it first, join the waitlist on the front page.