Frequently asked questions

Does my meeting audio leave my Mac?

In the default mode, never. Recording and transcription happen entirely on-device, and the audio is discarded after transcription. Notes are saved as Markdown files you own.

Are my transcripts used to train AI models?

No. We never train on your content. If you use the fully-local AI mode, your transcript text never reaches any third party at all.

Is the Meeting Copilot private?

Yes. The Meeting Copilot is a Mac-only assistant that helps you during a live call — it never speaks, joins or shows up in the meeting, and what it displays is only ever on your own screen. Its suggestions are built from your on-device transcript and whichever AI option you've set up, so you can even run it with a fully local model and have nothing leave your Mac. The one exception is screen awareness — see below.

Does screen awareness send my screen anywhere?

Only if you turn it on and only when you ask. The Meeting Copilot's screen awareness is off by default and never runs in the background. When it's on and you tap What's on screen?, Lalela takes a single snapshot of your screen and sends it — with that one question — to the cloud AI model you've chosen, for that one answer. If you'd rather nothing leaves your Mac, don't use screen awareness: the Copilot's other prompts work entirely from your on-device transcript.

Can I use Apple Intelligence on my Mac or iPhone?

Yes, if your device supports it. Lalela can use Apple's built-in, on-device AI in two optional places:

Transcription — choose Apple Speech (on-device) as your speech engine in Settings → Transcription. It transcribes your meetings entirely on your device, with no model to download.
Summaries — choose Apple Intelligence (on-device) as your summary model when you generate notes.

This works on:

Mac — an Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 26 or later, with Apple Intelligence turned on.
iPhone — an iPhone 15 Pro or later running iOS 26 or later, with Apple Intelligence turned on.

To turn Apple Intelligence on, open Settings → Apple Intelligence & Siri (or System Settings → Apple Intelligence & Siri on a Mac) and switch it on — a one-time, multi-GB on-device model downloads afterward. If the toggle doesn't appear, set Siri to a supported language (for example English) and try again.

Both run fully on-device — no account, no key, no quota, and nothing leaves your device. They're completely optional: Whisper stays the default transcription engine, and your local, free-allowance and bring-your-own-key AI options are all unchanged. If your device isn't eligible, these choices simply don't appear and nothing changes.

Do I need an account?

No. Recording, on-device transcription, speaker separation, local search and local AI all work without signing in. An account adds the free monthly AI allowance, sync to the web app, and sharing with your team.

How do I create an account?

In the app (Settings → Account) or on the web app, choose Create account, enter your email and a password, and we email you a 6-digit code. Type the code into the app and you're signed in — no need to leave the app.

Didn't get it? Check your spam folder, then choose Resend code.
Prefer the link? The email also has a Confirm my email button. It opens the Lalela website, which tells you your email is confirmed; go back to the app and sign in.
"This link has expired or was already used"? Links work once. If you've already confirmed, just sign in. If you try to sign in before confirming, the app asks for the code and can send a new one.

Yes, on the web app and in the Mac, iPhone and iPad apps. Choose Continue with Auxo ID and sign in on the Auxo ID page (with your passkey or an email code). You come straight back to Lalela, signed in.

Already have a Lalela account? Use the same email address on your Auxo ID and you land in your existing account, with all your meetings — Lalela matches the two by email and never creates a second account for it. Your Lalela password keeps working too.
New to Lalela? Your account is created the first time you continue with Auxo ID. It has no Lalela password; keep using Continue with Auxo ID, or set one with Forgot password?.
Signed up with a password but never confirmed your email? Continuing with Auxo ID confirms the email for you. To keep the account safe we reset the Lalela password on it at that moment (anyone could have typed your address into a sign-up form), and Lalela tells you when this happens. Use Continue with Auxo ID, or Forgot password? to set a new Lalela password.

Signing out of Lalela signs you out of Lalela only. In the Windows app, sign in with your email and password.

In the Mac, iPhone and iPad apps

Open Settings → Account and choose Continue with Auxo ID.

On a Mac, your browser opens. Sign in to Auxo ID, check the account shown and choose Continue. Lalela signs you in; you can close the browser tab.
On an iPhone or iPad, a sign-in window opens inside Lalela (iOS may first ask if Lalela can use the Auxo ID website to sign in; choose Continue). Sign in to Auxo ID, check the account shown and choose Continue. The window closes and you're signed in.

Changed your mind? Choose Cancel on the confirmation page, or close the sign-in window, and nothing changes.

"Wrong email or password" — but I'm sure it's right

If you've ever used Continue with Auxo ID with this email, your account may not have a Lalela password (see above). Use Continue with Auxo ID, or choose Forgot password?: the email takes you to a page on the Lalela website where you set a new password, and it works in every Lalela app.

Which meeting tools does Lalela work with?

Recording works with anything your Mac can hear: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, phone bridges through your speakers, and in-person conversations — no bot joins the call. You can also connect Fathom, Read AI, Granola, Otter.ai, Microsoft Teams or Fireflies to sync in the meetings those tools captured, and import audio, video, DOCX, PDF and VTT files directly.

Where does my data live?

On your Mac, as a local database plus Markdown files per meeting. If you sign in and sync, your meetings are also stored encrypted in the cloud so the web app and your teammates (only the ones you share with) can see them. Optional voiceprints for speaker recognition are biometric data, so they stay on your Mac only — never synced — and you can delete them anytime.

Why does sync say some meetings belong to other accounts?

Sometimes a meeting on your Mac is already in the cloud under a different Lalela account. That happens with meetings a teammate shared with you, or when you and a colleague both imported the same Teams call. Lalela doesn't overwrite someone else's copy, so it skips those meetings. They stay safe on your Mac, and sync still counts as working. Settings → Lalela cloud shows how many meetings were skipped.

Does Lalela collect usage data?

Yes, anonymously, and you can turn it off. Lalela records that things happen, like "a recording started", "a summary was made" or "the Search screen was opened", so we can see which features help people. It never includes your recordings, transcripts, notes, summaries, meeting titles, people's names, or anything you type. It's on by default. To turn it off, go to Settings → Recording → Privacy & consent and untick Share anonymous usage data. On the web app it's under Settings → Privacy. The full list is in Privacy and usage data.

Does Lalela send crash or error reports?

Only if you ask it to. Under Settings → Recording → Privacy & consent there's a switch called Send anonymous crash & error reports, and it's off unless you turn it on. When it's on and something breaks, Lalela sends Auxo a short report so we can fix it: the kind of error, a cleaned-up error message and where in the code it happened, your Lalela version, and your operating system and chip type. File paths are stripped before anything leaves your device.

It never sends recordings, transcripts, notes, meeting titles, people's names, file names or the contents of any file, and reports aren't linked to your account. Turn the switch off and sending stops straight away.

How do I report an AI result that's wrong or inappropriate?

Press Report (the flag) next to the AI result — it's under every summary and enhanced notes, under each chat answer, in the Meeting Copilot window, and next to workflow outputs, reports, wiki pages and suggested tasks. For anything else, use Settings → AI models → Report a problem with AI content, or Help & guide → AI content (on the web: Settings → Report a problem with AI content).

Choose what's wrong (harmful or offensive, inaccurate, sexual content, hate or harassment, a privacy concern, or something else), add a comment if you like, and decide whether to include the AI text — the box Include the AI output in my report is ticked to start with and shows you exactly what will be sent. The report goes to Auxo Digital for review. It also says where in Lalela it happened, which AI model was used, your app version and platform, and your account if you're signed in. It never includes audio, transcripts or voiceprints.

If Lalela can't reach our servers, it opens a ready-to-send email to hello@auxo.digital instead and tells you so — just press Send.

Yes. Open the meeting and choose Share a private link — Lalela gives you a read-only web link anyone can open, no account needed. They see the summary and notes only, never the full transcript; you can add a password, set it to expire in 7 or 30 days, and revoke it at any time. No link exists until you create one. For ongoing teamwork, share a folder instead and give teammates viewer, editor or admin roles. See Share and organize.

How does Lalela know my people and companies?

It builds them automatically from the meetings already on your Mac. The People and Companies views group everyone you've met by person and organisation, showing when you first and last met and how often — no data entry, and nothing extra collected. It's just a tidier view of meetings you already have.

Can I unlock themes, and what are referrals?

Lalela has a few optional cosmetic themes, profile badges, and — on Mac — alternate app icons: purely a look, never a paywall on any feature. In the App Store and Microsoft Store versions they're all included. In the version you download from our website, some unlock when you invite a colleague with your link, or by making a donation to GiveDirectly during early access. Everything Lalela does works the same whether or not you use any of them.

The alternate app icons re-colour Lalela's mark in your Dock while the app is open (the icon in Finder stays the classic one). Pick one under Settings → Rewards.

What does it cost?

Lalela is free to download during early access, with no caps on recording or on-device transcription. Signing in includes a free monthly AI allowance; heavy users can run a local model or bring their own key.

Can I manage the local AI models and free up space?

Yes. Local AI is optional — Lalela only downloads a model if you choose to run AI fully on-device. When you do, open Settings → Storage to see what's installed, delete a model you no longer need, or free the memory a loaded model is using without deleting it (Lalela also releases it on its own when it's been idle). Lalela's own download stays lean, and your meetings are saved as plain Markdown in a folder you can open any time.

How do I update Lalela?

Lalela keeps itself up to date. It quietly checks for new versions in the background and installs them the next time you open the app — every update is signed and verified first.

If you'd rather not wait, you can update on the spot: open Settings → Storage, find Software update, and click Check for updates. If a newer version is ready, click Update and restart — Lalela downloads it, installs it, and reopens on the new version, no need to quit yourself. If you're already on the latest version, it'll tell you so.

My recording stops when my Android phone's screen turns off

Lalela keeps recording with the screen off — it holds a microphone notification and keeps your phone awake for the whole meeting, so a locked screen is fine.

Some Android phones fight this anyway. Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO phones (HyperOS/MIUI) are the strictest: their battery saver can freeze apps a few seconds after the screen goes dark, which cuts a long recording short. If that happens to you, tell your phone to leave Lalela alone: open Settings → Apps → Lalela → Battery (or Settings → Battery → App battery saver → Lalela) and choose No restrictions (sometimes shown as "Don't optimise" or "Allow background activity"). One-time, and long screen-off recordings will run to the end.

My laptop's built-in microphone is quiet — will it still transcribe?

Yes. Some laptops have very quiet built-in microphones, and older versions could mistake quiet speech for silence, so a recording or a voice memo would sit on "Listening…" without ever producing a transcript. From version 1.3.8 Lalela recognises quiet speech and lifts it before transcribing, live, so words appear as you talk. Dictation benefits too. If you're on an older version, use Update and restart (see above). If a recording still comes out empty, check that the right microphone is selected and that Lalela is allowed to use it.

Something else?

Ask us at hello@auxo.digital, or see the full FAQ at lalela.auxodigital.africa/faq.

Questions, answered plainly — the full Lalela FAQ.

Lalela