Ask now. Understand what happens next.

Getting started

From Curiosities, tap New curiosity, Capture with voice, or Capture with camera. In New curiosity, use Question or note to type, then optionally record voice, choose or take photos, or tap Add location.

1. 1

   Add the thought and any context you choose.

2. 2

   Tap Save. Curious commits the item to your iPhone first, so saving does not wait for the network.

3. 3

   Check the label in your library. It will show whether the item is waiting, uploading, being researched, ready, or needs attention.

A saved curiosity and a completed answer are different things. Offline capture is immediate; connected research depends on connectivity, service availability, and available cloud allowance.

What works offline—and what needs a connection

Apple's on-device language features vary by iPhone model, language, region, downloaded model, and system settings. In the current release they help prepare and organize curiosities; Curious does not promise an Apple-generated answer for every question. Sourced answers use cloud research.

Statuses, delays, and retries

• Waiting for internetThe item is safe on your iPhone and will be eligible to continue when a connection returns.
• UploadingCurious is sending the question and the context you chose to share.
• QueuedThe request reached the service and is waiting to begin research.
• ResearchingConnected research is in progress. Longer questions can take time.
• ReadyA result was saved. The library may show New until you open it.
• Needs clarificationVoice was saved, but Curious needs usable text. Open the item and choose Add a question.
• Couldn’t completeOpen the item for the error and, when offered, tap Try Again.

If an item appears stuck

1. 1

   Confirm Wi-Fi or cellular data works in another app.

2. 2

   Open Curious and leave it in the foreground briefly; startup and foreground refresh are the reliable fallback.

3. 3

   Cloud research is subject to daily limits, service availability, and the included allowance. A saved question remains on your iPhone while research is paused.

4. 4

   If the item says Couldn’t complete, use Try Again. A failed attempt or idempotent retry does not consume another cloud research.

Do not reinstall as a routine troubleshooting step: it can remove your local library, recordings, and drafts. Use Settings → Export Questions & Answers to keep a text copy of saved questions and answers.

Voice capture

Tap Record voice; the same control becomes Stop recording. Curious uses microphone access to record and Speech Recognition to produce text when supported. The transcript appears in Question or note, where you can edit it before tapping Save.

• If iOS denied access, open Settings → Apps → Curious and review Microphone and Speech Recognition.
• After voice capture, you can tap the text field and use normal iPhone keyboard dictation if it is enabled for your keyboard.
• The raw recording stays on this iPhone. It is not uploaded as part of cloud research.
• If you see Transcription unavailable, the recording can still be saved locally. Open it later and choose Add a question, or type the question yourself.

Photos as optional context

Use Choose photos for an existing image or Take a photo for a new one. Curious currently lets you attach up to four photos. When you request cloud research, prepared photo context may be uploaded with the question; adding a photo is optional.

The iOS photo chooser may let you grant access only to selected images. If camera access is off, Curious shows Camera access is off with Choose Photo and Open Settings. You can also continue with text only. Change camera or photo access in Settings → Apps → Curious.

Sharing is separate from research. If an item has a photo and you tap Share, Curious asks Without photo or Include photo before it creates the link.

Optional location context

Tap Add location, then choose Not Now or Add Location. Depending on your iOS permission, Curious can attach precise or approximate location. When attached to an item that goes to cloud research, that location may be sent to FigLantern and cloud research providers.

• Use Settings → Apps → Curious → Location to turn location access off.
• Turn Precise Location off there to allow approximate location instead.
• Tap Remove location before saving when you do not want it attached.
• Deleting the curiosity removes its hosted location context; Delete All Data removes the hosted Curious library.

Notifications are optional

Curious may notify you when research is ready. Allowing notifications is optional, and turning them off does not stop capture or connected research. Change the setting in Settings → Notifications → Curious (or Settings → Apps → Curious → Notifications, depending on your iOS layout).

If you miss or disable a notification, open Curious manually. The app checks for updates at startup and when it returns to the foreground.

Widget, Siri, and Action Button

Open Settings → Quick capture in Curious for the current setup guides.

Lock state, Siri settings, device authentication, and whether Curious has run recently can affect shortcut behavior. If iOS asks you to unlock or open Curious, do so. These are quick-entry routes, not a promise of fully hands-free use while locked.

Your library on this iPhone

Curious does not ask you to create a FigLantern username or password. Signed Apple verification establishes an opaque customer identity for your included research allowance.

This version keeps your library on this iPhone and does not synchronize it between devices. Hosted research records support research, sharing, quotas, and deletion; they are not a backup you can restore by reinstalling.

Use Settings → Export Questions & Answers to save a text copy before changing phones. This export does not include recordings or photos.

Sharing and research follow-ups

Tap Share on a ready curiosity to create a capability link. It is not listed in a public directory, but anyone who gets the link can open the shared content and pass the link along. The recipient can see the shared question, answer, sources, and follow-up conversation; a photo appears only if you chose Include photo.

• Share only with people you trust and avoid putting secrets or sensitive personal information in a curiosity.
• To revoke current shared links, delete that curiosity from the Curiosities list. The confirmation explains that the question, answer, attachment, and shared links will be removed.
• Delete All Data revokes shared links across the hosted library.
• Ask a follow-up starts another research request. It is not a live chat with a person.

Cloud research allowance

Curious is free and includes 100 completed cloud researches for a verified Apple customer. Reinstalling does not grant a second allowance.

• One use is counted only after a usable cloud result is validated and saved.
• Failures and retries do not consume a second use. Deleting a completed result does not restore one.
• Daily limits and service availability also apply. Research may wait when capacity is busy.
• Capture, locally available results, and supported on-device Apple features remain usable after the included allowance is used.

This version has no in-app purchases or subscriptions and does not sell additional allowance. If research reaches its limit, the question remains saved locally.

Delete one curiosity or all data

To delete one item, swipe it in the Curiosities list, tap Delete, and confirm. This removes the question, answer, attachment, and shared links for that item.

To erase the hosted library and this installation's local data, open Settings → Delete All Data. The app explains that it permanently removes every question, answer, attachment, conversation, and shared link in your Curious library. This cannot be undone.

For more detail on what is local, hosted, retained, or deleted, see Curious Privacy Choices.

Privacy, choices, and terms

• Curious Privacy PolicyData flows, providers, retention, security, and legal rights.
• Privacy ChoicesPermissions, sharing controls, and deletion routes.
• Apple Standard EULAThe end-user license terms used by Curious.

Contact FigLantern support

Email hello@figlantern.com. Helpful details include your iOS version, Curious version, the exact visible status, and the steps that led to the problem.

Please do not email your curiosity text, photos, recordings, precise location, Apple receipts, verification tokens, passwords, medical details, or other sensitive content. We can start with the status and a description of the problem.