Lila

Get everyday help

The small jobs, said in plain words. Each starts when you ask. Some need a one-time permission. Unless you give her full machine access, anything with consequences waits for your OK.

Set a timer

  • Say: “Set a pasta timer for 8 minutes” (she replies “Pasta timer, 8 minutes. Starting now.”), “How long’s left?”, “Cancel the pasta timer”.
  • How it works: she recognises timer phrases herself and answers at once, with no online service involved. Each timer gets a countdown chip on screen and is saved on disk.
  • Limits: 1 second to 24 hours, and 50 timers and reminders at once.

Set a reminder

  • Say: “Remind me to call Mum at six” (she replies “Okay, I’ll remind you to call Mum at 6 PM.”), “Remind me in 20 minutes to check the oven”, “Remind me to put the bins out at half six tomorrow”.
  • How it works: she says the reminder out loud when it’s due. Reminders are saved on disk, so a restart doesn’t lose them. A time without am or pm is read sensibly: a plain 1 to 6 o’clock means afternoon or evening.
  • Limits: up to 31 days ahead, and 50 timers and reminders in total. One that falls due while Lila is fully closed plays late, when she next opens. There are no phone notifications.

Add to your Google Calendar

  • Say: “Put dinner with Sam on Thursday at 7 in my calendar”.
  • How it works: she opens Google Calendar’s new-event page in your Chrome, already filled in, tells you what she filled in, and asks before saving. In a recorded session she said: “It isn’t saved yet. Want me to save it?” If you say yes, an Approve Action box asks you to confirm the Save click.

Read your dayEarlyWindows only

“What’s on my calendar today?” Reading your day needs App Control Access. In its one real try so far she found no events and said so. On a Mac or Linux she opens the calendar for you.

Get around Gmail

  • Say: “Open my Gmail”, “Switch Gmail to my second account”, “Find my latest email from Google Play and tell me what it says”.
  • How it works: she opens your inbox or a Gmail search in Chrome, and switches between the accounts signed in to Chrome. Opening one email is a click, so it needs your OK. In a recorded session she said “The action is queued. Approve the exact action in Lila”, and waited.
  • Limits: reading a whole email is early. On record she has read an email’s preview text and no more, and said so (“I only saw the preview text, not the full email”). She can’t send email or write drafts.

Read the page you’re onWindows only

  • Say: “Read this page and tell me what matters”, “Summarise this page”.
  • How it works: she reads the page open in Chrome, up to 20,000 characters. The first time, she asks for App Control Access. She tells you when she got only part of a page: on a recipe page she said “I only got the top of the page, so that’s all I can vouch for.”
  • Good to know: the page’s text goes to her online services. See What stays on your computer.

Click and type in Chrome and Windows appsEarlyWindows only

  • Say: “Scroll down”, “Switch to the next tab”, “Yes, save it”.
  • How it works: routine steps like scrolling and switching tabs just run. Typing, clicking buttons and links, pressing Enter, and anything with consequences open an Approve Action box showing exactly what will happen. Nothing happens until you press Approve This Action. With full machine access on, she may use computer use instead, which clicks and types on its own.
  • Limits: she stays out of password, security and terminal windows, and apps running as administrator.
  • Say: “Open espn.com”, “Go to news.ycombinator.com”, “Search for carbonara recipes”.
  • How it works: a site you name opens straight away in Chrome or your default browser. A search opens the results page; she doesn’t read the results for you.

Open apps and folders

  • Say: “Open Notepad”, “Open Calculator”, “Open my Downloads folder”.
  • How it works: she opens Chrome, Notepad and Calculator, and your Desktop, Documents and Downloads folders. Other apps need full machine access, through computer use, which is early.

Play music on SpotifyEarly

  • Say: “Play something by Nina Simone”, “Pause the music”.
  • How it works: press Connect Spotify in Settings > What she can use > Apps and services. She searches Spotify and plays the top result on the device you’re using. She can’t hear the music herself.
  • Needs: a Spotify developer Client ID (a free code from Spotify’s developer site that lets an app control playback), and Spotify open and playing on a device.
  • Limits: the connection is kept in memory, so it’s lost when she restarts.

Show her your screen or cameraEarlyWindows only

  • Say: “What’s on my screen?”, “Explain this” (with your screen shared), “Watch with me”.
  • How it works: use Share screen in Settings > Screen and privacy > Live screen (experimental), or Camera in Settings > What she can use > Camera, then Look now (under Live screen). End sharing, in Settings > Screen and privacy > What Lila sees, stops either one. Watch with me, under Live screen, watches along for up to 5 minutes. Pictures stay on your computer until you ask her to look; then they go to OpenAI (through Codex) or Google Gemini to be described. In Watch with me the shared sound goes to ElevenLabs. A box tells you what will be sent first.
  • Limits: it uses credits. Don’t share windows with private information on them.

Use any app (computer use)Early

  • Say: “Open Spotify”, “In this app, find the Export button and click it”.
  • How it works: with full machine access, she reads the screen with text recognition on your computer and uses the mouse and keyboard on her own. She asks before sending a message, post, reply or form, and she’s told to ask before buying, deleting or installing, but these checks can miss things. Watch her, and press Stop if anything looks wrong.

Find and download files

  • Say: “What’s in my Downloads folder?”, “Download this file: https://example.com/guide.pdf”.
  • How it works: listing covers your Desktop, Documents and Downloads (names and sizes, not contents). Downloads come from public https addresses, up to 50 MB, into Downloads\Lila. She doesn’t open or run them.

Upload a file to a websiteEarlyWindows only

“Upload report.pdf from Documents to this page.” Uploading into a website’s file picker needs your OK, and the file may upload as soon as it’s chosen.

Look things up on websitesEarly

  • Say: “What’s on the front page of Hacker News?”, “Find flights from London to Rome on 3 November”, “Search YouTube for bread-making videos”.
  • How it works: she looks things up directly on Hacker News, Google Flights, YouTube and a few other sites, without opening Chrome. She reads; she doesn’t post or buy.

Ask the time and date

  • Say: “What time is it?”, “What’s the date today?”