Talk to it
Win+Alt
or just say its name.
Your computer, finally listening.
Hotaru is a voice assistant for Windows and Mac.
Say its name, ask for anything, and it gets it done.
“Hey Hotaru, play some lofi.”
一声
Everything,
by voice.
Hotaru lives on your PC and does the boring parts for you. Open apps, take notes, set reminders, find files, text your phone. Just ask.
Notes
Lecture notes 00:00
“Take notes for this lecture.”
To-do list 1/3
- Read chapter 5
- Call Mum
- Gym 6:00 PM
Routine
8:00Weekdays
“Every weekday at 8, give me my morning brief.”
Tell me when
“Tell me when my download finishes.”
Find files
PDFBiology notes.pdfDownloads · yesterday
“Find the PDF I downloaded yesterday.”
Your phone
Your download is done ✓
“Text me when it’s ready.”
二丸
Circle to ask.
Hold Ctrl + Shift, circle anything on your screen and ask about it out loud.
“How long do I cook this for?”
三書
Type with your voice.
Hold Ctrl + Win anywhere in Windows and talk. Let go, and clean text appears where your cursor is.
To: Sam
“uh hey Sam can we move thursday’s meeting to like… 3pm? I’ll bring the new slides, thanks”
四島
A dynamic island.
For Windows.
Hotaru lives in a small island at the top of your screen. Click it for the Control Centre: today’s weather, your to-dos, notes and settings in one place. Hold it to talk.
24°Brisbane · sunny
To-dosCall MumGym 6 PM
Take notesMeetingLecture
五記
Take notes.
Hands free.
Meetings and lectures. Hotaru only listens, with no wake word and no replies, until you press Stop. Then it writes it all up.
Lecture notes
00:00
Stop
- Listen only. It won’t answer, even if someone says its name.
- Saved for you. In Documents › Hotaru Notes, and opened when it’s done.
- To-dos included. Homework and action items go straight on your list.
Biology · Lecture 4.txt
Photosynthesis, light reactions
Summary
Light reactions turn sunlight into chemical energy (ATP and NADPH) inside the thylakoid membrane.
Key concepts
- Chloroplast: where photosynthesis happens
- Thylakoid: site of the light reactions
- Calvin cycle: uses ATP to build sugar
Worth reviewing
- The difference between the light reactions and the Calvin cycle
To-dos
Read chapter 5 Finish the worksheet by Friday六便り
It texts you back.
Connect Telegram and Hotaru can reach you away from your desk. Reminders when you’re out, files from your PC sent to your phone, and a call when something can’t wait.
- Message it from anywhere, it runs on your PC
- “Send me the slides on my desktop”
- “Call me when the render finishes”
Hotaruonline
remind me to take the chicken out at 5
Done. I’ll text you at 5:00.
5:00 PM
Time to take the chicken out of the freezer 🍗
thanks. can you send me the slides on my desktop?
PPTWeek 6 slides.pptx2.4 MB
七予定
Say it once.
It remembers.
Routines, reminders and “tell me when”. Hotaru keeps an eye on things so you don’t have to.
⏰
RoutineWeekdays · 8:00 AM
八魂
Pick a soul.
Give it a personality.
Six souls to choose from, seven personalities, and a name of your own. Or write its personality yourself.
Hotaru
Morning! I’ve put your 9 o’clock on the list. Want the weather too?
Soul
Personality
九鍵
Set up in two minutes.
One free key. One paste. Then talk.
01 · Install
Get Hotaru.
Become a founder, then run the installer. While Hotaru is in beta, Windows may say it protected your PC. Click More info, then Run anyway.
See pricing02 · Key
Get your free key.
Make a Gemini API key in Google AI Studio. It’s free and doesn’t need a card. Hotaru’s setup walks you through it.
Gemini API key
AIza✓ Saved on this PC only03 · Talk
Say hi.
Pick a soul and a personality, connect your phone if you like, and say its name.
“Hey Hotaru, what’s on today?”
Stuck on a step?
Watch the whole setup, start to finish.
Making the key and pasting it in
十価
Pay once.
Keep it forever.
While Hotaru is in beta, you can become a founder. It won’t last long: Hotaru is moving to a monthly subscription soon.
Edition 01
Founders Edition
Beta offer · only for a short time
- You pay once, with no monthly fee.
- Every update, installed automatically, free forever.
- Runs on your own free Gemini API key.
- You keep it even after it stops selling.
- Windows and Mac.
$20USD, once.
Then never again.
Edition 02
Hotaru Pass
A monthly subscription is coming soon. When it arrives, the Founders Edition stops being sold to new people, but everyone who already bought it keeps their Founders Edition, with every update, forever.
Coming after the beta
Hotaru
Receipt · one line
Founders Edition$20.00
Every update$0.00
Founder status$0.00
Total$20.00
済PAIDA subscription
Statement · still printing
Month 1$20.00
So far$20.00
Every Founders Edition update, free. No subscription, no renewal.
十一問
Questions?
The things worth knowing before you let Hotaru in.
How much does it cost?
While Hotaru is in beta, the Founders Edition is $20 USD, once. You keep it forever, and every update installs itself for free. It won’t be sold for long: Hotaru is moving to a monthly subscription soon, and founders keep theirs when that happens.
Hotaru talks to Google’s Gemini with your own API key, which is free to make in Google AI Studio and doesn’t need a card. Everyday use fits inside Google’s free tier.
What happens when the subscription starts?
The Founders Edition stops being sold to new people. If you already have it, nothing changes: you keep it, and it keeps updating.
Is it listening all the time?
Only for its name, and that part runs on your PC with Windows’ own speech recognition, so no audio leaves your computer until you talk to it. You can turn the wake word off and use Win + Alt instead.
What can it actually do?
Open apps and websites, play music, answer questions, set reminders and routines, take meeting and lecture notes, find your files, watch for things like downloads or battery, type for you, and text or call your phone through Telegram.
Windows warned me when I installed it.
Hotaru isn’t code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may show “Windows protected your PC”. Click More info, then Run anyway. Updates install themselves after that.
Where is my key kept?
On your PC only. Hotaru talks to Google directly with it; there’s no Hotaru server in the middle.
Can I change its name?
Yes. Name it whatever you like in Settings, and that becomes the word that wakes it up.
Something went wrong. What now?
Open Settings › General › Report a problem. Hotaru puts together a report for you and opens a page where you can send it.