Characters you can call

Open Characters in the sidebar and every character now has a page of their own. It shows who they are, their voice, a few lines they might say, and the places a story with them could start. Once you have played them, your stories come first, with the latest one ready to continue, followed by the pictures from your stories and calls.

The Characters tab has a new layout too: one character in the spotlight at the top, rows to scroll through below, and a Surprise call button that rings someone at random.

Press Make your own and describe who is on your mind in a sentence. The co-writer writes who they are, draws a portrait in the style you pick (anime, realistic, painted or 3D) and finds a voice that fits. The page fills in as each part arrives.

None of it is fixed. Rewrite who they are, change them in plain words like “funnier” or “red hair”, draw more portraits or upload your own, and try other voices. Changes save as you go.

Press Call on a character’s page, pick where the call starts and who you are, and press Call again. Allow the microphone, and when the line stops ringing, talk. It is hands-free: pause, and they answer out loud in their own voice. Speak over them and they stop, as on a phone.

• Ask for a photo and they may send a selfie.
• Each call is a new one, but it remembers your latest story with that character.
• When you hang up, the whole call stays in the chat as text, so you can carry on by typing.
• Read aloud in a character chat uses the same voice.

Free use includes about 10 minutes of calling a day, shared with read aloud. With credits, a typical call costs about 50 credits a minute, roughly 5 cents. A quiet call costs less, because only what is said and heard is counted. Plans don’t include calls; they use your credits.

A selfie costs the same as any picture: one of your free images, or 50 credits. During a call you can see what it has used, a warning comes when about two minutes are left, and if the time runs out the call is saved in the chat.

Characters, stories and the text of your calls are saved in this browser, as chats always have been. There is no account on our servers holding them. To move them to another device, use backup and restore.

What you say on a call is sent to be turned into text and answered under zero-data-retention terms, and the recording is not kept. Their replies are turned into speech, streamed to you, and not stored either.

It is a beta, so a call may drop, mishear a word or pause too long. Headphones help in a noisy room.