Buzzord Support
What Buzzord is
Catch the words you choose. Add any word or short phrase up to 4 words, pick an alert, and tap Start Listening. Whenever Buzzord hears a match, it sounds off, pulses, and keeps count. Live speech processing happens on your iPhone using on-device recognition.
Requirements: iPhone running iOS 26 or later.
Microphone permission
Buzzord asks for microphone access only after you choose Start Listening or Record Custom Sound. If access is off, open the Settings app, select Buzzord, and turn on Microphone.
Background Listening
Background Listening is optional and off by default. Enable it in Settings before starting a session if you want Buzzord to keep listening while your iPhone is locked or another app is visible. iOS shows its microphone indicator, battery use increases, and Buzzord never starts listening by itself. Return to Buzzord and tap Stop Listening to end the session.
Interruptions and route changes
Audio interruptions and microphone route changes pause the current listening session. Buzzord automatically resumes the same session when the interruption ends or a usable microphone is available, without changing counts or phrases. If iOS resets its audio services, Buzzord shows Resume Listening and waits for you to tap it. Stop Listening always ends the session, and Buzzord never starts a new session by itself.
Ring, silent, and volume
Audible alerts may play even when your iPhone’s ring/silent switch is set to silent. System volume and the connected audio route affect playback. Choose Quiet mode when you want counts, a visual pulse, and haptics without alert audio.
Microphone quality
Bluetooth headset microphones can be less accurate than your iPhone’s built-in microphone. When recognition quality matters, use the built-in microphone or a good wired or USB microphone.
Recognition varies
Buzzord uses on-device speech recognition to catch the words and short phrases you choose. Results can vary with distance, accents, overlapping speakers, music, television audio, and background noise. Input Gain amplifies or attenuates microphone audio before on-device speech classification, and the listening visualization uses the same gain. Minimum Classification Confidence can reject low-confidence matches. Phrase matching still requires an exact final result. Buzzord is for games and awareness, not safety-critical monitoring.
Recognition during alerts
Buzzord keeps recognition running during every alert. For built-in and custom audio, it uses the known playback waveform to reduce the alert component reaching the microphone; if alignment is unavailable, it safely uses the unmodified microphone signal. Loud playback can still acoustically mask nearby speech. In Quiet mode no alert audio plays, so recognition stays open while counts, visual pulses, and haptics continue.
Manage a custom alert
Open Alert Sound to replace or delete a custom recording stored on this iPhone. Deleting the recording does not delete your phrases or counts.
Language model preparation
iOS may need to download an on-device language model before a recognition language is ready. Buzzord does not turn on the microphone during model preparation. Once installed, recognition runs on device and does not require a Buzzord network connection.
Contact
Questions may be sent to help@buzzord.com. You can also read the Buzzord Privacy Policy.
App version: 7.8