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Good news — Hands-Free Cooking is available to everyone using the Souschef app. Hands-free cooking lets you cook from a recipe without touching your phone. In Cooking Mode, turn on the microphone and speak short commands to move between steps, start timers, hear the current step read aloud, and ask how much of an ingredient you need. Cooking Mode is the full-screen, step-by-step cooking experience. Hands-free is the voice layer on top of it. Voice commands work in the Souschef iOS and Android apps — not in the lightweight web viewer. Supported voice languages are English and Japanese (they follow your app language setting).

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What you can do

Navigate by voice

Say Next or Back to move between steps when your hands are messy or busy.

Hear the current step

Ask Souschef to read the instruction aloud, or let auto-read speak each new step.

Control timers

Start or pause a step timer, or set a custom timer for any duration up to 12 hours.

Check ingredient amounts

Ask how much of an ingredient you need — amounts follow your current servings and units.

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How to turn it on

1

Open a recipe and start Cooking Mode

Tap any recipe in your library, then tap Step by Step (or Start Cooking) to enter Cooking Mode.
2

Tap the microphone

Tap the microphone in the cooking header, or tap Turn on on the tip that says to turn on voice command for hands-free cooking.
3

Allow microphone and speech recognition

When prompted, allow microphone access and speech recognition so Souschef can hear and understand your commands. Notifications are recommended so timers can alert you if you leave the app.
4

Speak a command

When the mic is active, Souschef is listening. Speak a short command clearly. Turning voice on also turns on auto-read — the current step is spoken when you move to a new step.
To turn voice off, tap the mic again. Exiting Cooking Mode also turns voice off.
If microphone access was denied, tap the mic again to open Settings and allow access under Souschef.
Voice is optional. You can still cook fully hands-on with taps and buttons — see Cooking Mode for the full step-by-step experience.

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Voice commands

Commands follow your app language. Use English phrases when the app is in English, and Japanese phrases when the app is in Japanese.

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Move between steps

If you’re already on the first or last step, Souschef will say so.

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Read the current step

You can also use the Read step control on the step when voice is on. With voice off, the volume icon toggles auto-read.

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Step timers

These commands control a timer that already belongs to the current step:Stop means pause, not cancel. If this step has no timer, you’ll hear that there’s nothing to start.

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Custom timers

You can start a timer for any duration up to 12 hours. Examples that work:
  • Start new timer for 5 minutes
  • Start a new 3 minute timer
  • Set a timer for 90 seconds
  • Timer for 30 seconds
  • 5 minute timer
  • Start new timer for 1 minute 30 seconds
Spoken numbers work too (for example, “five minutes” or “thirty seconds”). Include the unit — say “5 minutes” or “30 seconds,” not just “5.”

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Ingredient amounts

Optional wording like “of” or “please” is fine. Use the ingredient name as written in the recipe. If the ingredient isn’t found, you’ll hear that it couldn’t be found.While voice is on, the focus view may show short hints such as “How much [ingredient] do I need?” and “Start new timer for 5 minutes.”

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Tips for best results

  • Speak clearly and briefly — short phrases work best.
  • Match the app language — English commands if the app is in English; Japanese if in Japanese.
  • Keep the app open and in the foreground — listening pauses when the app is backgrounded or while Souschef is speaking.
  • Unmute the phone — on iOS, the mute switch can silence spoken feedback and step reading.
  • For custom timers, include the unit — say “5 minutes” or “30 seconds,” not just “5.”
  • Use the ingredient name as written in the recipe — closer names match better for “how much…”.
  • Step timers need a timer in that step — otherwise use a custom timer phrase.
  • Hands-free works best in the one-step-at-a-time focus view.

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FAQ

No. Cooking Mode and hands-free voice commands are available in the Souschef iOS and Android apps only. The lightweight web viewer is for viewing shared recipes.
Check Settings → Souschef → Microphone and Speech Recognition. If permission was denied earlier, tap the mic again to open Settings and allow access.
Try a shorter phrase from the command tables above. Wait until Souschef finishes speaking before giving the next command. Make sure the mic looks active and listening. Unrecognized speech is ignored — there is no “I didn’t catch that” message in this version.
No — it only pauses. Resume with “Start timer,” or manage timers from the timer button. See Timers for manual timer controls.
Not yet — voice can pause a timer, but not cancel or delete it. Remove or manage timers in the timer UI.
Turning voice on enables auto-read. Tap Read step (or the volume control) to turn auto-read off if you only want voice commands.
Voice still listens, but the on-step hints and read-step control are designed for the one-step-at-a-time focus view.
Spoken commands follow the app language. Reading a step aloud can follow the recipe’s language when it’s English or Japanese.

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Still need help?

If you have questions or run into anything unexpected, our team is happy to help. Contact support
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