Dex
Set up Dex, record with its button, and let the Italic app sync and clean up its recordings.
Dex is a recording card. Press its record button to start, and press it again to stop and save. The Italic app on your iPhone imports each recording over Bluetooth and turns it into a Memo with a title and a summary.
Set up Dex
Charge and turn on Dex
Charge Dex with USB-C. Hold the record button for 3 seconds to turn it on, then release it. Dex is now in standby: on, but not recording.
Open Add device
In the Italic app, open the Profile tab, then tap Add device → Dex. Keep Dex beside your iPhone and wake it with its button.
Connect it
Choose your Dex under Nearby, then tap Connect Dex. Dex is saved to your account, and recordings already on it stay on the card.
Connect Dex before you record with it: its record button works only once Dex is paired. The button on the 3D Dex in setup is only a demonstration.
Record
From standby, short-press the record button once to start. Short-press it again to stop and save. You can also tap Start recording on Dex's page, and Stop recording to finish. While Dex records, its page shows a timer.
If your Dex has a mode switch, up records phone calls and down is standard recording.
Dex recordings become Memos out of the box. To make them Clips instead, change Record button to Record Clip under Recording type on Dex's page. This applies to new recordings only.
Lights
Dex's light has two documented meanings, both for resetting its pairing (see Remove or reset Dex):
- Flashing red after three quick presses: the reset is ready.
- Solid green after holding the button: the reset is done. Older Dex firmware shows blue instead, steady or breathing.
You can turn Recording light off on Dex's page. An unlit light doesn't mean Dex has stopped recording. Dex has no vibration.
Battery and recording
| Estimate | |
|---|---|
| Battery life | Up to 28 hours, the manufacturer's figure |
| One recording | 1 hour out of the box (up to 4), then Dex continues in a new recording |
| Charging | About 1½ hours with USB-C |
Dex splits a long recording at the length set in Split recordings every on its page: 1 hour out of the box, or 2 or 4 hours. It keeps recording, and each part arrives in Italic as its own recording. Device information on Dex's page shows its battery and how much storage is free.
Power
A dark screen may just be the backlight timing out. It doesn't mean Dex is off. Stop and save any recording before Dex powers off.
On Dex's page, under Device controls:
- Auto power off: Never, 3, 5 or 10 minutes.
- Backlight: Always on, 15, 30 or 60 seconds.
- Recording light: On or Off.
- Split recordings every: 1, 2 or 4 hours.
Changes save automatically once Dex confirms them. Dex names recordings with its own clock, so use Sync and verify time under Clock if a recording's time looks wrong. Read device time checks the clock without changing it.
Syncing
Keep Dex nearby with Bluetooth on. Recordings sync when Dex connects, when you return to Italic, after a recording stops, or when you tap Sync recordings. An interrupted Bluetooth copy resumes where it stopped, and a transfer cut off by Dex powering off continues at the next connection.
Wi-Fi transfer
For a long recording, Wi-Fi is faster. Wait about 15 seconds after pairing before you use it.
Prepare
Tap Prepare Wi-Fi transfer on Dex's page.
Join Dex's hotspot
Join it in iPhone Settings, then return to Italic.
Switch
While recordings are syncing, tap Switch transfer to Wi-Fi. The current file starts again from the beginning.
Tap Turn off Dex Wi-Fi when you're done. If you leave Italic, the transfer continues over Bluetooth when you come back.
Recordings on Dex
Once a recording is complete and saved on your iPhone, Italic removes it from Dex automatically. If that cleanup fails, it tries again later. Deleting a Memo in Italic doesn't delete anything on Dex.
Recordings on device lists what's on the card, newest first. For each one you can:
- Pause automatic import to leave it on Dex, and Resume automatic import to undo that. Import now still copies it. These choices stay on this iPhone.
- Delete from Dex, which removes it permanently, even if it hasn't synced.
A recording Italic can't read stays on Dex, marked "Import failed; original kept on Dex", so you can retry. Format storage… erases every recording on Dex and can't be undone. On current Dex firmware it also resets Dex's pairing.
The audio of your Dex Memos stays on your iPhone. Open Audio from Recordings on device to play, export or retry transcription of a recording.
On a new iPhone
Your old iPhone saves Dex's connection to your account after it syncs Dex, while Cloud Sync is on. On the new iPhone:
Open your Dex
Sign in, open your Dex on the Profile tab and tap Connect on this iPhone.
Choose it
Keep Dex nearby and awake, and choose it from the list. It connects with the key saved to your account. No other phone is needed.
Dex connects to one phone at a time. If another phone is using it, turn off Bluetooth there first. Italic checks that it's your Dex before importing any recording.
If your account doesn't have Dex's key, the page asks you to reset its pairing first (see Reset Dex's pairing). Your old phone then offers Pair again.
Remove or reset Dex
To remove Dex, tap Remove device… on its page, then Remove Dex. A connected Dex is unpaired, then removed from this iPhone and your account. An offline Dex keeps its pairing until you reset it. Your recordings are kept.
Reset Dex's pairing
Reset Dex's pairing only when you mean to pair it again, or when Italic says Dex rejected this iPhone's key. A new Dex can arrive already paired, so this can happen the first time you connect it. Recordings stay on Dex.
Press three times
Press the record button 3 times, quickly. The light starts flashing red.
Hold
Press and hold the record button for about 5 seconds. Let go when the light turns solid green. Older Dex cards turn blue.
Leave it by your iPhone
Keep Dex next to your iPhone. Italic connects by itself.
When Dex rejects your iPhone's key, its page shows Pair again. Tap it and follow the same steps. While the page is open, Italic keeps trying, first with any key another iPhone saved to your account, and connects as soon as the reset finishes.
Firmware updates
Not available yet: updating Dex's firmware from the Italic app. Dex's page shows its installed version under Device information.
Troubleshooting
- Dex isn't found. Wake it with its button and check that Bluetooth is on and allowed for Italic. When Reconnect gives up after 45 seconds, Dex's page says what Italic heard: nothing (wake Dex), Dex nearby but not connecting, or Dex under a new Bluetooth identity (remove it and add it again).
- "Dex rejected this iPhone's key." Dex is paired with a different key. Tap Pair again on its page.
- You can't find Dex. Use Find my Dex on its page. Walk slowly: the page pulses and says Warmer or Colder as Dex's Bluetooth signal gets stronger or weaker. Dex has to be on and within Bluetooth range, and the page can't show where it is or make it beep.
- "This Dex has a different saved binding." It's still paired with another phone. Reset its pairing, then connect again.
- A setting won't change. Settings load and save only while Dex is connected, idle and done syncing. Tap Refresh settings to try again.
- A recording hasn't arrived. Tap Sync recordings, then check Activity log on Dex's page.