# 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 [#set-up-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. In the Italic app, open the **Profile** tab, then tap **Add device → Dex**. Keep Dex beside your iPhone and wake it with its button. 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 [#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 [#lights] Dex's light has two documented meanings, both for resetting its pairing (see [Remove or reset Dex](#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 [#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 [#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 [#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 [#wi-fi-transfer] For a long recording, Wi-Fi is faster. Wait about 15 seconds after pairing before you use it. Tap **Prepare Wi-Fi transfer** on Dex's page. Join it in iPhone Settings, then return to Italic. 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 [#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 [#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: Sign in, open your Dex on the Profile tab and tap **Connect on this iPhone**. 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](#reset-dexs-pairing)). Your old phone then offers **Pair again**. ## Remove or reset Dex [#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-dexs-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 the record button 3 times, quickly. The light starts flashing red. Press and hold the record button for about 5 seconds. Let go when the light turns solid green. Older Dex cards turn blue. 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 [#firmware-updates] Not available yet: updating Dex's firmware from the Italic app. Dex's page shows its installed version under **Device information**. ## Troubleshooting [#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.