Sudo
Set up Sudo with the Italic app, record Clips and Memos with its gestures, and keep it charged and syncing.
Sudo is a ring you press and hold to record. Let go, and the recording becomes a Clip in Italic, without taking out your phone. Sudo saves each recording itself, and the Italic app on your iPhone brings it over when they're near each other.
Set up Sudo
Charge Sudo
Charge it with its supplied charger, then keep it beside your iPhone.
Open Add device
In the Italic app, open the Profile tab, then tap Add device → Sudo. Allow Bluetooth for Italic when iOS asks.
Find your Sudo
Italic starts looking right away, and nearby Sudos appear within about 15 seconds. If yours doesn't, tap Try again. Each shows a four-character code from its Bluetooth address, so you can tell two apart.
Pair it
Tap your Sudo, then Pair Ring. If it was used with another phone, recordings still on it may be cleared.
Name it
Type a name, or keep the suggested one, and tap Done. Sudo is now paired with this iPhone and saved to your Italic account.
Pair in Italic. You don't need to add Sudo in iPhone Bluetooth Settings first.
Record a Clip
Press and hold Sudo to record, then let go to stop. Sudo buzzes when it starts recording (with Haptics on), so start speaking after the buzz. While it records, Home shows Recording on and your Sudo's name.
A few seconds after you let go, the Clip is at the top of Home: its transcript, your Sudo's name and the time. Clips have no title or summary. The same Clip appears in the web app and in Italic for Mac.
Record a Memo
Use a Memo for a longer thought or a conversation. Double tap and triple tap are off out of the box, so turn one on first:
Choose a gesture
On Sudo's page, under Gestures, set Double tap or Triple tap to Record Memo.
Save
Tap Save changes.
Record
Start a Memo with that gesture, speak, then stop it with the same gesture.
The Memo appears on Home with a title and a summary. Its page has the summary, then the transcript, and its audio stays on your iPhone.
You can also start a recording from Sudo's page with Start recording, and stop it from the same place.
Gestures and feedback
Each Sudo's page has its own settings:
- Press and hold, Double tap and Triple tap: choose Off, Record Clip or Record Memo, and Show Battery Level where your Sudo supports it.
- Hold to start: how long you hold before Sudo starts recording.
- Tap sensitivity and Vibration strength.
- Touch area: how much of Sudo's touch strip responds, shown in blue. Choose Small, Medium or Large; some Sudos offer only Small and Large.
- Haptics and Recording light. At least one stays on, so you always know when Sudo is recording. You can also choose the light's colors.
- Recording light strength: Soft, Medium or Bright, when your Sudo supports it. It applies while Recording light is on.
Sudo needs to be connected when you tap Save changes. The change shows as saving until Sudo confirms it. If Sudo is recording or syncing, or disconnects before it confirms, the change waits and saves when it can, for example "Saves when your Ring reconnects."
Battery and recording
These are estimates. Battery life depends on how much you record and how often Sudo syncs with your iPhone.
| Estimate | |
|---|---|
| Battery life | About 2 to 3 days of everyday use |
| Recording nonstop | About 4 hours on a full charge |
| One recording | No time limit |
| Storage | About 2½ hours of recordings that haven't synced yet |
| Charging | Under 1½ hours |
A long Memo stays one recording, however long it runs. If Sudo's storage fills up, it stops recording and saves what it has. Keep your iPhone nearby so recordings sync and make room for new ones.
On the charger
Sudo doesn't record while it's on its charger. Putting it on the charger ends and saves a recording in progress, and it syncs as usual.
Battery
Sudo's page and your Devices list show its battery. A reading that isn't fresh shows when it was taken, such as "65% at 3:07 PM". While charging, it shows Charging, then Charged.
- Below 20%, Sudo's page says Low battery · charge your Ring.
- Below 3%, it says Nearly empty, with the time left.
- It shows Battery empty once Sudo has turned itself off.
Italic also sends a notification when Sudo reaches 20%, and again at 10%. Turn these off in Profile → Notifications → Low Ring battery. They arrive only when your iPhone hears from Sudo, so a Sudo left far from your phone can't warn you.
More than one Sudo
Add a second Sudo the same way, with Add device → Sudo. It's saved beside the first, and either one records and syncs without switching. Each Sudo has its own page with its battery, sync status, gestures and firmware.
Where a recording was made
The first time you record with Italic open, allow location when iOS asks. A Clip's page then shows the city where you recorded it. A recording made away from your iPhone and synced hours later gets no location, rather than where your iPhone is now.
Say a phrase to run a workflow
A Clip can start a workflow. With the Email from a phrase suggestion added, record "Send an email to myself saying the test works". Within about a minute the Clip's page shows that your workflow ran, with an email draft for you to approve.
On a new iPhone
Sudo connects to one phone at a time, and only to a phone it's paired with.
If you still have the old iPhone, open Sudo's page there and tap Move to another iPhone. That gives you 2 minutes. Turn off Bluetooth on the old iPhone in Settings › Bluetooth, not Control Center, which leaves it connected. Then follow the new iPhone's steps below. Turn Bluetooth back on after it pairs.
On the new iPhone, sign in to Italic and open Sudo in Devices. Tap Connect on this iPhone, or Use on this iPhone if it's already listed there. If you don't have the old iPhone, Sudo 1.0.133 or later opens its pairing window when you put it on its charger, or, if it's already there, when you lift it off, tap it once and put it back after about 10 seconds. Sudo can take about 30 seconds to notice the charger.
Recordings on Sudo are kept. A recording your old phone already imported arrives as the same recording, not a second copy. When Sudo first answers the new iPhone, Italic removes its pairing with your other iPhones. On Sudo 1.0.138 or later that works only while Sudo is on its charger, with no touch: a pairing made on the charger removes them right away. Otherwise Italic tries again the next time Sudo is on its charger, and Sudo's page offers Remove other phones: put Sudo on its charger, wait for Italic to reconnect (Sudo drops your iPhone for about 30 seconds when it goes on its charger), then tap it. On Sudo 1.0.137 Sudo may ask for a touch instead: tap Remove other phones, and when Italic asks, touch Sudo and tap it again. An iPhone that no longer has it shows where it is, such as "On iPhone Duo", and stops trying to connect. To see or remove pairings yourself, open Paired phones under Details on Sudo's page; on Sudo 1.0.138 or later, put Sudo on its charger first and wait for Italic to reconnect, about 30 seconds.
Firmware updates
Not available yet: no Sudo firmware update has been released to customers. Your Sudo's page shows its firmware under Firmware update.
Once updates are released, they install by themselves while Sudo charges near your iPhone, after its recordings have synced. There's nothing to tap, and an automatic update never erases a recording that isn't safely on your iPhone.
Troubleshooting
- Sudo doesn't appear when pairing. Charge it, keep it beside your iPhone, and check that Bluetooth is on and allowed for Italic. Disconnect it from any other phone or ring app first.
- Pairing doesn't finish, and Sudo was used with another phone. On Sudo 1.0.133 or later, put Sudo on its charger, or if it's already there, lift it off, tap it once and put it back after about 10 seconds. Then finish pairing in Italic within 2 minutes. Sudo can take about 30 seconds to notice the charger. On firmware before 1.0.133, place Sudo on its charger and hold its touch surface for 15 seconds, then finish pairing in Italic within 2 minutes; Sudo 1.0.138 and later have no hold. If Italic can't remove the other phone's pairing afterwards, Sudo's page offers Remove other phones. On Sudo 1.0.138 or later, put Sudo on its charger, wait about 30 seconds for Italic to reconnect, then try again. On Sudo 1.0.137, touch Sudo when Italic asks, then try again. To start over, tap Cancel pairing on Sudo's page and add it again.
- A recording hasn't arrived. Bring Sudo near your iPhone and open its page. Tap Reconnect if it's disconnected, or Sync recordings. Check Activity log if syncing needs attention.
- You can't find Sudo. Use Find my ring on its page. Walk slowly: the page pulses and says Warmer or Colder as Sudo's Bluetooth signal gets stronger or weaker, and once Sudo connects it buzzes so you can hear it (this needs Haptics on). It can't show where Sudo is, and it only works within Bluetooth range.
- To remove Sudo, tap Remove device… on its page, then Remove Ring. Italic disconnects it and removes it from this iPhone and your account. Your recordings in Italic and the recordings still on Sudo are kept. Sudo still remembers your iPhone until another phone pairs with it: put it on its charger and pair the new phone within 2 minutes. To keep your iPhone from connecting to it, also forget it in Settings › Bluetooth.