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Rylo Sidekick: Live captions for every call on your computer

Sidekick turns what's said on your calls: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, FaceTime, and more, into real-time captions you can follow. Completely free, and built to keep your conversations private.

Completely free
Private by design
Runs locally
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Your work communication companion

Sidekick keeps live captions on screen while the conversation moves. You pick where they live.

  • Unified accuracy across the board

    Your captions are powered by Sidekick, not by the goodwill of video apps, so you get the same experience on every call.

  • Custom views with one click

    Chat bubbles, a big caption bar, or a native strip at the top of your screen. Get real time captions while not taking your eyes away from the call.

  • Automatically join your calls

    Sidekick notices when a call starts and offers to caption it. You're always one click away from accessible communication.

  • See who's talking

    Voices are separated and color-coded, so you can follow who said what.

  • Type to speak

    If you're an IP Relay user, have a speech disability, or can't speak, just type, and Sidekick says it for you right into the call.

  • Keep what's most important to you

    Transcripts and AI summaries are saved on your device. Search them, export them, or share them, while keeping them 100% private.

  • Works with your calendar

    Connect your Calendar and Sidekick shows up prepared and can start captioning on time for you.

  • Customize it to your needs

    Increase the size of captions, switch light or dark modes, and keep the window wherever it works for you.

  • Completely free

    No subscription and no charges ever. Completely free for eligible users who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability.

  • Private by design

    No weird bots joining your calls. No human listens. Transcripts stay on your device.

Captions shouldn't depend on who's hosting the call

Some meeting apps hide captions three menus deep. Others make the host turn them on. A third doesn't have them at all. Sidekick gives you one captioning experience for every call. It then summarizes the call transcript into a beautiful, actionable, and shareable call summary.

  • Stay in the conversation

    Read what's said as it's said without asking anyone to slow down, repeat themselves, or switch something on.

  • Reduce the effort of listening

    Long meetings, fast talkers, unfamiliar voices, noisy rooms. Sidekick gives you real time captions that catch the details.

  • See who said what

    Sidekick separates voices and colors them, so the conversation reads like a conversation.

Start Sidekick once. Let it handle the rest

  1. A call starts. Sidekick notices.

    Join a meeting in Zoom, Teams, your browser, and more. Sidekick spots the call and immediately offers captions.

  2. Click Start

    One click, and real-time captions appear. Other participants won't know, and nobody else has to do a thing.

  3. Read along, your way

    Chat, caption bar, or notch. Pick a view, make the text as large as you need, and pause whenever you want.

Made for the calls that matter

  • Work meetings

    Stand-ups, one-on-ones, interviews, presentations. Follow fast group conversations without falling behind.

  • Appointments and services

    Telehealth visits, banking calls, customer support. The calls where every detail counts.

  • Webinars

    Multi-participant calls with one to many speakers. Sidekick gets all of it.

Private by design

Your conversations are yours

  • No one in the middle

    Captions are generated automatically. No bots or human captioner listening in on your calls.

  • You're in control

    Sidekick only captions what has been said. Start, pause, and stop any time.

  • Your transcripts stay private

    Conversations are saved only on your device, never stored on Rylo's servers. Delete them whenever you like.

Completely free
Private by design
Auto join calls

Bring every call into view.

Request early access to Rylo Sidekick for Mac. Completely free, private by design, and built for the moments when captions should simply be there.

Mac only. Private beta. About 2 minutes to apply.

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FAQs

  • What is Rylo Sidekick?

    Rylo Sidekick is a free Mac app that captions your calls and meetings in real time. It's built to help people who are Deaf or hard of hearing follow conversations on Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, FaceTime, and more, without depending on each platform's caption settings.

  • Is Sidekick free?

    Yes. Rylo Sidekick is completely free to use. There's no subscription and no per-minute charge.

  • Is Sidekick private?

    Sidekick captions automatically. No bot joins your meeting and no human listens to your call. Your transcripts are saved only on your Mac and are never stored on Rylo's servers. Sidekick captions only while you start it. More detail is in Your conversations are yours, on this page.

  • Which apps does Sidekick work with?

    Sidekick captions calls in Zoom, Microsoft Teams, FaceTime, Slack, Discord, Webex, WhatsApp, and more, plus calls in your browser, including Google Meet.

  • Does a bot join my meeting?

    No. Sidekick runs on your Mac, so nothing joins the call as a participant, and nobody else on the call has to turn anything on for you.

  • Which Macs are supported?

    Sidekick runs on Apple silicon Macs (M1 or newer) with macOS 14.2 (Sonoma) or later. On your Mac, choose Apple menu, then About This Mac. The chip name should start with Apple, and the macOS version should be 14.2 or later.

  • What languages does Sidekick support?

    Sidekick captions 60 languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi, Arabic, and Hebrew. Pick English, or switch to automatic mode and Sidekick detects and captions whichever language is spoken.

  • Do I need an account?

    Yes. You'll create a free Rylo account when you first open Sidekick. It keeps your conversation history yours, and it's how your beta invitation is recognized.

  • Does Sidekick work offline?

    Live captions need an internet connection. Your saved conversations, summaries, and exports are always available on your Mac, online or off.

  • Can I save or share a transcript?

    Yes. Every captioned conversation is saved on your Mac. You can search it, export it as a text file, or share it with the macOS share sheet, and Sidekick writes an AI summary with decisions and action items.

  • Why is Sidekick in private beta?

    We're inviting a small group at a time so we can learn from real use, improve reliability and accessibility, and support every participant well before a wider release.

  • When will I get access?

    Invitations are based on product fit and testing needs rather than signup order. We can't promise a date, but we'll email you when access opens for your setup and use case.