Arc Search Gets a Quirky AI-Powered Call Arc Feature That Offers Voice Responses

Arc Search for iPhone, the mobile navigation platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI), is getting a new feature that offers voice capabilities. The feature, called Call Arc, is designed as a gamified experience that can only be activated when users hold the phone to their ears. It provides verbal responses to queries, eliminating the need to look at the screen and read it. The app also has a “Browse for Me” feature that uses various AI models to build a web page based on the search query.

How to turn on the Call Arc feature

Call Arc is currently being rolled out, and most users around the world should already have it or will receive it in the next few days. To access the feature, they will need to update the Arc Search app through the App Store. The feature activation process is unique and peculiar. The Browser Company has shipped the feature as a call interface, which is activated when the user holds the iPhone (with the app open) to their ear.

Call the Arc function in the Arc Search application

Once the feature is enabled, users will see a call interface with an end call button at the bottom, a speaker button, and a button to read more about responses. A large animated smiley emoticon is placed in the center with the word “Bow” written across the top. There is also a call timer that shows the duration of the call.

Gadgets 360 was able to access the feature and found it to be working normally. There is a slight delay of about four seconds (which may vary depending on internet connectivity), but it doesn't cause any major inconvenience. After the query has been processed, it plays a call waiting melody until the response is ready. After that, the AI ​​responds verbally. Users can also see the text on the screen.

The feature is useful in scenarios where the user is outdoors or unable to read the screen to check answers. For example, if the user is cooking and wants to look up a recipe, they can use this feature to listen to the steps without having to leave everything halfway through. In particular, ChatGPT with GPT-4o can also access the Internet and provide verbal responses without delay. Google has yet to release the Gemini app on iOS, but its Android counterpart also has similar verbal response capabilities.