Why I built Viola
I got tired of asking my voice assistant a simple question and getting a sales pitch in return. "By the way, here's a deal on..." No. I just wanted to know the weather.
I got tired of feeling like I paid to put a salesman in my kitchen. I wanted something that was actually on my side. Something that helped me, not helped itself to my data.
So I built something different.
What Viola is
Viola is a voice assistant that actually works for you. Private by default: wake word and speech recognition run on your machine, and every cloud feature is an opt-in with its own switch. No ads, no upsells, no corporate agenda. Just a tool that helps when you need it and stays quiet when you don't. The Privacy Ledger is the honest map of what runs where.
Right now it's just me. One developer in Wisconsin, building this because I believe everyone deserves technology that respects them.
Where we're headed
Viola is already useful. It syncs music across every room in your house. It connects to your music, your calendar, your email, your smart home (via Home Assistant), and — on paid plans — her own phone number. It doesn't just answer questions, it handles whole tasks. Mobile apps and a plugin ecosystem are next; for now, any device with a browser becomes a spoke.
This isn't a startup chasing funding. It's one person building the assistant I always wanted, and sharing it with everyone who feels the same way.