The Viola Blog
Switching assistants, AI phone calls, and private voice AI
Notes from building Viola, the voice assistant for Windows: written plainly, by the people building it.
What you'll find here
Switching from Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant
2026 is a forced-migration year for the big assistants. What switching to Viola keeps intact, and why people switch.
Getting an AI to make phone calls for you
Real outbound calls that navigate phone trees and wait on hold. How Viola's phone calls work.
Multi-room audio without new hardware
One song in every room using the phones, tablets, and laptops you already own.
Private, local-first voice AI
Why your keys, memory, and voice stay on your device, and what BYOK means. What Viola stands for.
Latest posts
Breaking Viola Out of Her Box
The hard part of building Viola was not the code. It was getting the AI agents I direct to trust AI, instead of turning judgment into regex and blaming the model for my bugs. That fight is what finally let me give her hands and eyes.
Read the story →How we build Viola
We build Viola by orchestrating fleets of AI coding agents. How that works, what it taught us, and the stop hooks we built to keep our own builders honest.
Read the story →Build, Buy, or Borrow
Some of Viola we built, some we pay for, and some we borrowed. An honest map of which is which, and the reasoning behind each call, including the day production wedged five times.
Read the story →What Viola stands for
Four beliefs Viola is built on: privacy by default, local and free forever, no walled garden, and maximum capability. Including where we do not fully live up to them yet.
Read the story →Where Viola is headed
The near-term roadmap and the bigger vision: a growing community, sturdier phone calls, multi-room polish, help with job applications, and where it all leads.
Read the story →How to get multi-room audio sync on any device
Play the same music, in time, across any device with a browser: your phone, a kitchen tablet, an old laptop. No matching speakers, no extra hardware, and an honest word on the one rough edge.
Read the guide →How to get your AI to make a phone call for you
Viola dials, talks to the person who answers, sits on hold, and hands you a summary. Here is how to do it, and exactly what is required first.
Read the guide →Common questions
Is Google Assistant going away in 2026?
Google has said Gemini is replacing Google Assistant on Android in 2026. If you are being moved off the assistant you chose, Viola is a Windows voice assistant you can install today and switch to without giving up your music, calendar, smart home, or browser. Compare Viola to Alexa, Siri, and Google.
Is Siri going away in 2026?
No, but Apple has repeatedly delayed Siri’s big AI overhaul. If you would rather not wait, Viola does tasks on a Windows PC today.
Can an AI actually make phone calls for me?
Yes. Viola places real outbound calls to US numbers: it navigates phone trees, waits on hold, and brings back the answer. The phone-call guide on this blog walks through a real example.
Is Viola free?
Yes. Viola is free to use with a monthly managed usage allowance, and it stays free with your own API key or a local model. Paid plans only add larger allowances. See plans or download Viola for Windows.