xAI is working on a voice mode for its standalone Grok app for iOS which is powered by its own voice model as well as a model from 11 Labs. Recently, the voice mode has been discovered in the latest Grok application while this feature is still hidden behind feature flags and not available to the public. Reportedly, there will be a new voice mode icon on the prompt bar, which will open a completely different view to start the voice connection. The button in the middle works as a mute and also indicates the connection status.
BREAKING 🚨: xAI is working on a voice mode for the standalone Grok app on iOS which will be powered by Grok and ElevenLabs voice models 🔥
— TestingCatalog News 🗞 (@testingcatalog) January 26, 2025
Voice mode likely will arrive with support for different voices and access to real-time information. pic.twitter.com/MABCfYkGtf
There will also be a model selector for the voice mode, where users can potentially switch between the Grok voice or the model from 11 Labs. There will also be several voices to choose from—four different options so far. A Search toggle suggests that Grok voice mode will also have access to real-time data.
What if @xai's Grok had a voice? 👀
— Ammaar Reshi (@ammaar) October 25, 2024
Using the new @elevenlabsio Conversational AI SDK + @Replit agent, I built a real-time chatbot that you can speak to powered by Grok all in under 15 minutes!
Demo and code below. pic.twitter.com/7EAcjx7IoG
The feature itself is not working yet, and it’s unclear in which form it will be released. But it is a very interesting move for xAI. Considering how well this application has been developed, the addition of the voice mode will greatly increase its usage, especially with the upcoming Grok 3 release.
Besides that, some smaller features were spotted there. For instance, there will be a button to allow users to share the Grok application with others, and some other minor tweaks. If released soon, the voice mode on Grok will be directly competing with the voice modes in ChatGPT, and Gemini and also with the voice mode in Perplexity. Other players haven’t advanced their mobile developments to that level yet. Overall, it signals that xAI is really aiming to win this competition and trying to bridge the feature gap with the current leader, OpenAI, as soon as possible on all fronts.