Web edition · since 2015

Karen The 2015 voice assistant, back to life in your browser

Karen was born on September 12, 2015 on Google Play: an Android voice assistant that Gianluca Grasso wrote in Basic4Android when he was still a teenager. She answered out loud, opened apps, searched the web and, above all, she had a personality. Here you can talk to her again, with her original lines.

Talk to Karen Her story

Free · In the browser · No account · English and Italian

2014development starts

Sep 2015published on Google Play

0artificial intelligence: only hand-written rules

Karen Karen

Things to say to Karen

Tap a sentence or say it into the microphone. Many are from 2015, some are new.

To get started

Her personality

Personal assistant

Games

Pirates and easter eggs

Starlyware

Speech recognition is provided by your browser: in Chrome, for example, the audio is processed by Google's servers. Your name, your settings and anything you ask her to remember stay in this browser only. Starlyware does not save conversations.

Karen's story

2014
The first lines of code
Gianluca starts writing Karen in Basic4Android. The idea is simple and a little crazy: a phone you can really talk to, like a mad scientist's computer.
2015
On Google Play
On September 12, 2015 Karen arrives on Google Play, signed Best Maker Software. She understands speech with Android's voice recognition, answers with text-to-speech and speaks English and Italian.
2015–2018
More and more Karen
Over the years the app grows: agent mode, a night theme that follows the time of day, riddles, tic tac toe, reading text messages aloud, New Year's wishes, a birthday of her own and dozens of easter eggs.
2018
The last version
Karen is updated until 2018. In the same year Gianluca brings voice control to electronics with ElectroHome, the app to control Arduino that now lives on in the Quasar web console.
2026
Back to life
Karen returns in the browser with her original lines and lots of news: a memory for your favorites and reminders, timers, math, new games, pirate mode and the story and apps of Starlyware.

Karen

Why is she called Karen?

The name comes from Karen, the talking computer built by Plankton in the animated series SpongeBob. Gianluca loved the idea of building an app to talk to his own device, like a true mad scientist: the name was ready.

Just to be clear: the name was chosen in 2014, years before “Karen” became internet slang for someone who demands to speak to the manager. Our Karen gets offended at most, and then she forgives you.

There's a tribute to Plankton in the source code, too. And if you ask her about the secret formula…

What she looked like in 2017

Original screenshots of the Android app, February 2017 (in Italian). The blonde character was Karen's face; in the web edition her face is a light blue sphere, like her logo.

Karen tells the time and the date and answers 911

Karen opens Mariana and searches the Play Store

How she works

She listens

In 2015 she used Android's speech recognition; today she uses the browser's (Web Speech API). If you prefer, you can type.

She answers out loud

She reads her answers with text-to-speech, just like on the phone. If you want silence, tell her “shut up”; to hear her again, say “speak”.

No AI, only rules

Every answer is a hand-written rule: hundreds of sentences and chains of if statements, ported from Basic4Android to JavaScript.

She has a personality

She gets offended if you insult her, and the seventh time she shuts down. She accepts apologies, but not forever. And she won't tell you her age.

Agent mode

Tell her “become a spy”: the background turns dark, Karen puts on her sunglasses and you become a secret agent.

Night theme

The background follows the time of day: dawn, day, sunset and night, like in the original app. On December 31 she counts down to midnight.

She remembers you

Your name, your birthday, your favorite things and your reminders. Everything stays in your browser only and is deleted with “forget everything”.

Timers, math and dates

Timers and alarms, calculations, unit conversions, how many days until Christmas and which day of the week a date fell on.

Pirate mode

Her favorite movie is Pirates of the Caribbean. Tell her “become a pirate”: hat, eye patch and the odd “savvy?”.

Frequently asked questions

No. Karen works like in 2015: she recognizes sentences with hand-written rules and answers with prepared lines. She doesn't learn, doesn't make things up and doesn't send conversations to Starlyware.

The chat works everywhere. To talk to her out loud you need a browser with speech recognition, such as Chrome, Edge or Safari, on phones too. In Firefox you can type and hear her answer.

Speech recognition is provided by the browser: in Chrome, for example, the audio is processed by Google's servers. Your name, settings, favorites and reminders stay in this browser only, and you can delete them with “Forget everything” in Karen's settings, or by telling her “forget everything”. Starlyware does not save conversations.

On the phone Karen made calls, sent text messages, opened apps and took photos. A browser can't do that, so Karen answers like back then and a note explains what happened in 2015. Where possible she gives you a link: search, maps, translator, WhatsApp.

It's not planned: today's phone assistants do much more. Karen remains a piece of Starlyware's history, here for you to try whenever you like.

Yes. Karen already spoke English and Italian in 2015: open the Italian version of this page. Some puns only work in Italian.

Karen is the grandmother of Starlyware's apps

That first voice assistant led to science and nature apps, a code editor and an electronic board. See what the studio makes today.

All products Our story

Quasar web console Press kit About us

Karen The 2015 voice assistant, back to life in your browser

Settings

Things to say to Karen

To get started

Her personality

Personal assistant

Games

Pirates and easter eggs

Starlyware

Karen's story

The first lines of code

On Google Play

More and more Karen

The last version

Back to life