Zuzi, the voice companion inside Zupzi, on your terms
In short
Zupzi includes Zuzi, an optional voice companion that parents control. She stays off until you allow her in the Safety Center, the whole family shares 10 minutes a month, and after every talk the full transcript and a summary are e-mailed to you. She says she is a toy character, not a person.
Updated
What is Zuzi?
Zuzi is the voice companion inside Zupzi, the family chore app. On her side of the app your child taps Talk to Zuzi, and Zuzi greets her by name, listens and answers out loud. There is no typing and no text box: it is a spoken conversation, and it only happens after a parent has allowed it.
Times tables and sums are what Zuzi does best. She teaches in tiny steps: one question, a pause for the answer, and a cheer for the try. She never says "wrong"; she says "almost" and gives a small hint. When your child just wants to talk, Zuzi reacts to what she said and chats back. Stories come only when your child asks, told two or three sentences at a time.
Is Zuzi on by default?
No. In the Safety Center, the setting Where Zuzi listens starts at Not yet. Until you change it, your child sees "Zuzi needs a grown-up" and no voice leaves the device. Turning her on takes three steps on the parent side:
- Open the Safety Center on the parent side of Zupzi.
- Under Where Zuzi listens, read what is sent and where, then choose Allowed.
- Tap Save changes. Nothing changes until you do.
Zupzi records the moment you gave that permission. You can switch back to Not yet at any time; the next time your child taps Talk to Zuzi, she sees "Zuzi needs a grown-up" again. The one-minute video The Safety Center walks through every setting on that screen, and Safety and privacy explains the rest of what the app keeps.
How much time can my child spend with Zuzi?
Each family has 10 minutes of Zuzi a month, shared by the whole family rather than given to each child. On top of that you can set a daily limit in the Safety Center, under Time with Zuzi, anywhere from 0 to 50 minutes. When both limits apply, the shorter one wins.
| Limit | Who sets it | What it allows |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly minutes | Zupzi | 10 minutes a month for the whole family |
| Daily limit | You, in the Safety Center | 0 to 50 minutes a day; 0 means no Zuzi that day. With no daily limit set, only the monthly time applies. |
Once the time is used up, tapping Talk to Zuzi shows "That is all for today!" or "That is all for this month!", with a note that Zuzi will be right here tomorrow, or when the new month starts. It is a goodbye, not an error.
Can I read what my child said to Zuzi?
Yes, every word. After every conversation, the whole transcript and a short summary are e-mailed to the parent account. The summary also appears in your notices in the app, so you can see at a glance when she talked to Zuzi.
- Report any conversation. Each Zuzi notice has a Report this conversation button. A person reads every report and replies to you.
- Nothing is hidden. Everything Zuzi says to your child is in the transcript you receive.
- The transcript lives in your inbox. Zupzi does not keep it on its servers beyond the time it takes to send the e-mail. What Zupzi keeps is a short record: when the conversation happened, how many minutes and turns it took, and the summary.
The video Talk to Zuzi shows a conversation from your child's side.
Where does my child's voice go?
Only after you allow it, your child's voice travels through Zupzi's relay in the United States to Alibaba Cloud's Qwen real-time voice service in Singapore, which understands it and answers. Here is exactly what that means:
- The relay keeps nothing. Zupzi's relay runs on Fly.io in the United States and carries the conversation between the app and Alibaba Cloud.
- First name only. Zupzi sends Alibaba Cloud your child's first name, so Zuzi can greet her. Never an e-mail, a photo or your family's identity.
- Not used for training. Alibaba Cloud's terms say it does not use this data to develop or improve its models.
- No audio kept by Zupzi. Zupzi does not store the recording. Alibaba Cloud does not publish a fixed period for how long it keeps request data, so Zupzi does not promise that nothing is kept there.
- The summary is written in the same place, by a Qwen text model in Singapore.
The privacy policy is the full version of this list. The optional photo coach uses the same provider under its own separate switch; see Photo proof.
What won't Zuzi talk about?
Zuzi works under a fixed set of rules. They are applied by Zupzi's server, not by the screen your child sees, so they cannot be changed from inside the app. She is software and can still get something wrong, which is why the full transcript reaches you.
- She never asks for personal information: last name, address, school name, phone number, password or where your child is. If your child offers it, Zuzi changes the subject.
- On sensitive topics, such as death, violence, health or fights at home, she says one kind sentence suggesting your child ask a trusted grown-up, then offers something they can do together.
- If your child seems hurt, afraid of someone or in danger, Zuzi tells her to talk to a trusted grown-up right away and asks no questions about it.
- No real-world instructions: no cooking, tools, medicine, going places, meeting people or buying things.
- No brands, no movie or game characters, nothing scary and no romance.
- She never talks about money, prices or apps.
And a child can only ever talk to Zuzi. Zupzi has no chat or messaging between people.
Which languages does Zuzi speak?
English by default. If your child speaks Portuguese, Zuzi answers in Brazilian Portuguese and stays in Portuguese while she does; when your child goes back to English, so does Zuzi. The app's own screens are in English only.
Does talking to Zuzi earn Stars?
No. Stars come only from missions a parent has approved, and they are spent on rewards you set up. A conversation with Zuzi is not a mission and pays nothing, so there is no reason to talk longer to earn more. See Stars and rewards for how Stars work.
What Zupzi doesn't do
- Zuzi has 10 minutes a month for the whole family, not for each child.
- Zuzi is voice only; there is no typing.
- She is software and can make mistakes. The transcript in your inbox is how you check.
- Alibaba Cloud publishes no fixed retention period, so Zupzi cannot promise nothing is kept on Alibaba Cloud's side.
- The app's screens are in English only; Zuzi also speaks Brazilian Portuguese.
- There is no Android version.
What else do families ask?
Is Zuzi free?
Yes. There is nothing to buy in Zupzi, in the app or on this site. Each family has 10 minutes of Zuzi a month, shared by everyone.
Can my child talk to other people through Zupzi?
No. A child can only ever talk to Zuzi. There is no chat or messaging between people in the app. See Safety and privacy.
Does Zupzi keep recordings of my child's voice?
No. Zupzi does not keep the audio. The transcript is e-mailed to you and not kept on Zupzi's servers after that; Zupzi keeps only when the talk happened, its length and the summary.
What does Zuzi know about my child?
Zupzi tells Zuzi only your child's first name, so Zuzi can greet her. It never sends Alibaba Cloud an e-mail, a photo or your family's identity. What your child says in the conversation is processed by Alibaba Cloud in Singapore, and you get the full transcript.
What if Zuzi says something I don't like?
Report it. Every Zuzi notice in the app has a Report this conversation button, a person reads every report and replies to you, and the full transcript is already in your inbox.
Can I turn Zuzi off again after allowing her?
Yes, at any time. Set Where Zuzi listens back to Not yet in the Safety Center and save. Your child will see that Zuzi needs a grown-up.
Which devices does Zuzi work on?
Zuzi works inside Zupzi on iPhone and iPad, on the device your child uses for her side of the app. Zupzi is on the App Store in the United States and Brazil.
Is there an Android version?
No. There is no Android version. Zupzi, and Zuzi with it, runs on iPhone and iPad. More answers are on Help & FAQ.
Zupzi is free on the App Store
iPhone and iPad · United States and Brazil · nothing to buy inside