Decaf from your second phone.

Decaf texts you from your own number, because your iPhone at home sends it. Save that number as Decaf. Everything you text Decaf goes to that thread.

• Maya: can you call me? is a text from Maya.
• Over regular texts, each relayed text also carries a number: 3) Maya: can you call me? Each person keeps the same number while you’re talking. The number is one way to answer it.
• Maya: bring wine / and ice is several texts in a row, sent together.
• Dinner Crew · Pat: … is a group text. A group without a name shows its people, like Maya + Rob · Rob: …
• ↳ you: … underneath is the line that came before, when a short text needs it.
• 6:41 pm · Maya: on my way, with a time in front, reached you late. It waited for quiet hours, your Alerts per hour limit, one of your rules, or the Mac waking up. The time is when it was sent.
• Code 849724 · Chase is a sign-in code from Chase.
• Maya sent a photo is followed by the photo. If your phone can’t show it, it stays on the Mac, and Decaf says so.

Decaf’s own lines start with a mark. → is a question, ✓ means done, ✗ means it didn’t work, and · is a note.

You can text Decaf like a person. Say what you want the way you would say it, and Decaf works out who and what you mean. The phrases in this guide are short, dependable ways to say things; your own words work too.

• tell Maya I’m running late
• relay all texts from Maya until 11pm
• did Maya reply?

Anything that would go out in your name is shown back to you for a yes first, unless you start with send.

What you can ask depends on your plan

During the 14-day trial, Plus is on.

When the trial ends, plain-English texting stays on. Questions about what is in your threads need Plus, which you can add in Settings on your Mac for $4 a month. Without Plus, Decaf tells you when a question needs it, and still tells you whether someone replied or what they sent today.

Decaf

did Maya reply?

Maya (6:41 pm): yes!! see you at 8

what’s the name of the place I’m meeting Maya for dinner?

Little Fern, at 8:00. Maya suggested it on Tuesday.

Decaf

did Maya reply?

Maya (6:41 pm): yes!! see you at 8

what’s the name of the place I’m meeting Maya for dinner?

Little Fern, at 8:00. Maya suggested it on Tuesday.

What leaves your Mac

Completely private. Your texts are sealed on your Mac and only opened inside a locked server no one can see into. Not us, not anyone.

With Standard, only what you text Decaf from your phone goes, with the names of your open conversations. With Plus, also a copy of each incoming text with names, numbers and links taken out, and the conversation you ask about. Sign-in codes, photos and voice notes never go. With Standard, turn plain-English texting off in Settings on your Mac and nothing leaves at all.

Start with the name

Type the person’s name, a colon, and your message: Maya: on my way. Decaf texts the words back, → Send to Maya? “on my way” · yes / no. Reply yes and it goes out from your main number.

Or just type it, right after a text arrives

For 5 minutes after Decaf relays someone’s text, or 45 minutes once either of you has replied, a message on its own counts as a reply to them. Decaf asks the same way. If two people texted recently, Decaf asks which one first; text the number.

Other ways to say it

tell Maya I’m running late and text 555 010 2233: running late work the same way. Decaf asks first.

If Decaf isn’t sure

If Decaf can’t tell what you mean, it says so, and nothing is sent. Starting with the person’s name always works. Once something is sent, it can’t be unsent.

Decaf

3) Maya: I’m running 5 min late

3 all good, me too

→ Send to Maya? “all good, me too” · yes / no

yes

✓ Sent to Maya

Decaf

Maya: are we still on for 7?

send Maya: running late

✓ Sent to Maya

• Text yes and it sends. no drops it. A 👍 or 👎 on the question works too.
• You can name the person: yes send to Maya, or no Maya.
• Missed it? A yes still sends for 2 hours. After that, Decaf shows you the words again; text yes to send. Nothing waits longer than 12 hours. If a reply you typed without a name doesn’t go, send it again starting with the name.
• Missed it? You can still answer for 12 hours: put a 👍 on the question, text yes send to Maya, or just yes if it’s the only one waiting.
• If they texted you after Decaf asked, or you texted them yourself, Decaf shows you that first and asks again. Old words never go out by surprise.
• After 10 minutes, say yes; “ok” won’t count.
• When several are waiting, Decaf lists them. Text the number of the one you mean within 10 minutes.
• A newer send to the same person replaces the one that was waiting.

Photos and voice memos can be sent from a second iPhone, not from a Light Phone or flip phone.

Everything from one person, for a while

open Maya til 9pm sends you every text from Maya until then, even during quiet hours. close ends it. Decaf asks first, so answer before 9pm. When Decaf mentions a line, it means one of these.

Right after a relayed text

Within 45 minutes of Decaf relaying one of Maya’s texts, quiet Maya makes Maya wait from now on, and always Maya lets Maya through from now on. undo reverses either one.

After Decaf relays someone’s text, their next texts come straight through for a while. A 👎 on the relayed text stops that. It doesn’t change how Decaf treats them later; quiet Maya does.

Any time: a rule

rule Maya can wait or rule Maya always gets through. Rules can be about a topic too: rule anything about the kids gets through. Add til midnight or this week to make a rule end. Your rules are also listed on the Mac, under Rules.

Quiet hours hold texts to your phone until they end, including from people who always get through. Sign-in codes still come through, and so does anyone you have opened with open or are in the middle of texting with. What waited arrives afterwards, with the time it was sent in front. Quiet hours are set in Settings on the Mac.

Pause Mac alerts, in Settings, quiets your Mac only. Your phone still gets urgent texts.

Usually it is one of these.

The Mac is asleep or offline

Decaf works only while your Mac is awake and online. While it sleeps, nothing comes through. When it wakes, texts more than 30 minutes old stay on the Mac and Decaf doesn’t text you about them, so check the Mac. If anything urgent waited, you get · Decaf was asleep 2h — two texts being relayed.

The iPhone at home is waiting for its passcode

Every text between Decaf and your phone passes through your iPhone at home.Texts from people without iPhones reach Decaf only through your iPhone at home. Left untouched, it restarts itself after about 3 days, and after updates. Until its passcode is entered once, regular texts stop. Unlock it, and the waiting texts arrive. Decaf tells you on the Mac when this happens.

The AI server is having trouble

If a text you sent Decaf has waited five minutes, Decaf tells you: · There’s an issue with the AI server — I’ll reply when it’s back. It replies once the server is back. If it can’t within a day, it says so, and nothing was sent.

Decaf stopped reading

On the Mac, a ⚠ or … next to Decaf’s d in the menu bar means it has stopped reading. Quit Decaf and open it again.

Text help to Decaf any time, even in the middle of a conversation, and it sends the short version, three texts, one text, shown at the top of this page. This page is the long version; keep it somewhere you can find it.

Setting up, from the first screen to the test text, has its own page.

• Text people through Decaf. A text or call made straight from the Light Phone shows the Light Phone’s number.
• A Light Phone can’t react to a text or reply by pressing and holding it. To answer Decaf, type yes or no.
• Keep the second iPhone signed in to iMessage with its own Apple ID, not your main one, so your everyday texts don’t land there too.
• Calls to your main number still ring the iPhone at home, unless you turn on call forwarding with your carrier.
• Where urgent texts alert you (your phone, the Mac, or both) is set in Settings on the Mac.
• Decaf texts you as regular texts or as iMessages depending on the phone you chose in setup. Settings on the Mac holds the phone and its number.