Ernest is OutaStory's built-in assistant. Think of it as a friendly
helper you can talk to whenever you're not sure where to go or what to do.
What Ernest can do
- Answer your questions about how OutaStory works.
- Help you find your way around — it can point you to the right page
or help you discover stories. - Lend a hand with writing — brainstorming, tidying a passage, or
talking an idea through.
Typing or talking
Signed in, you can talk to Ernest out loud as well as type.
Not signed in, it is text only, and there is a daily limit of five
conversations per device — after that it asks you to come back tomorrow
or sign in. That is a limit, not an error.
Turning it on
Ernest stays off until you open it — it never listens and never runs
in the background on its own. Nothing is loaded, and nothing is sent
anywhere, until you both tap the launcher and accept a short
one-time notice explaining how it works. Accept it once and you are
good to go; you can close Ernest at any time.
Ernest is an AI, and says so
Ernest is an AI assistant, not a person, and the voice you hear is
generated. It will tell you so plainly if you ask. We say it here, in the
notice, and on the panel itself because we think you are entitled to know
who you are talking to.
What Ernest won't do
Ernest is there to guide and assist. It never moves money, makes a
purchase, or changes your billing on your behalf — anything like that
still happens through the normal screens, with you in control.
Your privacy
Your conversation — what you type, and your voice if you speak — is
processed by ElevenLabs, our speech and conversation provider, to
produce Ernest's answers. That is what the one-time notice is telling
you, and it is why the notice comes before anything loads.
OutaStory itself does not keep the transcript or the audio.
Ernest only ever acts within your own account, it never moves money, and
you choose when to start and stop talking to it. For the full picture,
see our Privacy Policy.