Push-to-talk vs always-listening: what's the difference?
Push-to-talk keeps the microphone off until you hold a button, so capture is deliberate and bounded. Always-listening keeps the microphone monitoring continuously for a wake word or trigger, enabling hands-free use at the cost of constant background access. The core trade-off is control and privacy versus convenience.
- Push-to-talk: mic off by default, you decide exactly when it listens.
- Always-listening: mic monitors continuously to catch a wake word.
- Push-to-talk avoids ambient capture and the battery cost of constant monitoring.
How Overscope relates
Overscope is push-to-talk only by design. It never listens in the background, so audio is captured solely while you hold the button.