Cook Mode

Cook Mode shows a recipe one step at a time, large and dark so you can read it from across the bench. It's free: you don't need Saucery Pass for any of it.

Starting Cook Mode#

On iPhone: open a recipe, tap the ⋯ button at the top and choose Cook hands-free.

On Android: open a recipe and tap Cook now at the bottom of the page, or choose Cook with Whisp from the ⋮ menu.

From the meal plan, tap ⋯ on a night and choose Cook hands-free (iPhone) or Cook with Whisp (Android).

Cook Mode opens on Prep your ingredients: a checklist of everything the recipe needs, with a count such as 3 of 9 ready and the servings. Tick things off as you get them out, then tap Start cooking.

Servings#

Started from a night on the plan, Cook Mode opens at the servings that night is planned for, so a night for 2 shows amounts for 2. Started from a recipe page, it uses whatever the page's servings show. You can change the number on the prep screen, or later in the Ingredients sheet from the ⋯ menu. The ingredient amounts follow; the wording of the steps stays as the recipe wrote it.

Following the steps#

• The current step is at the top, with Step 1 of 4 and a bar for how far through you are.
• Tap Next to move on, and the back button to go back a step. On the last step Next becomes Finish.
• Tap any step in the list to jump to it.
• The screen stays on while Cook Mode is open.

Timers#

A step with a time in it, such as "bake for 25 minutes", has a timer button under it: Start 25m. Tap it and the button counts down, such as Running · 24:12.

• Each running timer gets its own row, with a pause button and an × to cancel it. A paused timer says Paused and keeps its time.
• You can run several at once.
• When a timer finishes, you get an alert even if you've left the app or turned the screen off.
• If you tap Finish while a timer is still going, you're told which one and how long it has left. Choose Keep cooking or Finish anyway.

The first time you start a timer, the app asks to send notifications. Say yes, or a timer can't reach you once you leave the app. If you said no, turn notifications back on for The Saucery in your phone's Settings. On Android, if timer alerts might arrive late while the phone is asleep, Cook Mode says so and offers Fix.

On the Lock Screen (iPhone)#

While you cook, the Lock Screen and the Dynamic Island show the recipe, the step you're on, how far through you are and your next timer counting down. Tap it to go straight back to Cook Mode.

It starts when you tap Start cooking. If it doesn't appear, check that Live Activities are on for The Saucery in your iPhone's Settings.

The home screen widget (Android)#

Android has a widget that shows your cook on the home screen: the recipe, Step 1 of 5, what to do in that step when the widget is tall enough, your next timer counting down and a bar for how far through you are. Make it one row high and it keeps the recipe, the step and the timer. Tap it to open Cook Mode again, even after you've closed it.

To add it, press and hold an empty part of your home screen, tap Widgets, find The Saucery and drag the widget onto the screen. When nothing is cooking it says Nothing on the stove.

Android also keeps a notification with the recipe and the step while a cook is running.

Leaving and coming back#

Tap the × at the top (or Back on Android) and you're asked what to do:

• Keep in Background puts Cook Mode away and leaves your timers running. A bar for the cook sits above the tabs while you look at the rest of the app: tap it on iPhone, or tap Resume on Android, to go back to your step.
• End Cooking stops the cook and its timers.

The cook keeps your step, your servings, the ingredients you ticked and your timers, even if the phone closes the app in the background. A timer that ran out while you were away comes back as finished.

Finishing#

Tap Finish on the last step and you're asked whether to log the cook:

• Log & Close adds it to your cooking history. If you started from tonight's dinner on the plan, or tonight's dinner is this recipe, tonight is marked as cooked too. Any badge in The Lab the recipe earns you appears straight away.
• Close ends the cook without logging it.

Reading steps aloud#

Turn on Narrate steps aloud in the ⋯ menu and each step is read out as you reach it. Read this step reads the current one again. Narration stays on for your next cook until you turn it off, and plays through the speaker even with the ringer muted.

It reads what the recipe means: "2 tbsp" as two tablespoons, "200°C (180°C fan)" as 200 degrees, then 180 degrees fan.

Choosing a voice#

Voice in the same menu lists the English voices on your phone, starting with Best available. Pick one to hear a line in it. If your phone only has basic voices, Get a more natural voice says where to download a better one. They're free:

• iPhone: Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content > Voices, then download an Enhanced or Premium English voice.
• Android: Settings > System > Languages & input > Text-to-speech output, then the Google engine's settings and Install voice data. Download an English voice.

Voice commands#

Turn on Voice commands in the ⋯ menu. The first time, your phone asks for the microphone, and on iPhone for speech recognition too.

While it's listening, a wisp of steam rises above the buttons at the bottom next to Listening, and swells when it hears sound. The words it heard show under it, and after a command it says what it did, such as Next step. Tap it to see what you can say.

Pausing and cancelling a timer are done by tapping; there's no voice command for them.

You can say "next" while a step is still being read: the app leaves out its own voice and listens for yours. Voice commands stay on if you leave Cook Mode with Keep in Background and come back, and switch off when the cook ends. Each new cook starts with them off.

Voice commands listen for English only, whatever language your phone is set to. If they can't work, for example because the microphone or speech recognition is turned off, they switch off and tell you why. On Android, if the phone has no English speech recognition downloaded, the app tells you how to get it.

Ask Whisp while you cook#

Tap the speech-bubble button (at the bottom on iPhone, at the top on Android) to ask Whisp a question without leaving your step. Whisp knows which recipe you're cooking and which step you're on, so you can ask things like "Can I use dried thyme here?" or "How do I know the chicken's done?". In the Ingredients sheet, tap an ingredient to ask what you could use instead.

Cook Mode is free, but asking Whisp needs Saucery Pass. See AI credits.

On the web#

Signed in on the web, a recipe's page has Start cooking, and a night on the plan has Cook. It opens the same prep checklist and steps, with timers, at the night's servings when you come from the plan. Read-aloud, voice commands and the Lock Screen are only in the apps.