# Modes
Four ways to make your avatar speak. Pick the one that matches your use case — the rest of the API stays the same.
Set `mode` once in your config:
```ts
const config = {
mode: "call", // "call" | "tts" | "audio" | "player"
// ...
};
```
## call — Live voice conversation
The default. Bidirectional voice over WebSocket. Your user speaks, the avatar listens, thinks, and responds — all in real time, with native acoustic echo cancellation so the avatar doesn't hear itself.
```tsx
fetchSessionToken(),
mode: "call",
avatar: {
avatarId: "default",
systemPrompt: "Returning customer, has an open ticket about billing.",
},
}}
>
```
**How it works:** the SDK captures the user's microphone and streams it to the server. The server understands what was said, generates a reply, and sends back the spoken audio along with the timing data that drives lip-sync. Echo cancellation is built in, so the avatar doesn't hear its own voice during the call.
> `call` mode asks for microphone permission when `start()` is called. Handle the `MIC_PERMISSION_DENIED` error for users who decline — see [Permissions](/docs/sdk/react-native/permissions).
**Best for:** Mobile support agents, AI companions, interactive tutors.
### Turn taking
Inside `call` mode, a second choice: **who decides a turn is over**.
```ts
turnTaking: { mode: "auto" } // the server's endpointer decides, from the audio
turnTaking: { mode: "push-to-talk" } // the user decides, by holding a button
```
Push-to-talk suits noisy or shared spaces, where an endpointer would keep
triggering on background speech. It is forgiving at both ends: **200 ms of
already-captured audio is released on press**, and **250 ms of real audio is
still sent after release**, so nothing is clipped. A hold longer than two minutes
is treated as a stuck control and the turn is closed.
Wire it with `startTalking()` / `stopTalking()` from
[useAvatar](/docs/sdk/react-native/use-avatar#push-to-talk), or let the built-in
controls render the hold-to-talk button.
> The `turnTaking.spacebar` option exists on the shared config type but has no
> meaning on mobile — there is no spacebar to bind.
### Camera
`call` mode can also let the avatar **see**, if you opt in with
`perception: { camera: true }`. The camera stays closed until the avatar
actually needs to look at something. See
[Camera perception](/docs/sdk/react/perception) for what is captured, and
[Permissions](/docs/sdk/react-native/permissions#camera) for the native setup.
## tts — Text-to-speech
Send text programmatically — the avatar speaks it. No microphone, no voice input.
```tsx
import { View, Button } from "react-native";
function TTSControls() {
const { speakText, start, isReady } = useAvatar();
return (
);
}
```
The server processes the text, generates audio, and returns it with alignment data for lip-sync.
**Best for:** Announcements, notifications, narration, scripted onboarding flows.
## audio — Bring your own audio
You already have audio (from another TTS provider or a pre-recorded clip). Send it to the avatar to lip-sync and play.
```tsx
function AudioControls() {
const { speakAudio, start, isReady } = useAvatar();
const playClip = async () => {
const buffer = await loadAudioBuffer(); // raw PCM audio, 16 kHz mono
speakAudio?.(buffer);
};
return (
);
}
```
Accepted input types: `ArrayBuffer`, `Float32Array`, or `Blob`. The audio must be raw PCM (16 kHz, mono) — if you have a compressed file like MP3 or AAC, decode it first.
**Best for:** Custom TTS pipelines (ElevenLabs, Play.ai, etc.), pre-recorded content with dynamic delivery.
## player — Offline playback
No server, no WebSocket. You provide pre-rendered audio chunks and alignment data — the SDK plays them locally.
```tsx
const welcomeJob = {
audioChunks: ["base64-audio-chunk..."],
alignments: [
{
characters: ["H", "e", "l", "l", "o"],
character_start_times_seconds: [0, 0.08, 0.16, 0.24, 0.32],
character_end_times_seconds: [0.08, 0.16, 0.24, 0.32, 0.4],
},
],
};
function PlayerControls() {
const { play, isReady } = useAvatar();
return (