Nothing the AI makes needs its window kept open. Transcription, speaker identification, flashcards, quizzes, mind maps, slide decks and their pictures, infographics, Brainrot videos, mini apps and chat replies all keep going after you close the dialog on desktop or the sheet on your phone. Keep working, and Grape tells you when the result is ready.
Closing the dialog
Close the dialog or the sheet whenever you like; while the job runs, it reminds you that it keeps running if you close it. The card in the note keeps saying it is working, like Working on flashcards, and a recording says it is being transcribed or its speakers identified, even after you switch notes. Open it again to see how far along it is. It never starts a second run, and nothing counts twice towards your AI usage.
To stop a job instead, use Cancel in the flashcards, quiz, mind map, mini app or transcription dialog on desktop, or in a slide deck while its words are written. On the phone, a mini app's sheet has Cancel and the transcription sheet has Stop transcribing.
When it is done
With Grape in front, a message with Open slides in: at the foot of the window on desktop, at the top of the screen on the phone. It says what finished, like Your flashcards are ready, with the note's title under it, and Open takes you to the result. There is no message while that result's own dialog or sheet is open.
If you are elsewhere, in another app or with the phone locked, and notifications are on, a notification says the same, and clicking or tapping it opens the result. With notifications off, the message waits until you come back to Grape. A job that fails says so too, like Couldn't make your flashcards.
A finished transcript waits on the device that made it, ready to insert, see Transcribe a recording or audio file.
Allowing notifications
Notifications stay off until you turn them on. On the phone, Grape asks the first time you start something that takes a while, like flashcards, a quiz or a transcript, or close the chat while a reply is still being written: Want to know when it's ready? Tap Allow, then Allow again in the system's prompt, and notifications turn on for AI tools and transcription, or for chat replies when you were in the chat. Choose Not now and Grape asks once more a month later, then never again.
In Settings, Notifications has four switches, AI tools and transcription, Chat replies, Sharing invitations (for invites to a shared folder or note) and Routines (for a routine that ran), all off to start with. The first routine you add asks whether you want to hear when routines run. Turning one on asks for the permission if the phone has not asked yet. If notifications are off for Grape in the phone's settings, the page says so, with a row that takes you there.
On desktop, the Notifications tab in Settings has Notify me when AI finishes, Notify me about sharing invitations and Notify me when a routine runs, all off until you switch them on, and Send a test notification. A Mac asks for no permission: the first notification, or the test, adds Grape to Notifications in System Settings. If nothing shows up, Open notification settings takes you there, or to Windows Settings on Windows.
The switches only decide about notifications; the message inside Grape shows either way.
When the app is closed
Speaker identification, Brainrot videos, the transcripts of voice notes recorded from the iPhone Lock Screen on Pro, infographics and slide pictures drawn by Grape Pro Image Model, and routines run on Grape's servers. They finish on their own, and the notification reaches your phone even after you swipe Grape away.
Everything else is run from the phone itself, whichever AI answers: transcription, flashcards, quizzes, mind maps, mini apps, the words of a slide deck, chat replies and pictures from your own image model. These keep going while the phone lets Grape run in the background. On iPhone that is a short while, but on iOS 26 a long transcription or picture job can carry on with its progress shown by the system, like Transcribing your recording, 3 of 7 done. On Android, a quiet AI in progress notice stays in the notification shade while it works. If the phone stops Grape first, a job on Grape's servers picks up when you next open Grape, and a job on the phone needs running again.
On desktop, work keeps going while Grape runs, even with its window closed on a Mac. Quitting while AI work runs on the computer, or closing the window on Windows and Linux, asks whether to quit while the AI is still working, with Quit anyway and Keep Grape open. Work on Grape's servers never asks; it shows up the next time you open Grape.
What a notification says
The first line is what finished, like Your transcript is ready, Your voice note is ready, Speakers identified or Grape AI replied. Under it is the note's title, or the chat's for a reply. A note that is locked by then shows In a locked note instead, and Open stops at its lock screen. The notifications Grape's servers send to your phone carry no note title at all, only a line like Open the note to watch it, so nothing written in a note travels through Apple or Google.
Notification settings stay on each device and never sync. Notifications cost nothing and are not tied to a plan; each AI feature keeps its own.
Related
- Transcribe a recording or audio file
- Record voice notes from the Lock Screen
- Identify speakers in a recording
- Turn a note into flashcards, a quiz or a mind map
- Turn a note into a slide deck, an infographic or a Brainrot video
- Make mini apps in your notes
- Schedule routines
- Chat with the AI about your notes