Sprout

Sprout is the green helper on the Help & Chat button, in the menu logo and on loading screens. Admins change him under Settings > Sprout. Each person can keep him still in My Help Settings > Animated Sprout, and the phone or computer's Reduce Motion setting always keeps him still. Nothing he does changes, saves or sends real data.

The six settings, plus Loading and Sound

1. Color: Body Color, Background Circle and Glow.
2. Accessory: Cap, and Loading Prop (what he carries while a page loads; the Business Type picks the default).
3. Holiday: Holiday Looks. On holidays the hat replaces the cap (witch hat in October, Santa hat in December; sunglasses in summer stay with the cap).
4. Eyes: Eye Style, Lively Moves, Face Reactions (happy squint after a save, sleepy eyes at night), Hello Wink and Watch While Typing.
5. Mood: pick Mean (Gremlin) (wrecks, slimes and jokes), Nice (Mogwai) (hugs, flowers and confetti) or Both (a random mix; the default). Nice and Mean tricks come in mirror pairs (a wave and a rude gesture), and Everyday tricks like a wink play in every Mood, done the nice or the mean way. He calls you by your first name. Also here: Page Tricks (he plays with words on the screen; any touch puts them back), Speech Bubbles, Secret Finishers and Tricks Turned Off (Everyday tricks first, then each Mean trick beside its Nice twin; press ▶ Play on any line and he does it right now). Mean tricks spread over the whole screen and pick on real things on the page; Nice ones land on page items too and say a line about the page. Either Mood can spring a surprise out of the Help & Chat button.
6. Free Roam: On, he leaves the Help & Chat button and walks around the screen. Off, he stays in the button. Idle Tricks still play either way. When He Is Out and Roam Distance only matter with Free Roam on.
7. Loading and Sound: Loading Sprout ("Getting your day ready…" when the app opens), Tricks While Loading (on or off; ▶ Preview shows either one; once the loading pill shows it stays at least 3 seconds, then fades as soon as the page is ready), and Sprout Sounds (off by default). Sounds are original voices made by the browser; each person can mute them in My Help Settings. Nothing plays until the page has been tapped once, and never on the customer portal.

Secret finishers (staff Easter egg)

Two ~30-second shows, staff pages only, never at random. They only run when someone uses a code, at most once every 2 minutes per person. Any tap, key or Esc ends them and leaves the page as it was. Reduced Motion gets a calm 5-second version. Sound plays only when Sprout Sounds is on.

1. Fatality (Gremlin): type fatality anywhere outside a box, or send that word in Help & Chat.
2. Friendship (Mogwai): type friendship the same way.
3. On a computer you can also use the arrow code: up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A.
4. On a phone: tap Sprout 5 times quickly, then press and hold until he shakes. Swipe down for Fatality, or swipe up for Friendship.
5. Turn them off under Settings > Sprout > Mood > Secret Finishers.

Tricks and finishers are pictures on top of the page only. Forms, boxes you type in and saved data are never touched. Looking for one Sprout setting? Type it in Search settings on Settings, or ask Sprout in plain words, like turn off Sprout sounds.