Private, Offline & Local AI, Explained
Five guides that take a reader with no background from what local AI is to choosing an iPhone app that runs with no connection. Read them in order in about 24 minutes, or start with the question you have.
Quick answers
Three terms that get used interchangeably, and what each one means.
The model runs on your device
When you send a message to a cloud assistant, it travels to a data center and the answer travels back. Local AI skips that trip: the model is on the phone or computer in your hand, and it produces the answer there.
Full guide →It keeps answering with no connection
Because the model is on the device, nothing needs to reach a server. Put the phone in airplane mode and it works as it did a moment before; a cloud assistant has nothing on the device to answer with.
Full guide →A claim you can test
On the App Store, “private” is a marketing word, not a technical one. Four checks tell you whether an app means it, starting with whether it still answers with the network off.
Full guide →In practice
These guides are written by Polyaura, which builds a local AI chat app for iPhone and iPad.
More guides on on-device and edge AI are on the way. Have a question we haven't answered? Email us.