Rabbit R1 isn't an iPhone killer, because its AI can run on Apple hardware

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iOS

The Rabbit R1 handheld AI device is a simple Android device, and a developer made the AI run on an iPhone.

Rabbit R1 running on iPhone as a web app [X/@WillHobick]
Rabbit R1 running on iPhone as a web app [X/@WillHobick]



The Rabbit R1 offers the ability to answer queries and perform tasks using AI, instead of using an iPhone directly. However, the work of one enterprising developer has resulted in a clone of the "iPhone-killer" which can run on an iPhone.

In X tweets on Monday, Will Hobick of Flutterflow posted that he would be posting a "cloneable template" of the Rabbit R1 app later in the week. In a follow-up post on Tuesday, he demonstrates a version of the app running on an iPhone.

The app-based version offers pretty much the same core functionality as the device itself. A video shows the app answering a verbal query, complete with the same animations as the physical version.

The r1 rabbit working on IOS

This app utilizes device time, battery life, haptic touch, camera and more. Built in just a few hours and working as a PWA, IOS and Android (see thread)

This demo was built in @FlutterDev with @FlutterFlow pic.twitter.com/cZ935M4YUU

-- Will Hobick (@WillHobick)



It is also able to answer visual queries too. After taking a photograph of AirPods on a table and asking what is in the picture, the app provides an accurate response.

Hobick claims the Progressive Web App utilizes the time, battery life, haptic touch, camera, and more elements of its host device. It was also apparently built within a few hours, and works on both iOS and Android.

While it seems accurate, it is unclear if the app is actually running the Rabbit R1's operating system. It's plausible that the app is using various existing libraries for voice recognition and to send off queries to services like ChatGPT for answers.

A publicly-available version of the app is not yet available to try out.

The app's creation does demonstrate that things like the Humane AI pin and the Rabbit R1's functionality could be replicated by savvy app developers.

Apple has been rumored to be working on creating an AI App Store, a version of the storefront for the sale and distribution of AI apps. It's certainly feasible that apps like the PWA-based demonstration could be made available in the storefront, if it becomes a reality.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    Stabitha_ChristieStabitha_Christie Posts: 460member
    Neither the R1 one of the Humane thingy offer anything that can’t be done with a phone App. Worse is neither fulfilled the promises made by their respective companies. 

    The large selling points  of the R1 were the Large Action Model and being able to learn actions and repeat them. The LAM supports a whopping four apps and the leaning feature is currently vaporware. 

    The Humane pin is an unmitigated disaster. 

    The “Apple is soooo far behind on AI” crowd seems to have overestimated the current state of AI. Siri is already more capable than both of these devices and people have a lot to say about Siri’s capabilities. 
    edited May 2 MacProAlex1Nwatto_cobralam92103
  • Reply 2 of 8
    9secondkox29secondkox2 Posts: 2,765member
    Ai is… software. Of course it can run on an iPhone. 

    The whole ai thing is a glorified series of scripts with software hooks utilizing a cache of resources (image, text, search, execution commands) obtained often illicitly. I wonder how many bots I’ve squashed crawling my sites and ignoring bot parameters are from ai farms. 

    The benefit of ai is that it greatly speeds up what you can already do. It’s like an advanced amalgam off Siri and Automator. 

    Where ai fails is trying to be reliably accurate or any idea that it “thinks.” Ai “knows” what it was taught to know. It “thinks” according to parameters and data already provided. Even ai that accepts new info in real time has a preset way of taking the input and modifying the output based on those preset parameters and “if/then” protocols. 

    It’s impressive how illusory these models are already. But in the end, that’s what they are. Software models. 

    It’s helpful to a point, but kinda over the “craze” already.  
    Alex1Nwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 8
    mikethemartianmikethemartian Posts: 1,359member
    It is a lot cheaper than an iPhone.
  • Reply 4 of 8
    thttht Posts: 5,492member
    Stabitha_Christie said:
    The “Apple is soooo far behind on AI” crowd seems to have overestimated the current state of AI. Siri is already more capable than both of these devices and people have a lot to say about Siri’s capabilities. 
    Yeah. Investors and media are a bit overexcited and overhyped about AI, and for vague reasons, they think Apple has to compete in the area.

    AI is basically a race to the next search engine. That's hardware agnostic and won't affect Apple's products, other than as a general algorithm technique to drive features, which Apple will do. Even as the uber-search service, or smart agent service, you have to wonder how popular it will be in the mass market. How will it benefit me? 

    Even for writing or programming, you have to wonder if it is truly a help. Like, asking it to generate some code to do xyz. In a traditional search engine, you use a search service to get some code to do xyz. Not so sure the AI results will be better. I imagine AI results are still pure. It's a pure service that outputs only data. At some point in the future, the data to ads ratio is going drop to near zero, so, we will be back to where we are today, where figuring out to do something by searching the Internet is having to sift through all the shit for the 1 kbyte of text you are looking for?
    Alex1Nwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 8
    marcel505marcel505 Posts: 1member
    This app does not connect to rabbit's servers. It uses openai as i inspected the network traffic. The only real app that can and could access rabbit's is for now only the official app and the first apk file. We are in the progress of getting an updated app version.
    Alex1Nwatto_cobralam92103
  • Reply 6 of 8
    JoharJohar Posts: 14member
    The Rabbit device was always a questionable idea. Why would you carry an extra device that has a limited use, when you already have a general device, which could do everything the Rabbit can do? I never understood the breathless enthusiasm when the Rabbit launch video dropped. To make matters worse, the Rabbit is apparently not even working properly. See here: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/rabbit-r1-reviews-widely-hyped-214957179.html
  • Reply 7 of 8
    Stabitha_ChristieStabitha_Christie Posts: 460member
    Johar said:
    The Rabbit device was always a questionable idea. Why would you carry an extra device that has a limited use, when you already have a general device, which could do everything the Rabbit can do? I never understood the breathless enthusiasm when the Rabbit launch video dropped. To make matters worse, the Rabbit is apparently not even working properly. See here: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/rabbit-r1-reviews-widely-hyped-214957179.html
    What? But they said AI …. A lot! A…… I………. How could you not lose your mind over that?  

    Remember! Apple is doomed. Reality's an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold! Byeeee!

  • Reply 8 of 8
    bytorbytor Posts: 31member
    I like the idea altogether and purchased one to experiment with. It's in an infancy stage but if it works as it's supposed to, it will be a game changer for some. For example, my elderly parents who never took the time to learn how to use a phone. If this works as expected, it's simple. Push a button and as for what is needed, an uber to the restaurant or home, a gallon of milk from the grocery store or a pizza from the nearest pizza place. While those things seem childlike to you and me, they are complex for people who have no idea how to use an iPhone

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