I built Orb because I wanted AI on my phone that still worked when the network disappeared.
Most AI apps are simple from the app side: send the prompt to a server, stream the response back, and keep the real complexity in the cloud. Orb is the opposite. It runs local models on Android after a one-time model download, so the app has to deal with the annoying mobile parts directly.
A few things stood out.
The model download is part of the product
If your app needs a 1-3 GB model before it becomes useful, the download flow is not plumbing. It is onboarding.
