Support

Open the app and go to the Library tab. Download an AI model (start with Qwen 2.5 0.5B if you're on an older device, or Llama 3.2 1B for better quality). Once the model downloads, tap "Use model" to activate it. Head to the Chat tab and start a conversation. That's it — no account, no setup, no internet needed.

Internet is only required to download models and wiki packs initially. Once downloaded, everything runs completely offline — the AI, wiki search, and all sensor tools. The whole point of offgridAI is that it works when connectivity doesn't.

Wiki packs are compressed offline encyclopedias (ZIM format) that the AI can search when answering your questions. They're optional — the AI can chat without them — but enabling a relevant wiki pack makes answers much more reliable and grounded. The AI will cite the wiki passages it uses, so you can verify any information.

Download wiki packs from the Library tab → Wiki packs section. After downloading, tap "Enable retrieval" so the AI actively searches it during conversations.

It depends on your device's RAM:

• Qwen 2.5 0.5B (~491 MB, 3 GB RAM) — Fastest, works on most phones. Good for quick questions.
• Llama 3.2 1B (~807 MB, 4 GB RAM) — Better reasoning, still fast. Recommended for most users.
• Qwen 2.5 1.5B (~1.1 GB) — Best quality in the catalog. Requires a modern phone with adequate RAM.

If the app crashes or responses are very slow, try a smaller model. Your device's available RAM is shown in the Library tab header.

Small quantized language models have real limitations. They can be wrong, hallucinate facts, or have knowledge cutoffs. This is a fundamental property of the technology, not a bug we can fix.

Our recommendations: always verify critical information — especially regarding health, safety, survival, or emergency procedures — from authoritative sources. Enable a wiki pack to ground the AI's responses in verifiable sources, and check the citations the AI provides.

Not in the current version. The app uses a curated catalog of models tested and optimized for mobile inference. Custom model loading is something we're considering for a future release. If this is important to you, let us know at hello@offgrid-ai.app.

Models range from around 500 MB to 1.1 GB each. Wiki packs vary significantly — a focused survival wiki might be under 1 GB, while a full Wikipedia dump can be many gigabytes. The Library screen shows exact file sizes before you download anything, along with your current free storage.

You can remove any model or wiki pack from the Library tab to free up space at any time.

A few things to try:

• Switch to a smaller model (Settings → Library → choose a smaller one)
• Close other apps to free RAM before using offgridAI
• On Android, make sure battery saver mode isn't throttling the CPU
• If you're on iOS, Metal GPU acceleration is used automatically on device — the simulator is CPU-only and much slower

Downloads can be paused and resumed — tap "Pause" then "Resume" to restart a stalled transfer. If downloads keep failing:

• Check your internet connection — model files are large and require a stable connection
• Try on Wi-Fi rather than mobile data
• Make sure you have enough free storage on your device
• If the issue persists, contact us at hello@offgrid-ai.app

Each sensor requires a permission grant. Tap the "Enable" button next to the sensor you want to use and grant the requested permission when prompted. If you previously denied a permission, go to your device's Settings → Apps → offgridAI → Permissions to re-enable it.

Note: some sensors (barometer, light sensor) may not be present on all devices. If a sensor isn't available on your hardware, its card won't appear in the Tools tab.

No. GPS coordinates are displayed in real-time in the Tools tab and are never stored or transmitted. When you close the app or navigate away from the Tools tab, the location session ends. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

Never. All AI inference runs locally on your device. Your conversations, prompts, and the model's responses are processed and stored only on your device. Nothing is transmitted to any server. You can verify this by using the app in airplane mode — it works exactly the same.

Go to Settings → "Clear current conversation" to clear the active chat. You can also delete individual threads from the sidebar. To wipe all data completely, uninstall the app — all locally stored data (conversations, downloaded models, wiki packs) will be removed.

This is almost always a RAM issue. The model requires more free memory than your device has available. Try:

• Force-closing all other apps before launching offgridAI
• Restarting your device to clear RAM
• Switching to a smaller model from the Library tab
• Going to Settings → "Unload model" and then re-activating it

Email us at hello@offgrid-ai.app with as much detail as possible: your device model, iOS/Android version, app version, and a description of what happened. Screenshots or screen recordings are very helpful. We take bug reports seriously and respond within 48 hours.