Slide over, folks! Google has just released an app, with a whisper rather than a shout, designed to let you run a variety of freely accessible AI models from the AI development platform Hugging Face, right from your phone.

Go on a digital adventure with Google AI Edge Gallery, an app waiting to be downloaded on Android and soon on iOS too. With this tool, you can explore, download, and run compatible models spanning various functions, from image generation and question answering to code writing and editing. An amazing feature? You don’t need an internet connection for this. The app uses the processor of your phone to function offline!

While AI models running in the cloud have their merits, they aren't without their pitfalls. Imagine concerns about transmitting personal or sensitive data to a distant data centre, or the desire to access models without the need for Wi-Fi or a mobile connection.

Have a glimpse into the handy welcome screens of the Google AI Edge Gallery app designed for Android. Image Credits: Google

Fresh out of the oven, Google AI Edge Gallery, currently referred to as an “experimental Alpha release” by Google, can be snagged from GitHub just by following these tips. The primary display charmingly guides you towards AI chores and features like “Ask Image” and “AI Chat.” Tapping on a feature unveils a roster of appropriate models for the task, such as Google’s impressive Gemma 3n.

What's more? Google AI Edge Gallery also endows users with a fun playground known as the "Prompt Lab". Here, they can initiate 'single-turn' tasks powered by models, like text summarisation and rewriting. The Prompt Lab is equipped with several task templates and adjustable settings to hone the behavior of the models.

However, there's a small heads-up! Google cautions that performance may vary. It's a no-brainer that advanced devices equipped with robust hardware will run models smoothly compared to their less-powerful kin. But the size of the model also plays its part. Bigger models may be a tad slower in finishing a task (like answering a query about an image) than their smaller counterparts.

Google's rolling out the red carpet to the developer community, inviting feedback on the Google AI Edge Gallery app experience. What's more, the app falls under the Apache 2.0 license, implying you're mostly free to use it in commercial or other contexts without any hindrance.