The viral pocket companion Rabbit R1 has been suffering under the weight of bad reviews lately. As if this weren’t enough, users have just found out it can be run on a simple Android phone – just like any other app.
When Rabbit was first announced back in January, the press releases were triumphant: we will simplify your user experience, and the power of AI will do all the heavy lifting without you having to fiddle around with apps.
Well, unfortunately, it now looks like the AI-powered, handheld gadget, yours for $199, is actually just an app – and an Android one at that. It’s safe to say few apps cost that much, and many are actually better.
Android Authority’s Mishaal Rahman managed to download Rabbit’s launcher APK onto a Google Pixel 6A, which is, of course, an Android smartphone. After tweaking it a bit, he was able to run the app as if it were on Rabbit’s own device.
Moreover, Rahman soon found out that the phone’s volume-up key works like the Rabbit’s single hardware button. He managed to set up an account and start asking questions – just as if he was using the pricy device.
When R1 was presented to the public early in the year, the device’s founder, Jesse Lyu, raved that there would soon be no need to install multiple apps because the R1 “will do all the work for you.”
However, it now looks like the era of wearable AI is not here yet – especially because the software can be run on a mid-range phone. And not even a new one.
To be fair, Lyu disagrees. On X, the company posted a lengthy explanation of the whole affair, or ‘Rabbitgate’ if you will. “To clear any misunderstanding and set the record straight, rabbit OS and LAM (Large Action Model) run on the cloud with very bespoke AOSP (Android Open Source Project) and lower level firmware modifications, therefore a local bootleg APK without the proper OS and Cloud endpoints won’t be able to access our service.”
“Rabbit OS is customized for R1, and we do not support third-party clients,” explained the company before warning that using bootlegged APKs carries significant risks.
This doesn’t change the fact that the R1 cannot really do anything that our Android phones can’t – and now we know that’s because the device can be replicated by an Android app.
The Rabbit gadget is also not alone. Humane’s AI pin also appears to run on a version of Android’s open-source software.
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