--- title: "Pricey AI “Device” Turns Out to Just Be an Android App With Extra Steps" description: "Android Authority discovered that the Rabbit R1 AI pin's entire operating system is a simple Android smartphone app." date: "2024-05-01" modified: "2024-05-01" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/pricey-ai-device-android-app-extra-steps" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai chatbots" - "android" - "humane" - "the digest" --- # Pricey AI “Device” Turns Out to Just Be an Android App With Extra Steps ![Android Authority discovered that the Rabbit R1 AI pin's entire operating system is a simple Android smartphone app.]() *\Image: Rabbit\* ## App in Rabbit's Clothing Secretive wearables startup Humane [disappointed]() with its AI Pin, quickly becoming one of the [worst-reviewed tech products]() of all time. Competitor Rabbit's R1, a similar — albeit cheaper — device that promises to be an AI chatbot-powered friend that can answer pretty much any question you can come up with, didn't fare much better, with [*TechRadar* calling it]() a "beautiful mess" that "nobody needs." "I can't believe this bunny took my money," *Mashable*'s Kimberly Gedeon [wrote]() in her review today. Famed YouTuber Marques "MKBHD" Brownlee [slammed it]() as being "barely reviewable." The bright orange gizmo left reviewers scratching their heads: what can it do that a smartphone can't, since phones already have apps for ChatGPT and chatbots like it? As it turns out, there really isn't much to the $199 device. In fact, [*Android Authority* discovered]() that the R1's entire operating system is a simple Android smartphone app and can easily be run on a different — and far more powerful — device, leaving us wondering why the hardware part even exists in the first place. "It looks like this AI gadget could have just been an app after all," *The Verge*'s Allison Johnson [argued](). https://youtu.be/ine9gSRPVsA ## Pinned Down *Android Authority* managed to get its hands on a bootlegged APK, or Android Package Kit, of what appears to be the Rabbit R1's software. The device's "entire interface users interact with is powered by a single Android app," the publication wrote. Once installed on a Google Pixel 6a, it worked pretty well. *Android Authority* even managed to create an account and set up the device. Rabbit has shot back, publishing a [statement on its X account]() to defend its proprietary software. "We are aware there are some unofficial rabbit OS app/website emulators out there," Rabbit wrote, arguing that the device's operating system runs "on the cloud" with "very bespoke" Android open source software (AOSP) and "lower level firmware modifications." However, whether those assurances will be enough to justify the gadget's price tag remains to be seen. As [*The Verge* points out](), even Humane's AI Pin isn't much more than a glorified open-source Android project, but still somehow costs an eye-watering $700 (plus the $24 a month subscription, incredibly.) In short, device makers are stumbling over each other to become the first mover in an entirely new and still unproven category of consumer AI devices. But given what we've seen so far, they've still got a *lot* to prove. **More on the AI Pin:** *[Humane's AI "Pin" Is a $700 Flaming Dumpster Fire]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()