Private and offline: AI on your phone
Gemma runs on the phone itself, with no internet — the answer when the signal drops or the data is confidential.
An AI model on your own phone, used once with the internet switched off.
Lesson 11 of 12 · Part 3: Go further
Private and offline: AI on your phone
Everything so far sends what you type to a company’s computers. Google’s open model Gemma can instead be downloaded once and run entirely on your phone through the Google AI Edge Gallery app (Android 12 or newer, iOS 17 or newer). Nothing you type leaves the device, and it keeps working with no signal — in a school with no internet, on a bus in the hills, or with a document you must not upload.
The idea
Smaller, so check more
A model small enough for a phone knows less and makes more mistakes than the big online ones. It is good at rewording, summarising and explaining your own text; weaker on facts.
Where the data is sensitive
Notes about a child, a medical note, a family matter, a business plan — this is where an offline model earns its place.
Download on Wi-Fi
The model is a large download (a few gigabytes). Do it once on a good connection, after making room on the phone.
Step by step
- 1
Install Google AI Edge Gallery
From the Play Store (or App Store). Open it.
- 2
Download a Gemma model
Choose the smaller model if your phone is older. Wait for the download on Wi-Fi.
- 3
Turn on aeroplane mode
This is the point: prove to yourself it works with nothing connected.
- 4
Give it a private task
Paste a rough note and ask it to tidy it, summarise it, or turn it into a list.
- 5
Compare
Ask the same thing online in Gemini. Notice where the small model is weaker — that tells you what to use it for.
Prompts to copy
Change the parts in [brackets], and the details to fit your own day.
Teacher
Tidy these rough notes from a parent meeting into a clear summary with three action points. Keep it private and short.
Anyone
Rewrite this message in polite, simple English, and then in Urdu.
Anyone
Summarise this paragraph in three bullet points for someone in a hurry.
Try it
Your task
Install Gemma, switch on aeroplane mode, and use it for one real private task.
When you are done: You have AI that works anywhere, and a private place for the things that should never be uploaded.
Check yourself
Think of your answer first, then open it. Nothing is marked or saved.
You need to summarise notes that mention a child’s family situation. Which tool?Show answer
The offline model on your phone — nothing leaves the device. Better still, leave out what identifies the child.
Should you trust the offline model’s facts as much as Gemini online?Show answer
Less. It is smaller. Use it for working on your own text, and check any fact it adds.
Keep the trust
Private things stay on the device.
The surest way to protect a document is not to send it anywhere. When in doubt, use the model that cannot send it.