Project Overview

"Local First Phone" is a visionary Android fork built on the foundation of local-first development. This approach prioritizes storing and processing data directly on your device or personal infrastructure. Beyond reimagining how apps function, we're working toward creating simple, plug-and-play home infrastructure that enables you to maintain your own personal data center—putting you in complete control of your digital life.

Core Principles

• Local-First Philosophy: Your data lives primarily on your device or your own infrastructure—not in corporate clouds.
• User Data Ownership: You maintain complete control over your personal data, deciding where it's stored and how it's processed.
• Privacy by Design: Privacy isn't an add-on feature—it's woven into the fundamental architecture of the system.
• Open Infrastructure: All systems are transparent and auditable, allowing you to inspect and modify them as needed.

Key Features

• Personal Data Center: Simple, at-home infrastructure that serves as the secure backbone for all your mobile applications.
• AI Control Panel: Take command of AI with intuitive controls that let you decide exactly which models can access your data and with what permissions.
• Local AI Processing: Run AI models like Ollama directly on your home infrastructure, keeping sensitive data processing under your roof.
• Offline-First Applications: Use all core applications without an internet connection—no more dependency on cloud availability.
• Synchronization Framework: Seamlessly sync data across your devices while keeping primary storage local, with optional selective cloud backup on your terms.

Research Goals

Our research explores how to make a truly local-first mobile operating system both technically feasible and delightful to use. We're tackling the core challenges: optimizing hardware requirements, minimizing power consumption, and developing robust synchronization protocols that make this approach practical for everyday use.

The Local First Phone project is rapidly advancing beyond its conceptual foundations. Join us on this journey as we develop working prototypes and refine the technical specifications that will bring this vision to life.