Since its recent launch, there’s been quite a buzz surrounding Rabbit’s R1 AI gadget, with many questioning its purpose, starting with the obvious: “Why isn’t this simply an app?” Well, folks, turns out, it pretty much is just an app.
Mishaal Rahman from Android Authority managed to get his hands on Rabbit’s launcher APK and installed it on a Google Pixel 6A. After a bit of tinkering, he got the app up and running as if it were on Rabbit’s dedicated device. By using the volume-up key instead of the R1’s hardware button, Rahman successfully set up an account and started interacting with it, just like he would with the $199 R1.
Rahman acknowledges that the app may not offer all the bells and whistles of the R1. As he puts it, “the Rabbit R1’s launcher app is intended to be preinstalled in the firmware and be granted several privileged, system-level permissions — only some of which we were able to grant — so some of the functions would likely fail if we tried.” Nevertheless, the fact that the software runs smoothly on a midrange phone from almost two years ago suggests that it’s more akin to a regular Android app than anything else.
However, Rabbit’s founder and CEO, Jesse Lyu, disagrees with this assessment. In a lengthy statement provided to The Verge (also posted on Rabbit’s X account), Lyu expresses his disagreement with this characterization, though only a portion of the statement was quoted.
But Rabbit’s R1 isn’t the only one under scrutiny; Humane’s AI pin also seems to be running on a version of Android’s open-source software. As the first reviews start to roll in, it’s becoming apparent that the R1 isn’t receiving the warmest reception. Rabbit has already issued its first software update today to address some complaints, notably regarding battery drain. Post-update, the battery performance seems to have improved significantly.
However, the underlying issue remains: the R1 doesn’t offer enough utility to justify its existence when smartphones already fulfill similar functions. It’s becoming increasingly evident that this AI gadget could have simply been an app all along.
