Not all AIs think alike. ambientChat connects you to models from multiple leading AI vendors and lets you switch between them at any time. It's like having a panel of experts on call — each one sees the same context about you, so switching doesn't mean starting over, it means getting a different perspective.
#What It Does
The model selector lets you pick which AI answers your next question. Whichever model you choose gets the same context — your inventory, documents, recent conversation, location signals — so you can swap mid-conversation without repeating yourself.
#The vendors
ambientChat conversation routes to models from the three frontier AI labs:
- OpenAI — a broad, reliable all-rounder family.
- Anthropic — known for nuanced reasoning and careful long-form analysis.
- Google — strong multimodal (image + text) capabilities.
Web search and source-grounded answers are handled by Perplexity under the hood — any of the three frontier models can call it as a tool whenever a question needs real-time web information. You don't have to pick Perplexity directly; the model you're talking to will fetch web results on its own when needed, and cite them in the answer.
We keep the specific model versions up to date as vendors ship new ones, so this guide sticks to vendors and tiers rather than naming particular models — those change.
#The four tiers
Models are grouped into four cost tiers. Picking the right tier usually matters more than picking the right vendor.
| Tier | Cost | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday | $ | Fast, low-cost models for the majority of daily questions — quick lookups, short summaries, light reasoning. Marked Recommended because most questions don't need more than this. |
| Thoughtful | $$ | Mid-cost models for harder reasoning — comparing options, working through a decision, longer-form writing. |
| Premium | $$$ | The strongest general-purpose model each vendor offers — deep reasoning, complex analysis, web-grounded research. |
| Frontier | $$$$ | A vendor's newest, largest model, sold at a premium above their Premium tier. Worth it for genuinely hard problems — long multi-step work, dense technical material, code and analysis that a Premium model gets nearly right. For everything else it costs several times as much to reach the same answer. |
#What $×N means
Next to each model you'll see a badge like $×1, $×3 or $×10. It answers one question: roughly how many times more does this model cost than the cheapest one on your list?
- $×1 is the cheapest model available to you. Everything else is measured against it.
- $×3 costs about three times as much per question.
- $×10 costs about ten times as much.
The tiers above tell you what a model is for; the multiplier tells you what it costs. They don't line up as neatly as you might expect — two models can share a tier and still differ by three times in price, which is exactly why the number is shown.
A few things worth knowing:
- It's an approximation, deliberately. We round to friendly steps (×1, ×2, ×3, ×5, ×10) rather than showing something like ×2.7. The point is the order of magnitude, not false precision.
- It's weighted towards what you send, not what you get back. Most of the cost of an answer is the context that goes in — your documents, your inventory, the conversation so far — rather than the words that come back. The multiplier reflects that.
- It updates itself. The number comes from our current price list, so when a vendor changes their prices the badge changes with them. Nothing is hardcoded.
- A missing badge means we don't have a published price for that model yet — not that it's free.
Does a bigger number mean a better answer? Not automatically. A Premium model is genuinely better at hard reasoning, but for a quick lookup it costs ten times as much to tell you the same thing. Match the model to the question, not to the price.
#The capability icons
Each model row shows small icons telling you what that model can do:
| Icon | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ⚡ Quick reply | Tuned for speed — answers fast. Shown on Everyday-tier models. |
| 🧠 Thinks aloud | Shows its reasoning before answering, useful for hard problems. |
| 👁️ Sees images | Can read images you attach or that come from your inventory photos. |
| 📚 Cites sources | Returns citations to the sources it used — helpful when facts matter. |
Not every icon appears on every model. The icons reflect what each model supports today; as models improve, icons can change.
#All paid access is equal
Every paid subscription can use every model on the list. Subscription tiers control how many tokens you can spend per month, not which models you're allowed to pick. Premium-tier models simply cost more tokens per question, so your monthly allowance goes less far if you use them heavily.
#How to Use It
The model selector is available in three places. Your selection is remembered per-device.
#iOS app
- Open Chat.
- Tap the current model name near the top of the screen.
- A bottom sheet slides up showing tiers (Everyday / Thoughtful / Premium) with each model's capability icons.
- Tap the model you want. The next message uses it.
#Web
- Open the Chat page.
- Click the model button in the top-right (shows the current model).
- A dropdown lists the tiers and models with the same capability icons.
- Click a model to switch; your choice is remembered on this device.
#MCP (Claude Desktop, OpenClaw, and other AI agents)
When you ask ambientChat via MCP — for example from Claude Desktop — the MCP client is already running its own model (that's how you're talking to it). ambientChat's role in that case is to supply context, not to pick a model. So there's no separate model selector in MCP clients. You choose the model inside your MCP client (e.g., pick a Claude model in Claude Desktop); that client then pulls context from ambientChat via tools.
#Your default model — including your own Mac
Your default model is the one chat starts with. It belongs to your account, so setting it on the phone also sets it on the web, and the other way round.
- iOS app: Settings → AI Model Selection → tap a model under Default model.
- Web: Settings → AI Model Selection → pick from the Default model list.
If you've set up Desktop AI (a model running on your own Mac), your Mac appears in both places, above the cloud models, as your Mac's name and the model it runs — for example "Stephen's Mac – Qwen 3.6 35B". You can make it your default. If the Mac is asleep or offline it stays listed and shows why. You can still keep it as your default: chat then tells you it can't reach the Mac. It never quietly switches you to a cloud model instead. If the Mac is connected but its model fails before it starts answering, chat says straight away that your Mac couldn't answer, instead of leaving an empty reply. The same goes for a failure partway through, after it has looked something up for you.
#Choosing which models appear
Under Enabled models (Settings → AI Model Selection, on the phone and on the web) every model has a switch, your Mac included. Switch one off to hide it from the chat model picker. The choice belongs to your account, so a model you hide on the phone is hidden on the web too, and AI agents connected to ambientChat can see which models you've switched off. Two things you can't do: switch off your current default (pick a different default first), or switch off every model.
New models are switched on when they arrive. If a model you switched off is replaced by a newer version, the newer one stays off.
#Setting up Desktop AI on your Mac
Desktop AI runs an AI on your own computer. It is in alpha. If your account has it, open ambientChat on the web on the Mac you want to use and go to Settings → Desktop AI. (On a phone or a PC the page asks you to open it on your Mac.)
- Click Download ambientChat Desktop AI, open the download and drag ambientChat Desktop AI to Applications, then open it. macOS says it was downloaded from the Internet and that Apple checked it — click Open.
- Back on the Settings page, click Connect this Mac. Your browser asks to open ambientChat Desktop AI — allow it. The app asks you to confirm, then downloads the AI model, Qwen 3.6 (about 17 GB; 15–30 minutes on home broadband) with a progress bar. Your Mac is named after you (for example "Steve's Mac").
- When it says Ready, your Mac becomes your default model, on the phone and the web, so your next question goes to it. Chat says so once, on each device: "Your Mac is now your default AI". If you already have a Mac connected, a new one doesn't take over — pick your Mac's name in the model list instead.
ambientChat Desktop AI lives in the menu bar: it shows whether Desktop AI is ready, answering, downloading or offline, and starts by itself when you log in. Quit ambientChat Desktop AI stops Desktop AI completely — nothing keeps running in the background — until you open the app again or next log in. The version is at the foot of the menu; Advanced… shows the app and Desktop AI versions and has Copy diagnostics for support (versions and states only, never what you asked), and Advanced… → Uninstall removes it and every model it downloaded. To install a newer copy, just open it: it offers to replace the running version and keeps your connection and models. Nothing you ask is stored on the Mac.
Installed it when it was called ambientChat Home? Choose Quit ambientChat Home in its menu, drag ambientChat Home from Applications to the Trash (don't use Advanced… → Uninstall, which deletes your models), then download ambientChat Desktop AI from Settings → Desktop AI and open it. Your Mac stays connected and keeps its downloaded models — nothing is set up or downloaded again. If macOS asks, allow it in Login Items so Desktop AI keeps running in the background.
Updates. Desktop AI keeps itself up to date. Fixes to the part that answers your questions arrive on their own and take effect between answers, never in the middle of one; if a new version fails to start or to connect, your Mac goes back to the version that worked. When a new version of the ambientChat Desktop AI app is ready, a small red dot appears on its menu-bar icon and the menu says Update ready — Restart to finish — click it. Check for Updates… checks any time. New models are not updates: if a better one is offered, the menu says A better model is available, and nothing is downloaded until you choose it. A Mac set up before October 2026 needs one last manual update: download ambientChat Desktop AI again (or run the Terminal command again).
Which model runs on your Mac. In the model picker, in Settings → AI Model Selection and, on the web, on the model button above the chat box, your Mac's model is named beside it, for example "Stephen's Mac – Qwen 3.6 35B", so you can always see which model you picked. Desktop AI runs Qwen 3.6 35B by default — in our tests it handled ambientChat's tasks nearly as well as the cloud models. Macs set up earlier run Gemma 4 26B. To move a Mac to the current model, click Set up again next to it under Your Macs and connect it as before: it downloads the new model while the old one keeps answering. Until the download finishes, Settings → Desktop AI and the model pickers say so — for example "Downloading Qwen 3.6 35B · Gemma 4 26B answers meanwhile — 21% · about 20 min left" (the percentage and time left appear once your Mac has the latest ambientChat Home; Settings → Desktop AI updates them about every 30 seconds after you click Set up again, and the pickers show the latest each time you open them) — and Settings says the Mac is ready, naming the new model, only once the new model is the one answering. The old model stays on your Mac — Desktop AI never deletes a model by itself — so going back to it later doesn't mean downloading it again. Each model takes 16–18 GB of disk.
Removing a Mac. An old Mac, or a duplicate left behind when you reinstalled, can be removed for good: tap or click Remove under it in Settings → AI Model Selection (on the phone and the web), or next to it under Settings → Desktop AI → Your Macs on the web. You can also ask chat to "remove my old Mac". It disappears from your models on every device, and that Mac can no longer connect as your Desktop AI. If it was your default, chat goes back to the standard default until you pick another. Removing can't be undone — to use that Mac again, set it up again. (Switching a Mac off under Enabled models only hides it; removing deletes it.)
Prefer Terminal? Advanced: install with Terminal gives you a one-line command that sets up the same thing. If there's no Download button yet, that command is what the page offers.
Why "Desktop AI" and not "Private"? Your questions are answered on your Mac, but a few things around them still use cloud services today — the chat's title, for example. "Private" is kept for a stricter mode that will keep everything away from outside AI services.
#Switching mid-conversation
Switching models doesn't clear your conversation. All models read the same recent history, so you can start a question with a fast Everyday model, switch to a Thoughtful or Premium model to go deeper, and the new model picks up where the last one left off.
#Tips & Tricks
- Stay on Everyday until you need more. Most questions — "is anything expiring this week?", "which beacon am I near?", "summarise that receipt" — don't need a Premium model. Save the expensive ones for the hard ones.
- Match the model to the job. Use a 🧠 Thinks aloud model when you want it to reason through a decision. Use a 👁️ Sees images model when you're attaching photos or asking about photos on your items. Use a 📚 Cites sources model when accuracy of facts matters.
- Compare answers. If a model's response feels off, switch vendors and ask again — different vendors genuinely reason differently. Same context, different framing.
- Watch your token usage, not your model list. The usage indicator shows how much of your monthly budget you've spent. If it's climbing fast, drop to a cheaper tier for the routine questions.
#Options
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Selected model | The model used for your next message on this device. Changed via the model selector. | Anthropic, Everyday tier |
| Persistence | Your choice is remembered per-device (web: browser local storage; iOS: device storage). | — |
| Default model | The model chat starts with. Saved to your account, so it's the same on the phone and the web. Can be your own Mac (Desktop AI). | Anthropic, Everyday tier |
| Enabled models | Which models, your Mac included, appear in the chat model picker. Saved to your account, so it's the same on the phone and the web. | All on |
#Known Limitations
- Model catalogue is curated. We only expose models that pass our quality and cost checks. When vendors ship new models, they're added after vetting; older ones are retired. The list you see is always the current set.
- Not every model supports every capability. A model without the 👁️ icon can't interpret images; a model without 📚 can't return citations. The icons tell you before you pick.
- Context windows vary. Each model has a limit on how much history + context it can consider at once. Very long conversations may drop the oldest turns on models with smaller windows. Starting a fresh conversation resets this.
- Panel of Experts costs more credits. Panel mode — switch models mid-conversation and re-ask so each one responds to the last, see the Panel of Experts guide — keeps the full conversation history instead of trimming it, so it consumes credits faster than single-model chat.
- Answers will differ between models. This is the point, not a bug. If two models disagree, that's signal worth noticing.
#Version History
| Version | Date | What Changed |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | 2026-10-08 | Settings → AI Model Selection, and on the web the model button above the chat box, name the model running on your Mac beside its name too, e.g. "Stephen's Mac – Qwen 3.6 35B"; the line under it says Desktop AI (AMB-1918) |
| 26 | 2026-10-08 | The Mac app is now called ambientChat Desktop AI. If you have the old ambientChat Home, quit it, drag it to the Trash and download the new one: your Mac stays connected and keeps its models (AMB-1900) |
| 25 | 2026-10-08 | If your Mac's Desktop AI model fails after looking something up for you, the answer now says your Mac couldn't answer instead of a generic "something went wrong" AMB-1873 |
| 24 | 2026-10-07 | Home AI is now called Desktop AI: in the model list ("your Mac's name · Desktop AI"), in Settings → Desktop AI, and on answers your Mac gave. Nothing else changes, and the Mac app is still called ambientChat Desktop AI (AMB-1899) |
| 23 | 2026-10-07 | Each Mac in the model picker now shows $0 on its own row, where cloud models show their $×N, on iOS and the web AMB-1898 |
| 22 | 2026-10-07 | The model picker now shows $0 beside Desktop AI, where the cloud models show $ and $$: questions your own Mac answers use no credits, on iOS and the web AMB-1888 |
| 21 | 2026-10-07 | Old or duplicate Macs can be removed from Desktop AI for good — Remove in Settings on the web and the phone, or ask chat (AMB-1887) |
| 20 | 2026-10-07 | Switching your Mac to another Desktop AI model keeps the old one on the Mac instead of deleting it, so switching back needs no new download AMB-1868 |
| 19 | 2026-10-07 | Desktop AI on your Mac updates itself: a fix reaches the Mac without reinstalling, it restarts only between answers, and if a new version fails to start or connect it goes back to the one that worked. The ambientChat Desktop AI menu is easier to read, Quit stops everything, opening a newer copy replaces the running one, and the version is shown in the menu AMB-1796 |
| 18 | 2026-10-07 | When your Mac's Desktop AI model fails before it starts answering, chat now says your Mac couldn't answer straight away, instead of showing an empty reply about a minute later AMB-1712 |
| 17 | 2026-10-08 | The chat model picker names the model running on your Mac beside its name, e.g. "Stephen's Mac – Qwen 3.6 35B" |
| 16 | 2026-10-07 | While a new model downloads, Settings and the pickers say how far it has got and roughly how long is left (AMB-1896) |
| 15 | 2026-10-07 | After Set up again, Desktop AI no longer says "ready" while the new model is still downloading: Settings and the pickers say which model is downloading and which one answers meanwhile (AMB-1885) |
| 14 | 2026-10-06 | Qwen 3.6 is the Desktop AI model for new Macs; Set up again moves a Mac to it, and Gemma 4 stays available (AMB-1829) |
| 13 | 2026-10-06 | Private AI is now called Home AI; Settings → Home AI leads with one Download ambientChat Home button, says what macOS asks on first open, no longer asks you to name the Mac, and keeps the Terminal command under Advanced (AMB-1782) |
| 12 | 2026-10-06 | Chat tells you when your Mac became your default, once on each device, so you don't just find it selected (AMB-1792) |
| 11 | 2026-10-05 | Your first Mac becomes your default the moment it's ready, so your next question isn't answered by a cloud model because you forgot to switch. It happens once: pick a cloud model afterwards and it stays your choice (AMB-1786) |
| 10 | 2026-10-05 | Enabled models: the on/off switches are now on the web too and belong to your account, so phone and web always match (AMB-1772) |
| 9 | 2026-10-03 | Added "Setting up Private AI on your Mac": the ambientChat Home app — Download, then Connect this Mac (AMB-1764) |
| 8 | 2026-10-03 | Added "Your default model — including your own Mac": the default is now settable on the web, and Private AI appears in AI Model Selection on both surfaces (AMB-1666) |
| 6 | 2026-07-23 | Corrected Panel of Experts limitation wording — sequential switch-and-re-ask, not "ask several models at once"; see Panel of Experts v3 |
| 5 | 2026-06-08 | Corrected stale limitation: Panel of Experts is live (was "not live yet") |
| 4 | 2026-06-07 | Terminology: web model-picker section retitled "Web" (the web interface) |
| 3 | 2026-04-22 | Demoted Perplexity from the primary model selector. Conversation is now handled by the three frontier labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google); Perplexity is used under the hood for web-grounded answers and cited sources, invoked automatically as a tool by whichever primary model you pick. Cleaner product story, consistent capabilities across all primaries. |
| 2 | 2026-04-19 | Rewrote to match current behavior: three-tier structure (Everyday / Thoughtful / Premium), capability icon legend, clarified that all paid subscriptions can use all models (token budget is the limit, not access), added web + MCP platforms, removed references to specific obsolete model names. |
| 1 | 2026-03-01 | Initial guide |