Introduction to AI Assistant
There are two variants of the AI Assistant feature in Nutrient iOS SDK: the AI Assistant server and the on-device AI Assistant. Both options enable users to ask questions about documents with a chat interface. The difference between these variants lies in where the AI-powered document processing takes place:
- When connecting to our separate AI Assistant server product, documents are processed on your instance of the server. You have the option to either provide your own large language model (LLM) to run on your server or use a hosted model from a provider like OpenAI.
- When using on-device AI Assistant, documents are processed on the users’ devices. The LLM comes from Apple’s Foundation Models(opens in a new tab) framework, which powers Apple Intelligence.
Choosing between AI Assistant server and on-device AI Assistant
| AI Assistant server | On-device AI Assistant | |
|---|---|---|
| AI capability | More advanced AI pipeline with your choice of server-scale model. Better at finding information. Superior inference and reasoning. | Device-scale model from Apple’s Foundation Models. Still capable of handling large documents with Nutrient’s processing pipeline. |
| Ease of integration | More complex setup requiring AI Assistant server and your own backend for authentication. | Simple setup. Just add a button. |
| Document ownership | Ideal if you have a centralized backend store for documents. | Ideal if users bring their own documents. |
| Privacy | You’re responsible for your users’ data. Documents are sent to your instance of AI Assistant server. If you use a hosted model, questions and relevant parts of documents are sent to the model provider. | Best for privacy. Documents and questions are processed on the user’s device without being sent to a server. Document contents are copied into a local database to improve loading time. |
| Network | Requires a connection to the server. | Works offline. |
| Cross-platform compatibility | Works across Web, Android, iOS, macOS, and visionOS. | Only on iOS, macOS, and visionOS. |
| Apple compatibility | Works on any device supported by Nutrient iOS SDK. | Requires a device compatible with Apple Intelligence(opens in a new tab) on iOS 26 or later. Users must have Apple Intelligence enabled in the Settings app. |
| Nutrient licensing | Requires licenses for both AI Assistant and Nutrient iOS SDK. No extra license feature needed on iOS client. | Requires the on-device AI Assistant license feature for Nutrient iOS SDK. |
Integrating AI Assistant with Nutrient iOS SDK
For detailed instructions on setting up the AI Assistant server and configuring Nutrient iOS SDK for integration, refer to our guide for getting started with AI Assistant. For on-device configuration, see on-device AI Assistant.