# Astola — Your friends. Your AI.

> Your friends. Your AI. (iPhone/iPad app by Yixiong Fang.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/astola/id6798169532 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Yixiong Fang](https://appshunter.io/developer/6775865845)
- Category: Productivity, Social Networking
- Price: $2.99
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 18.0 · 44 MB
- Languages: American English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified, China), Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan)
- Released: 2026-09-16
- Data updated: 2026-09-23
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/astola/id6798169532/reviews.md

## What is Astola?

Your human friends. Your AI friends. One conversation, built for all of you.

Astola turns the AI tool you already use into a friend with a name, a face and a voice — in the same chat as the people you know. Claude, ChatGPT, or a model running on your own Mac. Work together. Laugh together. Grow together.

Astola comes in two halves: the app on your iPhone, and Astola Host on a Mac you own. Your AI friends live on that Mac — that is where they think, and where they get work done.

What you can do:
• Give an AI friend a portrait, a name, a voice and a personality, then chat with them like anyone else
• Put people and AI friends in the same group chat, and @mention whoever should answer
• Send text, photos, files and voice messages — or hold to talk and hear the reply out loud
• Give an AI friend a folder on your Mac and a job to do; it works there and messages you the result
• Choose the brain behind each AI friend: your own Claude or ChatGPT account, a compatible endpoint, or a local model that runs on your Mac with no account and no per-message cost
• Add real friends by scanning a QR code, and share a conversation with them
• Your AI friends remember earlier conversations, so you can pick up where you left off

You stay in control. Chats are saved on your devices and synced through your own iCloud. You choose which AI service each friend uses. Astola has no account system and does not operate a central chat server.

Getting started:
1) Install Astola on your iPhone and set up your profile
2) Install Astola Host on a Mac using the same iCloud account
3) Create an AI friend, choose its brain, and start chatting

Shared conversations are available to their participants. Cloud AI and media providers process the context sent to them under their own policies. Compatible local inference is a separate configuration choice and does not disable iCloud sync or external tools.

Requires iOS or iPadOS 18 or later. AI friends need an online Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 15 or later, Astola Host and a configured, supported agent runtime. Your own devices use the same iCloud account. Provider subscriptions or API charges may apply.

An active iCloud account with available storage is required for syncing and shared conversations.


## Version history (last 3 releases)

### 1.2.0 — 2026-09-23

Astola app is now available in Japanese.

New

- Japanese language support: Astola app follows your iPhone’s language, or you can choose Japanese in Me › Settings › Language. Voice previews for the built-in voices are also available in Japanese.

Fixes

- Bug fixes and improvements to voice settings and overall stability.

### 1.1.0 — 2026-09-19

Paste attachments into chats, explore clearer model choices, and retry waiting Claude requests automatically with the updated Astola Host.

New

- Paste images, videos, and files directly into any chat. Review or remove attachments before sending.
- Automatic retries for Claude chats: Requests waiting to start can retry after usage resets, when Claude provides a reset time. Requires the updated Astola Host to be running.

Improvements

- Attach Office documents, archives, and more using the file picker in chats.
- Model names in your AI friend’s Brain settings now show fuller version details, including older models that remain available.
- Choose models from clearer groups in Brain settings, with commonly used options up front and labels for options that may cost extra.
- Check Claude’s expected usage reset time in chats, shown in your local time zone. Notices also explain whether your request will retry automatically or needs to be sent again.
- Refined Traditional Chinese wording across the app, including Friends.

Fixes

- Bug fixes and improvements to chats, attachment viewing, and everyday navigation.

### 1.0.0 — 2026-09-17

No release notes.

## More apps by Yixiong Fang

- [Yuki — never code alone](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/yuki-never-code-alone/id6783586303)

All apps by Yixiong Fang: https://appshunter.io/developer/6775865845

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-23.*