Researchist vs Google AI Edge Gallery
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Researchist
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Researchist is the PDF reader designed for academic reading. Import a paper and it becomes more than a static document: references turn into links, every section gets an outline you can jump through,, and figures and tables are one tap away. READ WITHOUT FRICTION • A focused reading experience built for research papers • Open papers in tabs, or side by side in multiple windows • Highlight with Apple Pencil and attach notes • See all your highlights and notes together in one place, ready to review and share PAPER INTELLIGENCE (BETA) Researchist analyzes each paper using Apple Intelligence • Automatic table of contents, even for PDFs without one • A detailed outline under every heading: one line for what each passage does, linking straight back to it • Figures and tables extracted with their captions for quick reference • Title, authors, and metadata found automatically FOLLOW THE CITATION TRAIL • References and in-text citations are extracted and linked • Tap any citation to see the full reference without losing your place • See how often each work is cited throughout the paper • Jump from a reference to the linked paper with a single tap BUILD YOUR RESEARCH LIBRARY • Organize papers into collections • Personalize your library with color themes and cover styles • Import your existing library from Zotero • Find any paper or note from Spotlight • Create and manage notes with Shortcuts and Apple Intelligence via App Intents WORKS WITH ESSAYIST Researchist and Essayist share the same reference library through iCloud. Papers you add on one device or in either app are automatically available everywhere you work. PRIVATE BY DESIGN All AI analysis runs entirely on your device — your documents never leave it. Researchist collects no analytics by default and never uploads your papers. Network access is used only for public metadata lookup, downloading linked papers, and optional Zotero import. FREE AND PRO Reading, highlighting, and notes are free. Researchist Pro unlocks Paper Intelligence, collections, quick access to linked articles, and color themes & cover styles. Paper Intelligence (Beta) requires an Apple Intelligence compatible device. Start your personal research knowledge base today. Terms of Use: https://www.essayist.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.essayist.app/privacy
Google AI Edge Gallery
Run powerful open-source AI models directly on your mobile device. Experience generative AI offline, privately, and with high performance. Explore features like agent skills, AI chat with reasoning visualization, and image/audio analysis.
- On-device LLM execution
- Agent skills for proactive assistance
- AI chat with reasoning visualization
- Multimodal image analysis
- Real-time audio transcription and translation
- Prompt testing and model parameter control
- Offline device control and automation
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AI Edge Gallery is the premier destination for running the world’s most powerful open-source Large Language Models (LLMs) on your mobile device. Experience high-performance Generative AI directly on your hardware—fully offline, private, and lightning-fast. Now Featuring: EmbeddingGemma 2 This update brings official support for the newly released EmbeddingGemma 2 model. With this release, we bring cutting edge, multimodal semantic search running 100% on your device. Try out these new capabilities in our new features Instant Media Search and Video Moment Finder. Core Features - Agent Skills: Transform your LLM from a conversationalist into a proactive assistant. Use the Agent Skills tile to augment model capabilities with tools like Wikipedia for fact-grounding, interactive maps, and rich visual summary cards. You can even load modular skills from a URL or browse community contributions on GitHub Discussions. - AI Chat with Thinking Mode: Engage in fluid, multi-turn conversations and toggle the new Thinking Mode to peek "under the hood." This feature allows you to see the model’s step-by-step reasoning process, which is perfect for understanding complex problem-solving. Note: Thinking Mode currently works with supported models, starting with the Gemma 4 family. - Instant Media Search: Explore your photo library (or built-in sample media) with fast, search-as-you-type natural language queries and image-to-image similarity matching—with zero cloud roundtrips. - Video Moment Finder: Pinpoint exact moments inside videos using natural language descriptions. Jump straight to highlighted timestamps on an interactive timeline, trim clips, and save or export your favorite moments - Ask Image: Use multimodal power to identify objects, solve visual puzzles, or get detailed descriptions using your device’s camera or photo gallery. - Audio Scribe: Transcribe and translate voice recordings into text in real-time using high-efficiency on-device language models. - Prompt Lab: A dedicated workspace to test different prompts and single-turn use cases with granular control over model parameters like temperature and top-k. - Mobile Actions: Unlock offline device controls and automated tasks powered entirely by a finetune of FuntionGemma 270m. - Tiny Garden: A fun, experimental mini-game that uses natural language to plant and harvest a virtual garden using a finetune of FunctionGemma 270m. - Model Management & Benchmark: Gallery is a flexible sandbox for a wide variety of open-source models. Easily download models from the list or load your own custom models. Manage your model library effortlessly and run benchmark tests to understand exactly how each model performs on your specific hardware. - 100% On-Device Privacy: All model inferences happen directly on your device hardware. No internet is required, ensuring total privacy for your prompts, images, and sensitive data. Built for the Community AI Edge Gallery is an open-source project designed for the developer community and AI enthusiasts alike. Explore our example features, contribute your own skills, and help shape the future of the on-device agent ecosystem. Check out the source code on GitHub: https://github.com/google-ai-edge/gallery Note: This app is in active development. Performance is dependent on your device's hardware (CPU/GPU). For support or feedback, contact us at google-ai-edge-gallery-android-feedback@google.com.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Google AI Edge Gallery at none against Researchist's 1. Google AI Edge Gallery also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 27.0). Researchist's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On price, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Researchist sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $39.99 per year. Google AI Edge Gallery asks for nothing beyond the download.
Researchist ships an update fortnightly, Google AI Edge Gallery every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Researchist | Google AI Edge Gallery |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 4.1 (165 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 58.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 165 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 27.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 113 MB | 134 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Essayist Software Inc. | |
In-app purchases
Researchist
- Researchist Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$39.991 Year
Google AI Edge Gallery
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Researchist free?
Is Google AI Edge Gallery free?
Do Researchist or Google AI Edge Gallery have ads?
Which is updated more often, Researchist or Google AI Edge Gallery?
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