Tether vs Offhand

Tether is an app designed for Linux users running custom desktop environments (Wayland). It provides essential ecosystem integration between your mobile device and your workstation, operating entirely over your local Wi-Fi. There are no cloud servers, third-party services, or accounts required. All data is routed strictly on your local network and secured with end-to-end mTLS encryption. Features: • Shared Clipboard: Sync clipboard text bi-directionally between your iPhone and your Linux machine. • File Transfers: Send documents, photos, and archives directly to your desktop, or receive files from it. • Local Discovery: Uses mDNS/Bonjour to automatically find your desktop - no static IP configuration needed. • Encrypted Connections: Device pairing and all network traffic are secured via mutual TLS certificates. Note: Tether is the iOS client app. To use it, simply run the free, open-source Tether desktop application (available as a CLI or GTK app) on your Linux machine. Visit the project's repository to download it and get started.

You talk. You get a note with a title, headings and action items. Record a meeting, a lecture or a thought on a walk, and when you stop, Offhand turns it into a transcript and a structured note you can read, search and share. All of it happens on your iPhone with on-device AI. No cloud, no account, no subscription needed. VOICE MEMO TO TEXT, MEETING TO NOTES Offhand does not shrink a two hour meeting into three sentences. The on-device AI rewrites your transcript into a readable note that keeps the details, with headings, bullet lists and action items, and gives it a short title. A meeting becomes a document with decisions and next steps. A lecture becomes notes with sections. ALREADY HAVE RECORDINGS? Import any audio or video file and it becomes a note like any other. Voice Memos, Zoom recordings, screen recordings, lectures, interviews, and calls. For a video, Offhand takes the audio track and does the rest. Pick it with Import in Settings or share it from another app, up to two hours each. Your first three imports are free, one file at a time. After that, import is part of Offhand Pro. BUILT FOR LONG RECORDINGS Record up to about two hours. Transcription runs while you are still speaking, so even long meetings are ready moments after you stop. Recording continues when you lock the screen or switch apps. Transcription is saved as it goes, so if the app is interrupted, Offhand picks up where it stopped. Finishing a note keeps running after you leave the app, fully in the background on iOS 26 and newer. FREE TO USE - Unlimited recordings and notes - Transcript plus a structured Summary note for every recording - Search every word of every note - Two folders - Copy any section, share or save notes as text, recordings as WAV - Encrypted backup and restore to move notes to a new iPhone - App lock with Face ID, Touch ID or passcode - Start and stop a recording from the Shortcuts app - Three audio or video imports to try OFFHAND PRO, PAY ONCE One time purchase, or yearly with a 14 day free trial. No monthly plan. Pro adds: - Meeting notes, Visit report and Legal note styles, plus your own styles, built from headings or described in plain words - A different style for any note, and a style per folder, so everything recorded there comes out the same way - Unlimited folders - PDF and Word export, ready for clients and email - Smart suggestions, calendar events and follow ups found in your notes - Unlimited audio and video import, several files at once - Backup with the recordings included - Every new Pro feature as it ships Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The yearly subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings. WHY YOU CAN TRUST IT Most voice to text and AI note apps upload your audio to a server and promise to be careful with it. Offhand cannot leak your recordings, because there is no server. Speech recognition (OpenAI Whisper) and note writing run as on-device AI, 100 percent offline. Turn on Airplane Mode and everything still works. Notes are stored in an encrypted database protected by your iPhone, usage and crash reports can be switched off in Settings, and the full source code is public, so you can check all of this yourself. GOOD FOR - Meetings and stand ups, decisions and action items captured - Doctors, lawyers and consultants with confidentiality obligations - Students turning lectures into notes - Journalists and researchers WHAT IT NEEDS On-device AI needs a recent iPhone with enough memory and about 3 GB of free storage for a one time download. Offhand checks your iPhone at first launch and tells you honestly if it will not run well. Notes in English, German, Spanish, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian and Ukrainian. Terms: https://dmytrosamoilov.com/offhand/terms-and-conditions.html Privacy: https://dmytrosamoilov.com/offhand/privacy-policy.html