Hi HN,

I’ve been building something I’ve personally needed for a long time: a mobile AI companion that isn’t tied to one model or one provider. Most assistants lock you into a single LLM and a single way of reasoning. I wanted something more flexible, more composable, and more portable.

So I built Bubs, a cross-platform (Android + iOS) AI companion with multi-LLM orchestration and a local-first automation engine.

Core idea

Bubs can talk to five LLMs (more coming.):

Anthropic Claude

OpenAI GPT-4

Google Gemini

Cohere Command

Local/on-device models

It uses a routing engine that selects the best model for a task based on quality, speed, or cost. It also supports ensemble mode, which queries multiple providers and aggregates the results for higher-confidence reasoning. If a provider is down, it falls back automatically.

Chat + automation

Beyond a chat UI, Bubs includes a natural language workflow automation system (similar in spirit to Zapier, but embedded locally):

Create flows with natural language

Edit visually

Run triggers & actions

Connectors for Slack, GitHub, Google, Notion, Email, Webhooks

Execution history

All on-device, no backend required

The automations are intended to let users build personal “micro-agents” without needing cloud infrastructure.

Local-first architecture

Bubs stores API keys securely (Keychain / EncryptedStore) and doesn’t require a backend to function. Your prompts and automations stay on your device unless you explicitly send them to a provider. This also eliminates ongoing hosting costs.

Tech stack

Android: Jetpack Compose, MVVM, Room, DataStore, Hilt iOS: SwiftUI, MVVM, Keychain, CloudKit-ready architecture

State of the project

I’m finishing debugging the Android build now and polishing the iOS build next. Once both are stable, I’m planning a small early-access presale for people who want to test it while I continue refining the automation engine and routing logic.

Why I’m posting

I’d love feedback from the HN community on:

Multi-model orchestration strategies

Ideas for additional connectors or triggers

Local privacy concerns or improvements

Whether others are working on similar architectures

UI/UX considerations for flow creation on mobile

Suggestions for open-source components Bubs could integrate with

This is a solo build, and I’m trying to make the architecture as clean and extensible as possible. Happy to answer technical questions.

Thanks for taking a look. Bubs is always with you.

– J