N Assist User Guide

Nova Assist (N Assist) 1.0 · Android 7.0+ · iOS 17+

N Assist is an AI assistant that runs on your server, your device or your own key. When a question needs it, it searches the web and answers with sources.
No sign-up is needed, and your chat history stays on this device.

Good to know. Answers are written by the AI you choose. If you pick "Other AI services", your chat goes to that company's servers and usage is billed to the account behind your key. With web search on, your search terms go through the Nova Family server to the official Naver and Kakao search APIs (only if the server is unreachable does your device go to a search site directly). See the privacy policy for details.

1. Getting started

1. After the splash screen you'll see "Here's the fastest way to start".
2. Tell it whether you have an API key, and it lists the ways to answer, fastest first.

3. Keep Use web search on to get fresh information with sources (you can change it later).
4. Tap Agree and start (or Download and start). Your first answer takes about a minute.

To change it later, tap the AI name at the top center, or go to Settings → AI model.

2. A quick tour

3. Asking and getting answers

1. Type and tap ↑. With a hardware keyboard: Enter sends · Shift+Enter adds a line.
2. While the answer streams, ↑ turns into ■ (stop). Tap it to stop right there.
3. You can see what it's doing while you wait: "Searching the web" → "Reading 3 pages" → the answer.
4. The action row under each answer:
   • Copy · Regenerate (new answers stack up; flip through with ‹ ›) · 🔊 Read aloud · ⋮ (Share this answer, Report this answer and more)
5. Long-press your own message to Edit and resend or Save as prompt.
6. Tap a follow-up question under the answer to ask it straight away (you can turn these off in Settings).

Ask for a length or shape — "in one line", "in three lines", "as a table" — and it follows. It answers in the language you asked in.

4. Web search and sources

• The Web search chip in the input box: Auto (decides for each question) · On (always search) · Off.
• Searched answers carry site-name pills in the text and source cards below. Tap one to open that page.
• Short follow-ups ("And Germany?") are searched together with your previous question.
• If the pages found don't fit the question, it answers from what it knows, without talking about the pages.
• Search less on mobile data (Settings → Web search): one search uses close to 1 MB. When on, it searches only when it really helps and reads one page.
• Get the text as is: say "extract … after searching" or "show the full text of this link" and the app shows the page text it read, unsummarized (menus and ads removed; up to 8,000 characters per link, 4,000 per searched page). Ask to "extract and summarize" and the AI writes it instead. PDF or HWP links say "open the source to read it".
• The Nova Family server searches with the official Naver and Kakao search APIs. Only when the server cannot be reached does your device read search-site pages directly; if that fails too, it tells you it "Answered without searching".

5. Changing the AI

Settings → AI model (or the AI name at the top center). Tap ＋ in the input box to see "What this AI can do" at the top.

My Gemma server

1. Enter the server address and tap Test connection. When you see "Connected · 0.3s · 3 models", pick a model.
2. Private addresses on the same Wi-Fi (192.168.x.x) work with http; internet addresses must be https.
3. On iPhone you'll first be asked for Local Network access. Allow it to reach your home server.

On this device

• Download a model. Android: Default (Qwen3 0.6B) · Gemma 4 E2B · E4B (also reads photos). iPhone: Default (Bonsai 1.7B) · Gemma 4 E2B · E4B (also reads photos).
• Downloads continue after you close the app, and you're notified when done. On mobile data it asks first.
• Answers work offline (web search only when connected).

Other AI services

1. Choose a company (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, xAI, Mistral, Groq, DeepSeek, Perplexity, OpenRouter and more) and paste the API key from its key page.
2. The first time, you'll be asked to agree to sending your chat to that company.
3. Usage is billed to the account behind your key. Subscriptions like ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro don't include API usage.
4. Your key stays in this device's secure storage and is never sent anywhere except that company.

6. AI Panel

If you have two or more AIs connected, you can put them in one room and let them discuss. It is a separate mode from regular chats.

1. In the chat list (☰), tap AI Panel → Start a panel.
2. Choose 2–4 AIs under Who joins. They are numbered in the order you tap them and speak in that order. Only one on-device model can join a panel.
3. Choose a Format.

4. Set Web search (Auto, Always, Off) and the Topic or question, then tap Start panel.

In the panel:

• Each AI has its own color for its avatar and name. The avatar of the AI that is speaking pulses.
• Use the chips below for One more round or Summarize. Anything you type is read by every AI on its next turn.
• Tap ■ to stop. If one AI fails, the next one carries on, and you can tap Retry in that slot.
• Web search runs once per question, and every AI reads the same evidence.
• Past panels stay under Recent on the AI Panel screen. Long-press one to delete it.

What is sent. Any outside AI in the panel receives the topic and the discussion so far, including the other AIs' replies. Outside AIs ask for your consent the first time, and each one bills its own key's account — with several AIs, one question can cost more than in a regular chat.

• Share discussion (panel ⋮): as text or a Markdown file, with round breaks, each AI (and model), the summary and sources.

7. Voice input and read aloud

• Tap 🎙 in the input box → the first time, allow the microphone (and speech recognition on iPhone) → speak and the text appears. Pause for 2 seconds and it stays in the input box (it isn't sent automatically). ✕ restores what was there before you spoke.
• Tap 🔊 in the answer's action row to hear it read aloud, skipping code and links. Settings → Voice → Read answers aloud when done.
• Dictation and reading languages are in Settings → Voice (System · 한국어 · English).

8. Photos and documents

• Documents: ＋ → File (PDF, Word, PPT, text). The text is extracted from PDF, Word (docx), PowerPoint (pptx) and text files (txt, md, csv, json…) so any AI can read it. Long files send the parts closest to your question, up to the AI's share (table in section 5). Follow-ups like "explain page 3 again" use the same document. Extraction happens only on this device (PDF text needs Android 15+ or iPhone).
• Text in photos: even with an AI that can't see photos, attaching a photo reads its text with on-device text recognition (receipts, screenshots, scans). Scanned PDFs without text work the same way.
• Search with a photo: attach a photo and ask "where can I buy this?" or "find the price" — a search query is made from the text in the photo or by an AI that can see it, the web is searched and the answer comes with sources. The photo itself is not sent to the search server.
• Input box ＋ → Choose photo / Take photo. An AI that can see photos looks at them directly.
• Several photos: My Gemma's vision model and (when turned on) online AI take up to 5 at a time. Remove any one with its ✕. The on-device model reads one photo at a time (a new one replaces it).
• PDF: pages are attached as images from the front, as many as there is room for (1600 on the long side so text stays readable). For long files you'll see "Attached the first 5 of 12 PDF pages". Password-protected PDFs can't be opened.
• Send photos and PDFs to online AI (Settings → AI, off by default): when on, OpenAI, Claude, Gemini and Grok read photos directly. When off, photos are read by the on-device vision model and never leave this device, even if you chose an online AI.
• Before sending, photos are resized to 1024 on the long side and location data is removed.
• If you copied a photo, use ＋ → Paste copied photo.
• Tap a photo in the chat to view it large (pinch to zoom, double-tap for 2×).

9. Chat history

• Drawer: Pinned · Today · Yesterday · by date. The search box at the top finds titles and text (⌘K / Ctrl K).
• Long-press a chat to Rename · Pin · Delete. Deleting can be reversed right away with Undo.
• Share chat (chat ⋮): as text or a Markdown file, with Include sources and a closing line.
• Export all (Settings → Data): saves every chat as a zip file (JSON plus one Markdown file per chat).
• Import chats (Settings → Data): pick an exported zip (or the conversations.json inside it) to bring chats back — handy on a new phone. Chats you already have are skipped, and photos aren't included.
• Delete all chats: can't be undone, and also deletes your saved AI keys.

10. Saved prompts

• Save requests you use often: long-press your message → Save as prompt, or Settings → Saved prompts.
• To use one: type "/" in an empty input box, or use the first line of the ＋ menu. A {input} spot in the prompt is filled with what you've typed.
• They also appear as 📌 cards on Home.

11. Sending to N Assist from other apps

Picking Summarize, Translate or Polish in the sheet answers from the shared text only, without web search (faster).

12. Connected apps (when an app calls N Assist)

Other apps can borrow N Assist's AI — only apps you allow.

1. The first call shows an approval prompt: Allow this time · Always allow · Don't allow.
2. Allowed apps can use it in two ways.
   • Ask in the background: the answer streams into that app's screen. It isn't saved in your chat history.
   • Chat in Nova Assist, then send the result: a chat opens with a "Request from ‘…’" banner. Ask freely, then use Send result to choose what to send (Last answer · Pick answers · Chat summary · Edit before sending). Cancel sends nothing.
3. Settings → Connected apps: per-app permission (Always allow · Ask every time · Block), today's and 7-day usage, that app's chat rooms, and "Also show in Nova Assist's chat list". "Save one-off questions from other apps" (off by default) is here too. When you revoke an app, you're asked whether to keep or delete its chat rooms.
4. Other apps can't see your chat history, AI keys or settings — the only exception is a Nova family app (iPhone) you allow below.
5. Nova family apps (iPhone): once allowed, N Trigger, N OTP and N Wallet get answers right inside the app without opening N Assist.

The first time, N Assist opens and asks. If you allow it, the app uses the AI you chose, and if that is an online AI service, a copy of its key is stored for that app only (other apps can't read it).
On-device models can't be shared. Revoke an app, or turn sharing off entirely, in Settings → Other apps → Nova family apps (turning it off deletes every key copy).

Developers who want to connect their app can ask for the integration guide by email (Android Intents and iPhone URLs alone are enough to connect).

13. What goes where

Chat history, saved prompts and keys stay on this device. No ads or analytics, and no sign-up needed (the Nova family account in Settings is optional — chats and keys never go to the account server).

14. FAQ

15. Contact

novafamilyon@gmail.com · Terms · Privacy policy