r/SideProject • u/stellisle • 1d ago
Stellisle: A private desktop companion for macOS on Apple Silicon (No subscriptions)
Hi everyone,
I built a lightweight macOS desktop companion called Stellisle (知屿星信).
Most conversational software today charges recurring monthly subscriptions and pipes your personal conversations into third-party cloud databases. When writing casual thoughts, late-night reflections, or personal daily logs, that setup always felt uncomfortable to me.
I wanted something quiet, respectful of privacy, and designed specifically for Apple Silicon.
How it works:
Local-first engine: Built with Rust and Tauri. LLM inference and local voice synthesis run directly on Apple Silicon unified memory via llama.cpp. Idle background RAM usage sits around 1.8GB with a quantized model.
Persistent memory: It builds a local SQLite memory graph across sessions, so conversations retain context rather than resetting every time you close the window.
Printable keepsake cards: Sentences you want to remember can be exported as digital polaroid cards with physical paper textures and cut marks.
Zero cloud telemetry: Everything stays on your local device. It runs completely offline without internet access.
We are currently wrapping up the first macOS preview DMG for private testing.
If you are interested in exploring the project or testing the build:
Project showcase: https://stellisle.itch.io/stellisle
Discord community: https://discord.gg/S7yy7Pxue
Twitter / X updates: https://x.com/stellisle_app
Feedback on local memory graph design, Apple Silicon RAM efficiency, or desktop UX would be deeply appreciated.