Why I Built This
I’ve been self-hosting for a couple of years now, and when I set up Open-WebUI to replace commercial AI chat apps, I hit a wall: getting my family to actually use it.
The PWA experience just wasn’t cutting it. No native integrations, clunky voice input, and it never felt like a “real” app. My family would default back to ChatGPT because it was just… easier. And I get it, if the UX isn’t there, nobody’s switching.
So I built Conduit. The goal was simple: make self-hosted AI feel as polished as the commercial alternatives so there’s zero friction for non-technical users. Voice calls with your AI that show up in CallKit like a real phone call. Siri integration. Instant startup. The works.
I shared it on r/selfhosted and the response blew me away, it clearly resonated with others facing the same “family adoption” problem. This is actually my second Flutter app (the first was Luci Mobile for OpenWrt router management), and building native experiences for self-hosted services has become a bit of a passion project.
The Problem
Open-WebUI is an incredible self-hosted AI interface, but accessing it on mobile has always meant dealing with a PWA that doesn’t feel quite native. No native integrations, no Siri integration, no proper voice calls with your AI, and no offline access to your chat history.
The Solution
Conduit bridges that gap with a truly native experience:
Voice Call Mode — Have phone-style conversations with your AI. Speak naturally, hear responses read aloud, and chat completely hands-free. Full CallKit integration on iOS means your AI calls show up just like regular phone calls.
Real-time Streaming — WebSocket-powered responses that feel instant. No waiting for the full response—watch it stream in character by character.
Privacy-First — Zero analytics, zero telemetry. Credentials stored in native Keychain/Keystore. Your data stays between you and your server.
Deep System Integration — Siri Shortcuts, Android Assistant triggers, home screen quick actions, share extensions, and iOS widgets.
Full AI Capabilities — Vision models, RAG with document uploads, function calling/tools, and beautiful markdown rendering with syntax highlighting.
Tech Stack
- Flutter with Riverpod 3.0 for state management
- Dio + Socket.IO for HTTP and real-time WebSocket streaming
- Flutter Secure Storage for credential management
- Clean architecture with feature-based organization
What Users Are Saying
“The UI is far superior to what OpenWebUI has as a PWA.” — Google Play Review
“UI is on par with ChatGPT app. Great app, dev is quick to fix bugs.” — App Store Review
“If you run an ollama server this app is not only free and open source but really polished and impressive!” — Google Play Review
Links
- GitHub: GitHub - cogwheel0/conduit: Native mobile client for OpenWebUI. Chat with your self‑hosted AI.
- Website: https://conduit.cogwheel.app
- App Store: Conduit: OpenWebUI Client App - App Store
- Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.cogwheel.conduit
Grateful for Vercel
Huge thanks to the Vercel OSS program for supporting this project!
License: GPLv3
Would love to hear from others in the self-hosted AI community! If you’re running Open-WebUI, Ollama, or any compatible backend, give Conduit a try and let me know what you think.
