Meta Muse hits 3.4M downloads; an indie dev is building the on-device, privacy-first alternative
jonathancheckwise · reddit · 2026-09-27
Meta's Muse agent app launched two weeks ago and is already #1 on both app stores with 3.4M downloads, growing faster than ChatGPT did. It books, buys, negotiates bills, and reads email, with a Tamagotchi-style doll avatar.
The author contrasts it with August's Instinct fiasco: a "perpetual and irrevocable" data license, an inbox summary emailed after access was revoked, and an agent following instructions planted in email. Muse responds with "Muse Secure VM" sandboxing and a gating agent, with a "Confidential VM" only planned—and training on your queries by default.
His argument: the whole debate is about whose computer your life lives on. He's building the opposite architecture—model, memory, and index on the phone; per-app Read/Draft/Send permissions; internet off by default; a server database of just four fields, printed on the landing page. 500 founding seats, first builds imminent.
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