Private, on-device AI in Rio
Four of Rio's features use Apple's on-device model: Tidy Tabs, Tidy Titles, Tidy Downloads and the summaries in Hover Previews. They run on your Mac, work offline, cost nothing and need no account. They need macOS 26 with Apple Intelligence turned on. On any other Mac, Rio tidies with its own rules instead.
Small jobs, done on your Mac
The AI in Rio does small, useful things: it names the tabs you pin, groups a pile of open tabs, renames downloads with junk names, and summarizes a link before you open it. None of that needs a server. Rio asks Apple's on-device model, the one at the core of Apple Intelligence, and the answer comes back from your own Mac.
Apple describes the model as built with privacy, available when you are offline, and free of cost. For you that means Rio needs no account or subscription for any of it, it keeps working offline, and what you browse stays on your Mac.
Tidy Titles
Pin a tab and about a second later its title gets shorter. Rio asks the model for one to four words naming the page's subject, without the site's name, unread counts like (3) or separators. The instructions Rio gives the model use Rio de Janeiro - Wikipedia, which should become Rio de Janeiro, as an example. Without the model, Rio's rules do the same trimming, so Interior Design Book - Google Docs becomes Interior Design Book.
If you rename the tab yourself, your name stays. Double-click any title to change it.
Tidy Tabs
Once more than six Today tabs pile up, a broom appears above them. Click it and the model gives each tab one of at most five broad topics, such as a trip, a programming language or the news. Tabs with the same topic move next to each other, the biggest group first, each group keeping its own order. The pages of a split view stay together. With up to 60 Today tabs the model sorts them; past that, or without the model, Rio groups them by site.
Tidy Downloads
A download named 387494876.pdf or file (2).pdf tells you nothing a week later. When a download with a name like that finishes, the model writes a clear name of two to six words from the page you downloaded it from. The extension stays. Files that already have real names keep them, and if the new name is taken in the folder, the file keeps its own.
Hover Previews
Hold Shift over a link for a moment and the page opens in Peek, without a click. Rio reads up to 6,000 characters of the page's text and the model writes two or three plain sentences about it, shown at the top of the card. The text is read in an isolated world, so the page's scripts can't see or change the request. Move the pointer away and the preview closes.
What you need
These four features need macOS 26 with Apple Intelligence turned on, since that is where Apple's model lives. Rio itself is made for the Mac: Apple silicon, macOS 13 or later. On a Mac without the model, nothing breaks: Tidy Titles, Tidy Tabs and Tidy Downloads use Rio's own rules, and Hover Previews show the page in Peek without a summary.
Rio gives the model 8 seconds per answer. If it takes longer, Rio uses its rules for that one, so nothing waits on the model for more than 8 seconds.
The switches
Open Settings, AI features. Each feature has its own switch, and all of them start on:
- Tidy Tabs
- Instant Links, which sends a search in the command bar straight to its top result with Shift+Return
- Hover Previews
- Tidy Titles
- Tidy Downloads
- Ask in the Command Bar, which opens ChatGPT, Claude or Grok in a tab with what you typed, only when you choose that row
The code for all of it is open source on GitHub, including the exact instructions Rio gives the model for each job.
Questions
Does Rio send my pages to a server for these features?
No. Tidy Tabs, Tidy Titles, Tidy Downloads and Hover Preview summaries ask Apple's on-device model, which runs on your Mac.
What do I need for the AI features?
macOS 26 with Apple Intelligence turned on. Without the model, Rio tidies with its own rules and Hover Previews show the page without a summary.
Do they cost anything?
No. Apple's on-device model is free to use, and Rio is free. There is no account and no subscription.
Can I turn them off?
Yes. Settings, AI features has a switch for each feature. All of them are on by default.
