A paired Mac is the backend
Noema Relay lets another Apple device use a model hosted by your paired Mac. It does not choose an arbitrary public backend when the Mac cannot be reached.
- Both devices must use the same Apple Account for CloudKit pairing.
- The Mac must be available, awake enough to serve, and running a compatible Noema build.
- Local-network permission is required for direct LAN discovery and transport.
Two transport paths
| Path | Where traffic goes |
|---|---|
| LAN | Directly across your local network between the requesting device and paired Mac. |
| CloudKit Relay | Through your private iCloud container to deliver request and response envelopes between the same paired devices. |
Fallback is CloudKit for the same Mac
Noema prefers a healthy direct LAN path. If that LAN attempt fails, it can fall back to CloudKit Relay for the same paired Mac. It does not silently reroute the prompt to a different inference provider.
Image limitation
LAN Relay is currently text-only. Image input is stripped rather than silently rerouted to a local vision model. Use a compatible model directly on the device or another explicitly selected path for image prompts.
Security checklist
- Pair only devices and Macs you control.
- Use a trusted LAN and keep the Mac and Noema updated.
- Understand that CloudKit traffic uses iCloud rather than remaining on the local network.
- Off-grid Mode can prevent cloud relay and other external network paths.