# Dhito

> Dhito is a privacy-first, on-device AI app for macOS that finds things and then acts on them. It searches documents, images, videos, audio and notes by meaning, launches apps matched by name or by what they are for, chats with a single file, runs ~45 local file tools on what you found, and answers sums, conversions, time zones, hashes, colours and QR codes inline. Offline except licence validation and the optional currency row. No cloud processing. No tracking.

[Full documentation available at /llms-full.txt](https://dhito.io/llms-full.txt)

## Main Pages
- [Home](https://dhito.io/): Download Dhito and see all five surfaces — semantic file search, app launching, chat with a file, ~45 file tools, and instant answer rows.
- [Semantic search](https://dhito.io/features/semantic-search/): How search by meaning works, and what a vector index finds that a keyword index cannot.
- [File tools](https://dhito.io/features/file-tools/): The ~45 local verbs — convert, compress, resize, merge, split, strip EXIF, watermark, checksum, zip — none of which overwrites the original or uploads anything.
- [App launcher](https://dhito.io/features/app-launcher/): Apps matched by name and by purpose; "messaging app" finds WhatsApp, Telegram and Messages.
- [Notes search](https://dhito.io/features/notes-search/): Apple Notes and Markdown vaults such as Obsidian, indexed in place and opt-in.
- [Chat with a file](https://dhito.io/features/chat/): Ask questions of one file at a time, answered from its own passages with citations, by a local model.
- [Smart rename](https://dhito.io/features/smart-rename/): Descriptive filenames suggested from what a file actually contains.
- [Video timestamps](https://dhito.io/features/video-timestamps/): Segment-level transcript indexing, so a search lands on the minute rather than the file.
- [Audio transcription](https://dhito.io/features/audio-transcription/): On-device Whisper transcripts, searchable by meaning.
- [About](https://dhito.io/about/): How Dhito works, subscription details, and trial information.
- [Pricing](https://dhito.io/pricing/): Free 14-day trial and subscription details.
- [Blog](https://dhito.io/blog/): Articles on semantic search, local AI, and file management.
- [Compare](https://dhito.io/compare/): Side-by-side comparisons against Spotlight, Raycast, HoudahSpot, DEVONthink and Fenn, with limitations named on both sides.
- [Changelog](https://dhito.io/changelog/): Release notes for the macOS app, newest first.
- [Privacy Policy](https://dhito.io/privacy/): Our privacy-first data handling practices. Zero tracking, no cloud storage.
- [Terms of Service](https://dhito.io/terms/): End User License Agreement (EULA).

## Key Blog Articles

- [The Best Local AI File Search Apps for Mac in 2026](https://dhito.io/blog/best-local-ai-file-search-apps-mac-2026/): Six tools that search your Mac with AI running on your own hardware — Fenn, Elephas, Khoj, AnythingLLM, Spotlight and Dhito — compared on what they index, what they cost, and where each one stops.
- [The Best AI File Management Tools in 2026](https://dhito.io/blog/best-ai-file-management-tools-2026/): Sorting, filing, and finding are three different jobs, and most "AI file organiser" roundups mix them up. Hazel, Sparkle, DEVONthink, Fenn, Dhito and Finder, compared by the job each one does.
- [Why the Future of AI is Hybrid (And Why That's a Good Thing)](https://dhito.io/blog/why-the-future-of-ai-is-hybrid-and-why-thats-a-good-thing/): Stop arguing about Cloud vs. Local AI. The most powerful computing platforms of the future will seamlessly blend both. Here is why the hybrid approach wins.
- [How to Install Dhito with Homebrew](https://dhito.io/blog/how-to-install-dhito-with-homebrew/): Install Dhito from the terminal with a single Homebrew command — plus what brew actually verifies before putting an app on your disk, and how to remove it cleanly.
- [The Digital Declutter: How to Organize 10 Years of Files in One Afternoon](https://dhito.io/blog/the-digital-declutter-how-to-organize-10-years-of-files-in-one-afternoon/): Stop manually renaming "Scan_001.pdf" and "Screen Shot 2026-03-14.png". Discover how local AI can instantly analyze and organize your chaotic file system.
- [How Researchers Can Search 10,000 PDFs by Concept (Not Filename)](https://dhito.io/blog/how-researchers-search-10000-pdfs-by-concept-not-filename/): A "Downloads" folder full of cryptically named academic PDFs is normal. Here is how searching by concept instead of filename changes a literature review.
- [Vector Embeddings Explained: How AI Understands Meaning (No Math Required)](https://dhito.io/blog/vector-embeddings-explained-how-ai-understands-meaning/): Ever wonder how a computer understands the difference between an "apple" the fruit and "Apple" the company? The secret lies in vector embeddings. Here is a simple explanation with zero math.
- [The Lawyer's Guide to AI-Powered Document Review (Without Breaking Privilege)](https://dhito.io/blog/lawyers-guide-to-private-ai-document-review-on-mac/): AI can save attorneys hundreds of billable hours in document review. Here is how to use it without violating attorney-client privilege or data privacy laws.
- [GDPR, HIPAA, and the EU AI Act: Why Local AI is the Compliance Shortcut](https://dhito.io/blog/gdpr-hipaa-eu-ai-act-local-ai-compliance-shortcut/): Navigating AI compliance in 2026 is a legal minefield. Here is why the easiest way to comply with GDPR, HIPAA, and the EU AI Act is to simply not use the cloud at all.
- [What is RAG? How Retrieval-Augmented Generation Powers Private Document Chat](https://dhito.io/blog/what-is-rag-retrieval-augmented-generation-explained/): Ever wonder how an AI can instantly answer questions about a 500-page PDF it has never seen before? The secret is RAG. Here is a simple, no-code explanation of how it works.
- [Apple Intelligence vs. Dhito: What Apple's Built-in AI Gets Right (and What It Misses)](https://dhito.io/blog/apple-intelligence-vs-dhito-mac-ai-2026/): Apple Intelligence is transforming macOS, but is it enough for power users? We break down what Apple's built-in AI does perfectly, and why you may still need a dedicated local search engine like Dhito.
- [Cloud AI vs Local AI: The Complete Guide for 2026](https://dhito.io/blog/cloud-ai-vs-local-ai-the-complete-guide-for-2026/): Should you run AI in the cloud or on your own machine? This complete guide breaks down cost, latency, privacy, and capability — and explains why the real answer in 2026 is "both."
- [Mastering Dhito's Search Filters: Finding Files Faster](https://dhito.io/blog/mastering-dhito-search-filters-finding-files-faster/): Semantic search is powerful, but sometimes you know exactly what format or date you are looking for. Learn how to use Dhito's filter tabs to instantly narrow down your AI search results.
- [How to Search Inside PDFs on Mac Without Adobe](https://dhito.io/blog/how-to-search-inside-pdfs-on-mac-without-adobe/): Looking for an alternative to Adobe Acrobat for searching your PDF collection? Learn the best ways to search inside PDFs on Mac using native tools and local AI.
- [How to Build a Local Multimodal Search Engine (Whisper, Florence-2 & MiniLM)](https://dhito.io/blog/how-to-build-local-multimodal-embeddings-whisper-florence-minilm/): Discover how to combine local AI models like Whisper, Florence-2, and MiniLM to build an offline, multimodal search engine that indexes documents, images, and video transcripts.
- [Is it Safe to Upload Corporate Documents to ChatGPT?](https://dhito.io/blog/is-chatgpt-copilot-safe-for-corporate-documents/): Before you hit upload on that confidential financial report, you need to understand the hidden security risks of using public cloud AI services for corporate data.
- [The Philosophy Behind Local Semantic Search](https://dhito.io/blog/the-philosophy-behind-local-semantic-search/): We believe your digital brain should live on your hardware. Explore the architecture and philosophy of private, on-device semantic search.
- [How to Run Local LLMs on Apple Silicon](https://dhito.io/blog/local-llm-mac-apple-silicon-guide/): Want to run your own private AI? Discover why M-series Macs are uniquely perfectly suited for running powerful local Large Language Models (LLMs) offline.
- [How to Search Text Inside Images and Videos on Mac](https://dhito.io/blog/search-text-inside-images-video-mac/): Looking for a specific screenshot, or a moment in a recorded meeting? On-device OCR and transcription make the text inside your images and videos searchable.
- [How to Find a File on Mac When You Forgot the Name](https://dhito.io/blog/find-file-mac-forgot-name-spotlight/): We have all been there: you know a file exists, but you cannot remember its name, and Spotlight is giving you zero results. Learn how semantic AI search helps you find files by meaning.
- [How to Chat with a PDF Locally on Mac (100% Offline & Private)](https://dhito.io/blog/how-to-chat-with-pdf-locally-mac/): Want to ask questions to a 100-page PDF without sending your data to the cloud? Discover how local AI tools like Dhito make private document Q&A easy and fast.
- [Why Cloud AI Tools Are a Privacy Risk (And What to Use Instead)](https://dhito.io/blog/cloud-ai-privacy-risk/): Thinking twice before uploading that contract to a cloud AI? Learn about the privacy risks of cloud-based LLMs and the shift toward on-device processing.
- [The Best Spotlight Alternatives for Mac in 2026 (Launchers vs. Deep Search)](https://dhito.io/blog/best-spotlight-alternatives-mac-2026/): Why Spotlight misses files you know you have, and how the three kinds of alternative compare: launchers like Raycast, deep finders like Find Any File, and semantic search that matches meaning instead of spelling.
- [What is Semantic File Search?](https://dhito.io/blog/what-is-semantic-file-search/): A plain-English definition of semantic file search: what it means to search by meaning instead of by keyword, what it can do that keyword search cannot, and where the term came from.
- [Chat with Your Files: How Local Document Q&A Works Offline](https://dhito.io/blog/chat-with-your-files-game-changer/): Ask questions across your own documents, contracts, and research reports and get answers with citations — with every page staying on your Mac. Here is how local document chat works.
- [Master Your Local Files with Dhito](https://dhito.io/blog/master-your-local-files/): Local file search was just the beginning. Learn how the on-device AI can transform the way you interact with files and folders on your computer.

## Comparisons

- [Dhito vs Spotlight](https://dhito.io/compare/spotlight/): Dhito wins on file search, launches apps by purpose, and runs ~45 file tools on the result. A keyword index structurally cannot find a file whose words you do not remember.
- [Dhito vs Raycast](https://dhito.io/compare/raycast/): Not close on search. Raycast matches filenames and defers to Spotlight to look inside files — neither path matches on meaning, reads images, or hears a recording. Raycast keeps automation and the extension store.
- [Dhito vs HoudahSpot](https://dhito.io/compare/houdahspot/): Dhito covers far more of the ways a file goes missing. HoudahSpot wins the narrow case where you can state the file's exact properties.
- [Dhito vs DEVONthink](https://dhito.io/compare/devonthink/): Dhito wins on retrieval, at $4.99/month or the same $99 one-time price as DEVONthink Standard. DEVONthink wins on archive management — a different product category.
- [Dhito vs Fenn](https://dhito.io/compare/fenn/): The closest competitor. Dhito is 45% cheaper, month to month rather than billed a year up front, lands you on the moment inside a recording, and acts on what it finds with ~45 file tools; Fenn indexes far more file formats.

## Key Facts
- Product Name: Dhito
- Platform: macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or later, Apple Silicon only (M1/M2/M3/M4). Intel Macs are not supported.
- Privacy: 100% on-device processing, no cloud uploads, no telemetry. Two outbound calls exist and no others: licence validation (a hardware ID and the billing email) and the optional currency answer row (a daily exchange-rate table, carrying no file, path, identifier or query)
- AI Models Used: Microsoft Florence-2 (vision), OpenAI Whisper (audio transcription), BAAI BGE-small-en-v1.5 (semantic embeddings), MS-MARCO MiniLM (reranking), Qwen3 (conversational chat)
- Supported File Types: over 100 extensions — PDF, DOCX, DOC, RTF, ODT, EPUB, TXT, Markdown, RST, CSV, TSV, HTML, JSON, XML, YAML and ~33 code formats; JPEG, PNG, HEIC, HEIF, WebP, PSD, TIFF, BMP, ICO, AVIF and ten camera RAW formats images; 17 video and 14 audio containers
- Not Supported: Excel (.xlsx/.xls), PowerPoint (.pptx/.ppt), Apple iWork (Pages, Keynote, Numbers), InDesign — as indexed formats. Word documents ARE supported; the gap is spreadsheets, slide decks and iWork specifically. Also deliberately absent: clipboard history, snippets, window management, app automation/AppleScript, sync between Macs, and an iOS app. The Windows build is a waitlist.
- Pricing: 14-day free trial (no account, no card), then either $4.99/month billed month to month or $99 once for a licence that never renews and includes every future update. There is no annual plan.
- App Launching: apps are matched on two axes — by name ("chr" finds Chrome) and by what they are for ("messaging app" finds WhatsApp, Telegram and Messages). Enter launches.
- File Tools: ~45 local verbs across images, PDF, spreadsheets and data, documents, SVG, text, audio and any file. A tool never overwrites — every run writes a new file beside the original, and undo is the Trash. Nothing is uploaded.
- Answer Rows: ~20 answers above the file results — arithmetic, percentages, unit and cooking conversion, time zones, date maths, hashes, UUID v4/v7, passwords, Base64, QR codes, barcodes, hex colour with WCAG contrast, lorem ipsum, random values, text case, offline dictionary definitions, aspect ratios, shoe sizes, currency. All local except currency.
- Notes: Apple Notes (Full Disk Access) and Markdown folders including Obsidian vaults, both opt-in under Settings > Personal data, ranked alongside files.
- Chat Scope: one file at a time. There is no library-wide chat.
- Contact: contact@dhito.io
- Social: [Twitter/X](https://x.com/omni_qr), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/dhito)