I see the efforts required to create the little app, but inference via llama.cpp or core Ml is trivial and the models are open weights, so it makes more sense to have a free app for this: most of the value is in the LLM which is free.
I think there is some cost associated with iPhone app development ($100-$300 plus submission costs), as opposed to android, when it comes to publishing, it seems fair enough for an individual to charge a dollar or two to recoup that.
I'd argue in this space besides the model weights, a lot of the value comes from a nice, not-too-fancy but nevertheless intuitive and delightful UI. I mean I've used the free MLC Chat app which runs Mistral 7B fine, and because it's free, I have very low expectations of its UI design. If someone is making a new app with a nicer UI, I really don't mind paying a buck or two.
That makes sense, but if that's the case I would like to see something a bit more vague polish. For instance:
1. Ability to forward messages to app.
2. Ability to run the same questions to the different LLMs installed.
3. Some updated list of GGUF files I can download with a description of the model highlight.
4. Advanced things like check token preplexity to identify parts of the chat the LLM is most unsure and highlight them?
I could continue because it's full of obvious things like that. Do this effort, and I'll pay you 10$ for the app, not 2$. But if it's just not brutal but very low effort, it seems that it's not going anyway since the free apps with exact capabilities will emerge and will not be so different.
