Ki

Ki is a private web browser for iPhone. Trackers blocked by default. Per-site control over cookies, scripts, and permissions. Privacy profiles that keep research, shopping, and personal browsing in separate contexts. Reader mode with a locked-down Content-Security-Policy. An on-device AI assistant. No accounts, no telemetry, no ads. Currently in TestFlight beta.

Three things, in order

Everything else in Ki follows from three commitments the studio holds the product to.

• Block trackers. Built-in WebKit content rules block known cross-site trackers and ad networks before they load. No SDK touches your page.
• Decide per site. Tap the shield in the address bar to grant or revoke any permission for that origin. Ki remembers your choice. No "allow all" toggle to forget about.
• Stay on device. Bookmarks, history, tabs, and per-site permissions stay on your iPhone. Nothing syncs to a server the studio controls. The studio has nothing to leak.

What's in the app

• Trackers blocked by default. Content rules ship with the app, update with the app, and apply before any third-party request reaches the network.
• Per-site permission model. Cookies, scripts, camera, microphone, location, storage — each one granted or revoked per origin. Tap the shield in the URL bar to change it.
• Privacy profiles. Switch between profiles for research, shopping, or personal use without crossing cookies or history. Each profile is a separate browsing context on the same device.
• Reader mode. Strips the page to text and images. JavaScript disabled, locked-down Content-Security-Policy in the reader view. You read the article without inheriting the page's surveillance posture.
• On-device assistant. Long-press the URL bar and tell Ki what to do. Apple Intelligence on supported iPhones; bring-your-own Anthropic or OpenAI key otherwise.
• No account, no telemetry. Nothing to sign up for. No email collected. No data to sell, because the studio has none.

Why the studio shipped this

Mobile browsers have spent the last decade getting busier — more sync features, more cloud accounts, more shopping integrations, more reading lists tied to corporate identities. The studio shipped Ki because the opposite product was missing: a browser whose entire posture is to do less, by default, and let you turn things on per site if you want them.

The competition for that posture is real — Brave, DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser, Firefox Focus — and Ki doesn't pretend otherwise. What Ki adds is the integrated per-site shield, the privacy profile system, and the on-device assistant. The thesis is that a private browser should also be the browser you'd actually use as your daily driver, not a separate hardened tool you switch into when you remember to.

How it was made

Ki is built on Apple's WKWebView — the same WebKit engine that powers Safari and every other iOS browser. Apple's App Store policy requires WebKit on iOS, so the rendering engine is the same across browsers. The differentiation is what the app does around that engine: which content rules ship by default, which permission UI sits on top, where state is stored, and what surfaces the user can configure.

The studio's content-blocker uses WebKit's native WKContentRuleList system. Rules compile to a fast in-engine block path, applied before any tracker request leaves the device. The block list lives in the app bundle, not on a server — the studio doesn't run a remote config channel, so the list updates only when you install a new app version.

The on-device assistant uses Apple Foundation Models when available. Otherwise it falls through to the bring-your-own-key path: requests go directly from your phone to the provider you attached. The studio runs no proxy and no relay. If you can read the network trace, you can confirm exactly where each request went.

What Ki is not

Not a Chromium fork. Not a desktop browser. Not a VPN. Not a "private" browser in the Incognito-tab sense, where private only means "doesn't save to your local history but still leaks to your ISP." Not a crypto wallet, an ad-blocker disguised as a browser, or a personality cult.

The studio is interested in shipping a browser that defaults to leaving you alone, and nothing else.

Frequently asked

What is Ki?

Ki is a private web browser for iPhone. Trackers are blocked by default, every site permission is controlled per-origin, bookmarks and history stay on-device, and there is no account, no telemetry, and no sync to a 941 Apps server.

How is Ki different from Safari?

Ki uses the same WebKit engine that Safari does — this is iOS, every browser does — but ships a different content-blocker, per-site permission model, reader mode, and on-device AI assistant. The tradeoff Safari makes for ecosystem familiarity, Ki makes the other way: smaller surface, stricter defaults, no iCloud sync to a system you don't see the inside of.

What does "trackers blocked by default" actually mean?

Ki ships built-in WebKit content rules that block known cross-site trackers and ad networks before they load. No third-party SDK touches your page. The block list is updated with the app; there is no remote configuration channel.

What does per-site control mean in practice?

Tap the shield in the address bar to grant or revoke any permission for that origin: cookies, scripts, camera, microphone, location, storage. Ki remembers your choice per origin, so the next time you return to that site you keep the posture you set. No global "allow all" switch you forgot to flip.

What are privacy profiles?

Separate browsing contexts on the same device. Switch between a Research profile, a Shopping profile, and a Personal profile without crossing cookies, history, or per-site permissions. Each profile has its own browsing state; switching is one tap.

What does reader mode do?

Strips the page to text and images, disables JavaScript, and applies a locked-down Content-Security-Policy in the reader view. You read the article, not the surveillance the article ships with.

How does the on-device assistant work?

Long-press the URL bar and tell Ki what to do. On iPhones that support Apple Intelligence, the assistant runs on-device via Apple's Foundation Models. On other devices, you can bring your own Anthropic or OpenAI API key — the request goes directly from your phone to the provider, never through a 941 Apps server.

Where can I get Ki?

Ki is currently in TestFlight beta. Email [email protected] to request an invite, or sign up at 941ki.com.

Where is the full case study?

Blake's personal case study — including the deeper take on what "private" means when every iOS browser runs on WebKit, the per-site shield design, and how privacy profiles enforce browsing-context boundaries — lives at blakecrosley.com/work/ki. This page is the studio's product overview.