Self-hosting · Mac beta
Your library.
Your Mac.
Give everything you save a home on your own hardware. Your Mac stores your Orbb library, and your iPhone connects to it.
Free self-hosting · Apple Silicon Mac · Orbb account required
A place of your own
Keep it close.
Your links, notes, and photos live on your Mac’s disk. Pair your iPhone to save and browse over your home network. Choose where your encrypted backups go, from an external drive to a folder you manage.
You set it up inside Orbb. Keep your Mac awake and the app running whenever you want your phone to connect.
Get started
Start on your Mac.
Bring your iPhone along.
You’ll need an M1 or newer Mac running Orbb, an Orbb account, and both devices on the same Wi-Fi for setup.
- 01
Give your library a home.
Open Orbb on your Mac, sign in, and choose “Host it on this Mac.” Already using Orbb Cloud? Open Settings → Self-Hosting → Backend, select “Self-hosted on this Mac,” then quit and reopen Orbb.
- 02
Pair your iPhone.
With both devices on the same Wi-Fi, open Settings → Self-Hosting → Pair iPhone on your Mac. On iPhone, choose “Connect to my Mac” or open Self-Hosting in Settings. Scan the code, confirm your Mac, and connect.
- 03
Make your first backup.
On Mac, open Settings → General → Backup. Save your recovery phrase somewhere safe, choose a backup destination, and select “Back Up Now.” Backups are encrypted; you’ll need the phrase to restore them.
Optional local AI
Put your Mac to work.
Connect a model running in LM Studio to use Ask Orbb on your own hardware. Open Settings → AI & CLI on Mac, choose LM Studio, and test the connection. Enable “Allow Orbb on iPhone to use this Mac” to make it available to your paired phone too.
Semantic search has its own downloadable model. Allow about 2.5 GB of extra disk space, or turn it off to use text search.
Before you switch
A few things to know.
Will my existing saves move over?
Cloud and self-hosted libraries are separate. Switching modes doesn’t copy your saves. Use Settings → Self-Hosting → Move my library on Mac to preview and copy your library in either direction. The original library stays in place.
Can I use it away from home?
Yes, with Orbb Relay, which requires a separate entitlement. Enable Remote access in Self-Hosting settings and pair your phone using the updated code. Your Mac must stay awake, online, and running Orbb. The connection is encrypted between your phone and Mac; Relay can see connection metadata, but cannot read your saves.
What happens when my Mac is asleep?
Your iPhone can’t sync with it. New saves wait in the phone’s offline queue and upload when the Mac is reachable again. Quitting Orbb on Mac also stops the server.
Does self-hosting still use Orbb Cloud?
Yes. An Orbb account is required for licensing, with periodic renewal. Movie, book, and music lookups also use Orbb Cloud unless you configure local provider credentials. Those lookups send their queries and relevant request data, not your library database.
Does everything work the same as Cloud?
Self-hosting currently has no web interface, multi-Mac sync, Discover, or public share links. Cloud integrations aren’t available in this mode. Ask Orbb also needs an AI provider configured on your Mac.
Need a hand? Get in touch.