So, What Is This Place?
Inkstone is an AI roleplay and creative writing companion for Android. You bring your own AI provider (OpenRouter, DeepSeek, OpenAI, and others), import character cards from the community, and have immersive, streaming conversations with AI-powered characters, all on your phone.
Your data stays on your device. Inkstone never sends anything anywhere except to the AI provider you choose. The only traffic leaving your phone is the conversation going to the service you pointed it at. Just you, your characters, and the AI you picked.
Think of it as a private library where every book talks back.
First Launch: The Part Where the Doors Open
When you open Inkstone for the first time, a guided setup walks you through seven steps. It takes about two minutes, and most of that is finding where you put your API key.
Welcome
A quick hello. Inkstone explains itself. You nod politely.
Choose Your AI Provider
This is the big decision, and the good news is you can change it later. See the provider table below.
Enter Your API Key
Paste the key from your chosen provider. Inkstone stores it on-device only.
Import Your First Character
Bring in a character card (PNG or JSON) or pick from a built-in template. You can always import more later, so don't agonize. Just pick someone interesting.
Choose a System Prompt
The system prompt shapes how the AI behaves — its personality, its instincts, the way it handles a scene. You have four options: Custom lets you write your own from scratch. EveningTruth is a configurable preset optimized for roleplay. Marinara is another roleplay preset with a different philosophy. Imported lets you bring in a prompt from SillyTavern format.
Configure Your Prompt
Fine-tune whichever style you picked. Adjust the dials until it feels right.
Ready
The doors open. You're in.
Your API key is stored on-device only and never logged or exposed. If you're not sure which provider to pick, OpenRouter is a great starting point — one key, hundreds of models.
Choose Your AI Provider
The big decision (that you can change later)
| Provider | The Short Version |
|---|---|
| OpenRouter | One API key, hundreds of models. Anthropic, Google, Meta, and more, all through a single door. If you want to browse before you commit, start here. |
| DeepSeek | High-quality open models at prices that feel like a clerical error. Great for both chat and roleplay. |
| Z.AI | Fast, affordable, creative-minded. Their coding plan works beautifully for roleplay, which is a sentence that makes perfect sense if you don’t think about it too hard. |
| NanoGPT | Pay-as-you-go, no subscriptions, many models. Simple in the best possible way. |
| OpenAI | The makers of ChatGPT. Powerful, but tends to be more buttoned-up about creative content. |
| Custom Endpoint | Any service that speaks the OpenAI API format, including local models running on your own hardware. For the self-sufficient. |
The Home Screen: Three Rooms, One Hallway
After setup, you land here
After setup, you land on the Home Screen. Three tabs, no mysteries.
Gallery
Your collection. Every character you've imported or created lives here. Browse, search, sort, import new ones. This is the roster, the shelf, the ensemble cast of your creative life.
Chats
Exactly what it sounds like. Every conversation you've started, organized however you like with folders and tags. The tab badge tells you how many you've got going. Jump back into any of them, or start something new.
Settings
Everything else. API configuration, generation parameters, appearance, system prompts, personas, lorebooks, and about a dozen other things you'll discover when you're ready for them. It's deeper than it looks from the outside.
Your First Conversation
Go to the Gallery tab. Tap a character card to open their detail sheet. Tap “Start Chat.”
The character greets you. You type back. The AI writes in real-time, streaming word by word, and suddenly you're in it.
That's the whole ceremony. A character, a conversation, and whatever story you want to tell.
Where to Go From Here
You've got the keys. Here's the rest of the building.
Take your time. The library's open all night.
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