Download model on first launch instead of bundling it

[BorisLord]

For now the model is bundled in the package, which is why the .deb is ~468 MB compressed.
The package would be under than 100 MB, faster build, faster CI, better DX, faster download.
What if we downloaded it on first launch instead ?

Things to figure out:

• Update: keep the model across app updates.
• Uninstall: do we wipe the model too, or leave it.
• Other ?

[Kieirra]

The package would be under than 100 MB, faster build, faster CI, better DX, faster download.

True from a dev side, but not really from a user one. The only real gain for the user is faster updates.

A few cons:

1. UX takes a hit. The total time isn't really longer, but the friction is unexpected. The user installed the app, they expect it to be ready. Sending them to a download screen feels like the old days of installing a game from a CD that still needed extra downloads after, or like mobile games doing the same. It breaks the "install, ready to use" expectation.
2. On top of that, we need to design and code that download screen: progress, retry, error cases (no space, network drop, etc.). New UI and new failure modes for something that just works today.
3. We only ship one ASR today, so the user has to download it anyway. Splitting it adds those failure modes for nothing.
4. The questions you raise (model kept across updates, uninstall behavior) stay open and need real answers.

Today I'm not sure the ROI is there.

If at some point we ship an ASR significantly better than Parakeet v3 TDT with a heavier variant, then an onboarding to let the user pick the model would make sense, and removing it from the binary would be justified at that point.

For 1.9.0 the roadmap is nearly done, so if we go this way it would be for n+1 at earliest.