Set it up
From download to first task, plus what each permission area actually covers and what the free tier allows.
On the Mac since September 17, 2026 · US only
Meta AI reads. Muse acts.
Nine days after it reached the iPhone, Meta’s agent got its own Mac app. The difference from Meta AI is not a feature list it is a category. Meta AI looks at a window you hand it and replies. Muse works inside your apps: moving files, filling in forms, pulling from Messages, Calendar and Notes while you do something else. Different app, different download, very different questions to ask before you install it.
The idea
What an agent actually is, minus the marketing
A chat assistant takes a question and returns text. You then do the thing. An agent takes a goal and does the thing, deciding the intermediate steps itself. That is the whole distinction, and everything awkward about agents follows from it.
A chat assistant that is wrong has given you a bad answer. An agent that is wrong has already done something.
So the useful questions change. With Meta AI you ask “is this answer any good?” With Muse you ask what can it reach, what will it do without checking, and what happens when it misreads the task. The rest of this page is organised around those three.
Muse arrived on the iPhone on September 8, 2026 and on the Mac on September 17 a nine-day gap that says something about where Meta ships first. It runs on Muse Spark 1.3, the same model behind Meta AI since September 2, whose headline improvement was in tool use rather than prose: Meta reported roughly 20% fewer tool calls per task, which matters more for an agent than for a chatbot.
It is a separate app with a separate download. Having Meta AI installed does not give you Muse, and wanting Muse does not require Meta AI. Getting hold of it.
Access and the gate
What it can reach, and where it stops to ask
Access is granted per area rather than all at once, which is the single most important thing to know before installing. You are not handing over your Mac; you are handing over one category at a time, and you can start with the least alarming one.
Meta describes Muse as working across files, forms, Messages, Calendar, Notes and Mail inside the native apps, and says it asks for confirmation before anything sensitive naming sending an email and making a purchase as its examples. In practice the shape of a task is what the illustration above shows: several steps it simply performs, then a stop.
Treat the confirmation prompt as the control that actually matters, and read what it says rather than clicking through it. It is the last point at which a misread instruction is still free to fix.
Worth being clear-eyed about a category of problem that comes with agents generally, not with Muse specifically: something that both reads content and acts can be influenced by the content it reads. An instruction buried in a document or a message is a known concern across every agent product, which is exactly why the confirmation gate and per-area access exist. Neither makes the concern disappear. Start with reversible tasks filing, sorting, drafting before anything that spends money or leaves your machine.
The Secure VM
What Meta’s security claim covers, and what it does not
Meta says Muse’s work happens inside a sandbox it calls the Muse Secure VM, kept out of Meta’s advertising systems. That is a specific claim and worth reading precisely.
| The question | What the claim says | What it does not say |
|---|---|---|
| Where does the work happen? | In an isolated environment Meta calls the Muse Secure VM, separate from its general systems. | It is not a claim that processing stays on your Mac. Treat it as isolation, not local-only. |
| Is it used for advertising? | Meta says the Secure VM is kept out of its advertising systems. | It says nothing about every other use Meta makes of data across its products. What is used generally. |
| Who decides what it touches? | You do, per area, and you can revoke each one separately. | Granting an area grants it for the whole area, not for one file or one thread. |
| What stops it acting rashly? | A confirmation prompt before anything Meta classes as sensitive. | Meta defines what counts as sensitive, not you. Its examples are sending email and making purchases. |
| Is it audited? | No independent audit of these claims has been published that we are aware of. | As with every vendor security claim, this is the company describing its own system. |
None of this is a reason to avoid it it is a reason to grant one area, run a few reversible tasks, and see how the confirmations behave before going further. Muse privacy in full.
Side by side
Muse or Meta AI: the short version
Two Mac apps, overlapping names, genuinely different jobs. The full comparison is here; this is the part most people need.
| Meta AI for Mac | Muse for Mac | |
|---|---|---|
| Released on Mac | August 19, 2026 | September 17, 2026 |
| What it does | Answers, drafts, summarises, generates with a window as context. | Carries out multi-step tasks in your apps while you do something else. |
| Can it take actions? | No It reads a window and replies. | Yes Files, forms, Messages, Calendar, Notes, Mail. |
| Permissions | Screen Recording and Accessibility, for window attachment. | Per area Granted and revoked one at a time, with a confirmation gate. |
| Where it works | Broad rollout check your country. | United States at launch, expanding. Details. |
| Cost | Free, with limits on heavy features. | Free with weekly limits; paid tiers raise them. |
| Start here | How to use Meta AI | Getting started with Muse |
Plenty of people will end up with both. They install separately, hold separate permissions and can be removed separately.
The naming
Muse, Muse Image, Muse Spark which is which
Meta put one word on a model, an agent, two creative tools and a developer product. Here is the untangling, once.
The model
Muse Spark 1.3
What everything runs on, including Meta AI. A million-token context window and a tool-use improvement that matters most for agents.
Read more Creative toolMuse Image
Image generation and editing. Shares the name and nothing else with the agent.
Read more Creative toolMuse Video
Text to video, with audio. The thing most likely to burn through a free tier.
Read more DeveloperMuse Code and the rest
Plus the Model API, Voice Transcribe and Glimmer a fourth use of the word, this time for developer tools.
Read more
Developer tools:
Can you get it?
Four things to check before you go looking
The first one stops most people, and no amount of persistence changes it.
Are you in the United States?
Muse shipped US-only and Meta has said it is expanding without naming dates. Having Meta AI where you are does not mean you can get Muse. Availability.
Is your Mac an Apple silicon one?
The same constraint as Meta AI applies to Meta's recent Mac apps, so an Intel machine is a hard stop rather than a slow one. Intel Macs.
Are you comfortable granting one area?
You do not have to grant everything. Files alone is enough to see whether it earns a place, and it is the easiest to undo. What each area covers.
Do you actually want an agent?
If what you wanted was better answers with your screen as context, that is Meta AI and it is already broadly available. The comparison.
Every Muse guide
The rest of the Muse section
Put it to work
The everyday tasks people actually hand it, and the ones that are still faster done yourself.
Judge it
Our hands-on take, and how it measures up against the other agents people are weighing it against.
FAQ
Muse: frequently asked questions
What is Muse?
Meta's AI agent an app that carries out multi-step tasks inside the apps on your computer rather than answering questions about them. It reached the iPhone on September 8, 2026 and the Mac on September 17, and it is a separate download from Meta AI. Getting it.
How is Muse different from Meta AI?
Meta AI reads a window you hand it and replies in its own panel. Muse works inside your apps organising files, filling in forms, drawing on Messages, Calendar and Notes. One answers, the other acts. The full comparison.
What can Muse actually reach on my Mac?
Access is granted per area rather than all at once, covering things like files, Messages, Calendar, Notes and Mail. Meta says it asks for confirmation before anything sensitive, naming sending an email and making a purchase. More on the gate.
What is the Muse Secure VM?
Meta's name for the sandbox Muse's work happens in, which Meta says is kept out of its advertising systems. It is a claim about isolation and advertising use, not a promise that nothing leaves your machine. What it covers.
Is Muse available outside the United States?
Not at launch. It shipped US-only and Meta has said it is expanding without committing to dates. Meta AI has a much broader rollout, so having one does not mean you can get the other. Availability.
Does Muse cost anything?
There is a free tier with weekly limits and paid tiers that raise them. Since September 16, 2026 those sit under the single Meta One subscription rather than the older patchwork of plans. Muse pricing.
Can Muse send email or buy things without asking?
Meta's position is that it asks first for anything sensitive, naming sending email and making purchases as examples. Treat the confirmation prompt as the control that matters, and read what it says before approving rather than clicking through.
Is an agent riskier than a chat assistant?
It is a different risk surface. Something that only answers can be wrong; something that acts can be wrong and have already done something. Grant one area at a time, start with reversible tasks, and read the confirmations. Privacy and permissions.
Do I need Meta AI installed to use Muse?
No. They are separate apps with separate downloads and separate permissions. Plenty of people will want both, and plenty will want only one. Meta AI · Muse.
Is Muse the same as Muse Image and Muse Video?
No. Muse is the agent, Muse Image and Muse Video are the generation tools, and Muse Spark is the model underneath. Shared name, different jobs. The untangling.
On the Mac since September 17, 2026
Grant one area. Give it something reversible.
Files alone is enough to find out whether an agent earns a place on your Mac, and it is the easiest thing to undo if it does not.
Independent guide not affiliated with Meta. Statements about the Secure VM, confirmations and permissions are Meta's own and we have attributed them as such; read them yourself before granting anything.