Google is opening its Play Store to apps people build for themselves with its AI. On Oct. 13 it began rolling out a way for people 18 and over in the U.S. and some other countries to take an Android app they built in Google AI Studio, a Google website where you describe the app you want and Google's Gemini AI builds it, and install it on their own phone through Google Play. Google says an ordinary Google account is enough, with no developer account needed.
AI Studio could already build Android apps, but getting one onto a phone took extra steps. Google's own guide tells people to switch on hidden developer settings and connect the phone to a computer with a USB cable, or set up a Google Play developer account, which costs a one-time $25 fee and may require a government ID and a credit card, to share it through the store.
The new apps sit in a private personal library inside the Play Store app, according to a news report. Google says they stay private, secure and separate from the public store. They don't show up in search, and nobody but the maker can get them, according to a news report. The apps still have to follow Google Play's rules, but Google does not review them, according to news reports.
In the coming months, Google says, people will be able to share their apps with a close circle of friends and family. Google has not decided how many people that circle can include, according to a news report. Google says people who later want to offer an app to everyone will be able to move to a professional developer account, an option due in the coming months according to a news report, and the app will then go through the same safety reviews and quality standards as any other developer's.
AI Studio has a free tier with usage limits, and Google gives paying Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers more use. Google has not named the other countries in the first rollout, and it has not said what happens if a private app breaks Play's rules.