Google announced that people can now run their own apps on Android phones without publishing them on the Play Store. The apps stay private and will not appear in search results or be shared with anyone but the creator.
The change follows a rise in AI-built apps made for personal use. Until now, using such an app on Android meant publishing it to Google Play, where about 3 billion users could see it. That pushed many people to build web apps instead.
Users can now create an app with Google AI Studio and launch it for themselves. The apps must still follow Google Play’s policies. The feature starts in the U.S. for users 18 and older.
In the coming months, users will be able to share apps with trusted friends. Popular apps could later move to the public Play Store after safety reviews.
Google also announced a personalized game recommendation tool called Game Finder, which starts in the U.S. in English and draws on its community of 1.2 billion players. Users can make game lists, post questions in a new Community Posts section, and join 48-hour challenges called Sprints.
The Ask Play assistant will now compare apps, and Play apps and games will be more integrated into Gemini. Google Play is also adding an age-range feature so parents can share a child’s age range, not their exact birthdate, with developers.