Google expands AI-powered app discovery and Android development tools at I/O
Google announced updates to Android app discovery and developer tools at its annual I/O conference, integrating generative and agentic AI deeper into the platform. The changes affect how users find apps in Google Play and how developers build mobile applications.
App discovery gets a conversational interface
Google Play now includes Ask Play, an AI-powered overlay powered by Gemini that turns app discovery into a conversation. Users describe what they want, and the system accesses the full catalog to suggest matches through iterative discussion.
The store will also display AI-generated summaries directly in search results, helping users decide between apps without opening each listing individually.
Cross-device content surfaces expand
Google expanded its Engage SDK, which surfaces content across devices. If a user watches a TV show on Google TV, they'll see a notification on their Android tablet suggesting they can continue watching elsewhere.
Starting next month, content notices will appear directly in store listings. The SDK now operates across more than 80 Play markets, with new tablet surfaces coming soon.
Android development gets agentic AI integration
Google released Android CLI version 1.0, a command-line tool that works at the text level where large language models operate. This allows AI agents to interact directly with the tool in their native language.
Developers can connect the Android CLI to any AI coding tool they choose. Google also released an Android plugin for Antigravity, its agentic coding environment, giving AI agents the skills needed for core mobile development tasks.
A new "android studio" command lets AI agents use Android Studio's capabilities to understand and navigate codebases, making it easier for agents to perform complex development work.
Web-based native Android app generation
Google AI Studio, a browser-based prototyping environment, can now generate complete native Android apps in minutes. Developers describe what they want, and the system builds production-ready apps in Kotlin and Jetpack Compose.
Apps built in AI Studio can be published directly to Google Play's internal testing track through a developer account. They become available to install within minutes and can be iterated on within the same environment.
Developers can export projects as ZIP files or directly to GitHub, making it simple to move work into other development environments or AI coding tools.
For developers interested in building skills around these tools, AI Coding Courses and Generative Code Courses cover the foundations of AI-assisted development.
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