Google will let anyone over 18 with a Google account publish privately listed Android apps built in its AI Studio, with no paid developer account. Apple spent this year tightening its own store against the same kind of software.
Google will let anyone over 18 with a Google account publish an Android app to the Play Store. There is no developer account to buy and no fee.
The apps have to be built in Google AI Studio and are privately listed, Bloomberg reported, so they do not appear in the store’s search or recommendations.
The barrier it removes is small but real. Google charges $25 once for a developer account, Apple charges $99 a year, and both review new submissions before release.
Sam Bright, who runs Google Play and its developer ecosystem, demonstrated it with a tracker for his children’s local sports team, splitting jersey money, umpire fees and post-game pizza across 15 families.
Apple has gone the other way. Submissions to its store jumped by 84% in a quarter as vibe coding spread, and it began removing apps that change behaviour after review.
Its review queue went with them. Approval times moved from a day or two to between one week and more than a month by March, and Replit and Vibecode had updates blocked.
The security question is the obvious one. AI-generated code passed Veracode’s tests 56% of the time last year, on raw models without guardrails.
The weak spots are the ones that matter in a phone app. Cross-site scripting passed 15% of the time and log injection 12%, though Google says AI Studio runs its own checks.
Europe is the part Google did not mention. The Commission issued binding measures in July requiring Google to give rival AI assistants the same Android access Gemini has.
Those obligations start in 2027, alongside a requirement to share search data with rival search engines and chatbots at regulated prices.
Google is also making the route around its store harder. Since 30 September, apps installed through participating stores on certified devices must be registered to a verified developer.
That is live in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, and goes global in 2027. The workaround needs a trip into developer options, a restart and a 24-hour wait.
So the free door opens and the side door narrows in the same year. Both lead through Google, which is the company Brussels has just finished writing Android rules for.