Google's best AI research tool is getting its own app – preorder it now

Google is about to make it a lot easier to do research on the go. 

On May 20, it will officially launch native NotebookLM apps on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, and you can register now to have them automatically downloaded to your device.

What’s NotebookLM?

NotebookLM is Google’s AI “research assistant” that debuted as a web browser-based service last year. It’s often described as a smart notebook — one where you can dump PDFs, articles, YouTube links, plain text, Google Docs or Slides, and so on, and then ask the AI to summarize key points, answer questions, or even turn your source material into a mini podcast. 

Also: Google’s viral AI podcast tool can chat in over 50 languages now and it aced my Spanish test

NotebookLM is powered by the latest Gemini models. Everything you ask comes with clear citations, so you can see exactly which sentences the AI pulled from your sources. That makes it great for students, professionals, and anyone who needs to do research.

What the NotebookLM apps do

Since NotebookLM launched, you’ve had to use it in a browser, which worked fine but was limited if you lost your internet connection or wanted true background audio playback. The new iOS and Android mobile apps aim to solve both those problems. 

Also: How to use Google’s AI-powered NotebookLM to organize your research

They support full offline mode — meaning you can download AI-generated audio summaries for later — and they’ll keep playing in the background even if you switch to another app or lock your screen. Based on screenshots of the apps from the app store listings, it looks like they’ll come with a few other features, some of which are similar to the current mobile website.

• Home screen: On the home screen, you’ll see tabs for Recent, Shared, Title and Downloaded, plus a scrollable list of your notebooks. Each notebook tile has a big play button. Tap it to launch an “Audio Overview.”
• Audio player: This is a full-screen mode that not only shows an animated waveform but also lets you “join the podcast” by jumping in to ask follow-ups or get clarifications from the AI voices.
• Create new: A large floating action button at the bottom of the screen lets you start a fresh notebook. Just tap it to upload documents, paste text, add URLs — or use your phone’s share sheet to pull content from other apps into NotebookLM.
• Notebook View: When you open a notebook, a persistent toolbar at the bottom gives you quick access to Sources (where you see your uploaded items), Chat (where you chat with the AI about them), and Studio (for settings and usage stats).

Google’s screenshots also reveal how the app looks on tablets: a split-screen layout puts the AI chat beside your source list, letting you multitask more like you would on a laptop.

How to get the NotebookLM apps

The native apps will replace the existing Progressive Web App, bringing deeper integration with iOS and Android as well as system features like push notifications. It looks like Google will launch the apps in beta, with May 20 as the target date for iOS — right in time for I/O 2025, where Google is expected to announce more AI news and will possibly even show off these new apps.

1. Pre-register: Go to the App Store version or Google Play Store version and tap “Pre-order” or “Pre-register.”
2. Automatic download: On May 20 (the first day of Google I/O 2025), your phone will download the app automatically.
3. Sign in: Open the app, sign in with your Google account, and you’re all set. 
4. Upgrade to NotebookLM Plus (optional): Don’t forget there’s NotebookLM Plus, available with Google One AI Premium. It has everything NotebookLM offers, plus 5x more Audio Overviews, queries, and sources per notebook, and the ability to customize the style and length of your notebook responses, and you can share notebooks with a team and get usage analytics.

Also: Even Nvidia’s CEO is obsessed with Google’s NotebookLM AI tool

With new apps, NotebookLM will be more accessible and mobile — ready to summarize, explain, or even entertain you with an AI podcast while you’re on the subway, on a walk, or traveling across the world with spotty Wi-Fi.

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