Summary

  • Google rolls out NotebookLM Android app, expanding beyond web interface.
  • App retains core desktop features like Audio Overviews, and adds adaptability to device dark mode settings.
  • Teething issues noted with app compatibility, but likely to be resolved soon.

Gemini tends to hog the spotlight whenever Google’s achievements in the field of AI are mentioned, but the company has several other initiatives it is developing concurrently, such as SecLM for cybersecurity, an agentic AI called Gemma, and NotebookLM for assisted note-taking. The latter has long been available to users as an experimental feature accessible through the web only. Now, Google just rolled out the Android app for NotebookLM.

A desk with a laptop and other office items, with the NotebookLM logo in the center.

Things move much faster than Android updates in the AI sphere, and NotebookLM is no exception. What started in 2023 as a limited experiment only for developers and the technically inclined has gradually taken on more users with attractive features that simplify notes, present interactive questionnaires, and makes summarization a breeze. We got confirmation of Google’s plans to roll out a mobile app for NotebookLM back in April this year, and the days of restricting yourself to the web UI are now gone because the promised app is now on the Play Store (via AssembleDebug on Telegram).

Teething troubles will clear out soon

Full functionality retained

The new app retains all the core features of the desktop version, including the famed Audio Overviews which convert any voluminous reading material into a digestible podcast, even when you’re offline. You’ll still have access to all the virtual notebooks you created in the older web interface. We loved that the app also adapts dynamically to the light and dark mode settings on your device.

We raced to install this on multiple devices, and managed to run the NotebookLM app normally on a Google Pixel 9 Pro, but a Xiaomi 15 Ultra threw an app compatibility error. We suspect this is typical of fresh releases on the Play Store, and the app should be compatible with a vast majority of flagship Android phones. If you run into this error, we recommend retrying the download after a few hours or sideloading the app from APKMirror.

If you’re on iOS, you may need to wait a little longer since only the Android version is live now, but Google is known to be developing an iOS version as well.

Thanks: Moshe!