Google's own Build mode documentation says it plainly: “By default your app is private.” That one line is why wrapping an AI Studio link gives your users a sign-in screen. Deploy the app first, paste the public URL here, and get a signed Android APK in about 60 seconds.
Written by the Free App Maker team at My Mind Studio · Last verified 26 August 2026
A Google AI Studio app becomes an Android app in two moves. First deploy it — Google's Build mode docs say you can deploy to Cloud Run from AI Studio, which gives your app a public URL. Then paste that URL into Free App Maker for a signed APK in about 60 seconds. Building is free; downloading the signed APK is a one-time unlock, priced before checkout.
Source for both quoted lines: Google AI for Developers — Build apps in Google AI Studio, checked 26 Aug 2026.
Google AI Studio is Google's browser-based environment for building with Gemini. Its Build mode — Google's documentation puts it at aistudio.google.com/apps — lets you describe what you want, iterate with the model, and end up with a working app without setting up a local development environment.
Google documents three ways out of that workspace, and they lead to very different places. You can deploy to Cloud Run, which the docs say "gives your app a public URL". You can export the generated code as a ZIP file and host it yourself. Or, for a native build, Google states that "for Android apps, AI Studio generates a Kotlin and Jetpack Compose project" — a codebase you compile in Android Studio.
This page covers the web route: deploy the app to a public URL, then wrap that URL as a signed Android APK with Free App Maker. It also covers the mistake that costs AI Studio builders the most time — and the host settings that quietly cause it.
Source: Google AI for Developers — Build apps in Google AI Studio, checked 26 Aug 2026.
This is the reason most AI Studio conversions disappoint, and it is not a build error. Google's Build mode documentation states it directly: "By default your app is private." A private workspace address is not a website your users can open.
We checked what that looks like from outside: on 26 August 2026, an ordinary signed-out request to ai.studio/apps redirected to accounts.google.com. Wrap that address in an APK and the app faithfully renders what the URL serves — a sign-in page. Nothing is wrong with the build; the address is simply not public. (That redirect is our own check, not a Google statement.)
Sharing the workspace link instead has its own trade-offs that Google names in the same document: "Users you share your app with can see its code and fork it for their own purposes", and "When sharing your apps with others, API calls count toward your usage limits."
The fix is a public address: deploy from AI Studio to Cloud Run, or export the ZIP and host it yourself. Then confirm the URL opens in a private/incognito window with no sign-in prompt. That URL — not the workspace link — is what you paste into Free App Maker.
Source for the three quoted lines: Google AI for Developers — Build apps in Google AI Studio, checked 26 Aug 2026. Google's product behaviour can change — check the current page before relying on it.
Deploy first, verify it is public, then convert. The middle step — the incognito test — is the one that saves you from the sign-in-screen trap.
Google documents the short route: "You can deploy your app to Cloud Run from AI Studio, which gives your app a public URL." The alternative is to "export the generated code as a ZIP file" and host it yourself. If you take the ZIP route, mind Google's own warning — run it elsewhere and "you will need to set up the GEMINI_API_KEY environment variable", or the Gemini parts of your app will fail on the new host.
The single requirement: the URL opens with no sign-in prompt. Your own browser session hides host-level gates from you, so check in a private/incognito window. Two documented gates catch people here — Vercel says that with Vercel Authentication on, "Users attempting to access the deployment will encounter a Vercel login redirect", and Netlify states that on new credit-based pricing accounts "new projects start private by default and become publicly accessible only when you choose to publish."
Head to freeappmaker.org and paste the public URL. Set the app name that appears under the icon, enter your email, and optionally upload a 1024×1024 PNG icon — we generate the Android density variants from it. Your signed APK is typically ready in about 60 seconds. Building and previewing are free; downloading the signed APK is a one-time unlock, priced by country and shown before checkout.
Sources for the quoted lines above: Google AI for Developers — Build apps in Google AI Studio, Vercel Docs — Vercel Authentication, and Netlify Pricing, all checked 26 Aug 2026. The ~60-second figure is our own average build time, measured on the Free App Maker build pipeline.
Deployed your AI Studio app to a public URL? You're one paste away.
Convert It Free — About 60 Seconds →AI Studio makes building fast. An installable Android app makes what you built feel real — to users, clients, students, and yourself.
You described an idea to AI Studio and it became a working app — a study helper, a recipe assistant, a niche tool. Sharing a URL is fine; handing someone an installable Android app is better. Once your app is deployed publicly, the APK takes about a minute, and the people you share it with tap an icon instead of hunting for a link.
You prototyped a client concept in AI Studio in an afternoon. Deploy it, wrap it as an APK, and the next meeting starts with the client tapping through the idea on their own phone. A signed APK on a real device lands very differently from a browser tab on a shared screen — and it costs you a public deployment plus one paste.
AI Studio lets you build the project fast; the APK is how you present it. Judges and interviewers can install your app and try it on their own devices instead of watching a demo. Just remember the deployment rule — a workspace link will show them a Google sign-in, while a deployed URL shows them your work.
An internal helper built in AI Studio — a form assistant, a knowledge lookup, a calculator for your workflow — is easier to roll out as an APK your colleagues install than as a URL they bookmark. Deploy it to a host your team can reach without a Google sign-in, convert it, and share the APK file directly.
Free App Maker wraps whatever your URL serves. The whole game is pasting the right kind of URL — here is the honest checklist from our support work.
Not sure about your URL? Run it through our free WebView Compatibility Checker first.
Sources: Google AI for Developers — Build apps in Google AI Studio, GitHub Docs — What is GitHub Pages?, Vercel Docs — Vercel Authentication and Netlify Pricing, all checked 26 Aug 2026.
AI Studio builders choose between three genuine routes, not one. Two of them are Google's own. Here is what each actually costs and requires, with every figure taken from the vendor's own documentation.
| Route | Free App Maker ✓ | AI Studio's own Android output | Capacitor (DIY wrapper) |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you start from | Your deployed public URL | Google states AI Studio "generates a Kotlin and Jetpack Compose project" | Your exported web code plus a Node project |
| Android Studio required | ✗ No — nothing to install | ✓ Required to build and sign the project | ✓ Required — Capacitor's docs say Android apps "are configured and managed through Android Studio" |
| Licence / tool cost | Free to build — one-time unlock to download, price shown first | Android Studio is free; your time is the cost | Open source; your time is the cost |
| Reaches native device APIs | ✗ No — a WebView shows web pages | ✓ Yes — native Kotlin | ✓ Via plugins |
| Updates when you redeploy | ✓ Yes — loads your live URL | ✗ No — rebuild and redistribute | Depends on how you configure it |
| Time to a first installable file | ~60 seconds after deploying | A toolchain install, then a build | A toolchain install, then a build |
| Route to a Google Play listing | Same for all three: Android's docs state that "From August 2021, new apps are required to publish with the Android App Bundle on Google Play", and Play Console help states "There is a US$25 one-time registration fee" (as of 26 Aug 2026). Our download is a signed APK for direct install; the AAB is included in the Play Store Pack, with the graphics, privacy policy and form answers. | ||
Figures checked 26 August 2026 against each vendor's own documentation: Google AI for Developers — Build apps in Google AI Studio, Capacitor Docs — Android, Android Developers — About Android App Bundles, and Play Console Help — Get started with Play Console. Vendor terms change; check the current pages before relying on them.
Any host that serves your app publicly works with Free App Maker. These are the common choices, with the free-tier figures each vendor publishes today.
| Consideration | Google Cloud Run ✓ | Vercel | Netlify | Cloudflare Pages | GitHub Pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Path from AI Studio | Deploy directly from AI Studio | Export the generated code as a ZIP, then push or import it | |||
| Published free-tier allowance | Request-based billing: "2 million requests free per month", 180,000 vCPU-seconds and 360,000 GiB-seconds | Hobby plan is free; "First 1,000,000" function invocations | Free plan at $0 with a "300 credit limit / month" | Free plan: 500 builds per month, 1 build at a time | Available "in public repositories with GitHub Free" |
| Commercial use on the free tier | Allowed under Cloud Run's normal terms | ✗ Restricted — Vercel's docs say Hobby "restricts users to non-commercial, personal use only" | Paid tiers start at $9/month (Personal) | Not restricted on the Free plan | Public repositories on GitHub Free |
| Server-side code | ✓ Yes | ✓ Functions | ✓ Functions | ✓ Functions | ✗ Static files only — GitHub calls Pages "a static site hosting service" |
| The gate that catches people | — | Vercel Authentication triggers "a Vercel login redirect" | New projects "start private by default" | — | Files must be committed to a repo |
| Works with Free App Maker | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Before you convert | Whichever host you choose: open the URL in a private/incognito window and confirm your app loads with no sign-in prompt — then paste it into Free App Maker. | ||||
Free-tier figures and plan prices checked 26 August 2026 against each vendor's own pricing or limits page: Google Cloud Run pricing, Vercel — Hobby plan, Netlify pricing (Free $0, Personal $9/month, Pro $20/month, as of August 2026), Cloudflare Pages limits, and GitHub Docs — What is GitHub Pages?. Free tiers and prices change often — check each vendor's current page before you commit.
Once your app is deployed, you can convert a website to APK from the homepage in about a minute.
Once your app has a public URL, this is the shortest honest path from that URL to an installable Android app.
The APK loads your deployed URL at runtime. Keep iterating in AI Studio, redeploy to the same public URL, and the Android app shows the new version the next time users open it — no rebuild, no re-download, no update prompt. The APK you shipped keeps pointing at your latest work.
Google notes that when you share an AI Studio app, "Users you share your app with can see its code and fork it for their own purposes." An APK pointing at your deployment is a different hand-off: people install an app rather than opening your project.
Paste the URL, verify your email, download the signed APK — typically about 60 seconds of build time. No Android Studio install, no Gradle configuration, no Java or Kotlin. The slow part of your day was already done when you deployed the app; this part is the fast one.
The same check that makes your URL convertible — opening it in a private window with no sign-in — is close to the experience your users get. Android's own docs describe a WebView plainly: "All WebView does, by default, is show a web page." So if the private window shows your app, the APK should too.
The APK is yours to distribute — your website, a GitHub release, a direct share. And you are not married to your first host: if you move from Cloud Run to Vercel or anywhere else later, rebuild the APK with the new URL in about a minute. Your app, your address, your call.
Upload a single 1024×1024 PNG and we generate the Android density variants. Android's guidance is a 3:4:6:8:12:16 ratio from a 48×48 baseline — 48 (mdpi), 72 (hdpi), 96 (xhdpi), 144 (xxhdpi), 192 (xxxhdpi) — which is fiddly by hand and automatic here.
Sources for the quoted lines in these cards: Google AI for Developers — Build apps in Google AI Studio, Android Developers — Build web apps in WebView, and Android Developers — Support different pixel densities, all checked 26 Aug 2026.
A WebView wrapper is a real Android app around your live site. That framing sets four limits worth knowing up front.
The app loads your deployed URL over the internet each time it opens. If the deployment is deleted, the host suspends it, or you flip it back to private, the app has nothing to load. It also needs a connection — there is no built-in offline copy of your pages.
Your app's model calls run against your project's key on your deployment, not on each user's account. Google's documentation states that "Rate limits are applied per project, not per API key", and that "Your usage is evaluated against each limit, and exceeding any of them will trigger a rate limit error". Check your tier before you distribute widely.
Android's docs describe a WebView as a view that shows web pages and note it "doesn't include the features of a fully developed web browser". What a web page cannot do in a mobile browser — Bluetooth, NFC, background services — a WebView app cannot do either. If you need those, AI Studio's Kotlin output or a native build is the right route.
Card flows, 3-D Secure steps, and third-party sign-in all bounce through redirects, and redirect behaviour inside a WebView is worth checking rather than assuming. If your AI Studio app has a checkout or a login, run it end to end on a real Android device before you share the APK.
Sources: Google AI for Developers — Rate limits and Android Developers — Build web apps in WebView, both checked 26 Aug 2026.
Everything we get asked about converting a Google AI Studio app to an Android APK — including the sign-in-screen mystery, solved.
ai.studio/apps/... link is Google AI Studio's workspace page, not a standalone website. It sits behind a Google sign-in and carries the studio's own interface — the "Remix" button, the Gemini panel. Deploy your app to a public URL first (see the next question), then paste that URL instead.ais-pre-....run.app — expire, so the app works today and breaks later. It is a sneaky failure because everything tests fine on day one. Rebuild the APK with your permanent deployment URL, and the problem does not come back.Deploy it publicly, paste the URL, verify your email — signed APK in about 60 seconds.
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