- The NotebookLM mobile app listings are now live
- The research app is coming very soon to Android and iOS
- Expect to hear more news at Google I/O 2025 on May 20
Having hinted at the imminent arrival of a NotebookLM app last month, Google has now put the AI research app live on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store for mobile devices. You can’t download it yet, but you can pre-order it – and it gives us a good early glimpse of what the promising app looks like.
‘Pre-ordering’ the app means it will automatically download to your phone when it’s launched in full, which according to the Apple App Store listing (via 9to5Google) is May 20 – the same day as Google I/O 2025 starts, where we’ll no doubt hear more about this app.
If you’ve never come across NotebookLM before, it’s an AI-powered resource tool that can collate information across documents, webpages, and more – you can get smart summaries, ask questions about the data, and even produce fake podcasts (which you can interrupt, if you want to).
It looks as though the app is going to include the podcast (or “audio overview”) creator, based on the screenshots in these listings. We can also see screens for adding sources, and for the conversation panel where you can chat about the sources with the AI.
An alternative to Gemini
Google will no doubt give us the full story about this app in a few weeks, but almost all of the web app features seem to have been carried over – including the ability to add notebooks and browse through the notebooks you’ve created on the web.
NotebookLM is a helpful alternative to Google Gemini for those times when you need AI’s help with a specific set of material you’ve collected – perhaps a science research project or reports on a current industry trend.
Based on my experience with the tool, it’s usually more straight-faced and serious than Gemini, and includes citations with all its responses – so you can check if it’s made any mistakes. You get higher usage limits and more customization options in NotebookLM if you’re subscribed to a Google One AI Premium plan.
It looks as though there’s going to be a wealth of AI news coming out of Google I/O 2025 from May 20 – including, perhaps, an update on the AI Mode for search – and we will of course bring you all the announcements as they’re made.
