- The UK government has released a new app designed to make services more accessible
- The Gov.uk app has launched in beta as a directory for government web pages
- Upcoming features include an AI chatbot and digital wallet
The UK Government Digital Service has released a new mobile app designed to make accessing government services easier.
The new Gov.uk app launched in public beta for iPhone and Android phones on July 1, and currently offers users a way to quickly access 11 categories of services, such as Money and tax, Parenting and guardianship, and Travel. Currently, these mainly consist of groups of links to the gov.uk website.
Launching in public beta means the Gov.uk app isn’t actually finished, and more features are slated to be added with incremental updates.
Speaking with TechRadar, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Peter Kyle said: “This app was designed in-house by the new Digital Centre of Government. From the very first moment you log in, you’re going to see a service that is striving to tailor public services to you as an individual person.”
Kyle also defended the decision to release the app as an unfinished beta: “We’ve had private testing with 1,300 people, now we need to go mainstream. Anyone that’s seen how other apps in the mainstream tech world [launch] will know that you have to move to high volume testing in order to really test the robustness of an app.”
As The Guardian reports, Kyle pledged in January to release the app in June 2025, and said: “The design is not as we would like it to be.”
Though the app is quite limited in function at the moment, it’s still a major launch and forms a notable part of the UK Government’s digital strategy. Here are 5 key things you need to know about the new app.
1. It’s out now
As mentioned, the Gov.uk app is available now via the Apple App Store and Google Play store. It’s exclusive to smartphones, and there are no plans for a tablet version.
The app is available on phones running iOS 16 or later, or Android 10 or later. Users sign on via the UK Government One Login system, and a user must be at least 16 years old to create an account.
Logging into the app for the first time presents users with a customization screen not dissimilar to the ones you see when setting up a social media account – you’re presented with a selection of categories to add to your home page to reflect your priorities.
2. It’s in public beta
The Gov.uk app is launching in beta, meaning it’s still technically in a testing stage. In the tech world, ‘beta’ refers to a pre-release software build that is developed enough to be used by a wider audience, but still requires frequent updates, fixes, and feature additions.
At release, the app is pretty much just a directory of useful pages on the gov.uk website, but there are plans to bring more functions and features into the app itself over time.
Technology secretary Peter Kyle said one of the first post-launch features would be the ability for benefits claimants to generate proof of their claims electronically.
The app will also eventually integrate with the upcoming Gov.uk Wallet app, providing a digital space for government issued cards and documents – Kyle confirmed to TechRadar that this will launch by Remembrance Day (November 11), and that the first card supported will be the HM Armed Forces Veteran Card.
Following this, the wallet function will get support for a fully digital UK driver’s license by the end of 2025.
3. It’ll get an AI chatbot by September
The biggest post-launch feature coming to the Gov.uk app is Gov.uk Chat, an AI chatbot based on Anthropic’s Claude.
This is an AI chatbot designed to help users find relevant information, draft forms and letters, and better understand government services.
“People will be able to have intuitive, human-like conversations about any area of interaction with government,” said Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, “it will inform, it will tutor people to go through the steps they need to.”
Kyle added: “It’s been trained on 700,000 pages of publicly available information. It’s not been trained on private information […] there’s no security threat that comes from this. There’s no hint of them having access to private data that might make its way into the public domain.”
Kyle confirmed the Gov.uk Chat feature would launch by September 2025.
4. Your private data won’t be shared (without consent)
Making essential government services accessible via a mobile app naturally comes with some security concerns – particularly when it comes to the visibility of that data to app store providers and phone makers like Apple and Google, and the app’s AI partner, Anthropic.
Speaking with TechRadar, Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: “People’s private data will not be shared outside of government. The only data we collect in the app is there to serve you. It’s about usage data, so we can get to know you as an individual citizen, and all of it is done with your consent.”
Kyle added: “We won’t do anything unless we have your consent to do so.”
5. It’s tailored to you
A useful aspect of the Gov.uk app is the way the app tailors to your habits, and personal circumstances.
Though optional, users can input their postcode into the app to receive advice and updates on their local authorities, as well as the nationally-available services the app refers users to by default.
TechRadar understands that the app does not track location beyond manually entered location data, such as postcodes or travel locations.
Each category section also has a tab of recently visited pages to make accessing regularly required information and services easier.
Having tried the Gov.uk app for myself, I can see the value in having a somewhat personalized and easily accessible portal to essential government services available at any time on your phone.
However, I do find myself questioning whether this release has come too early. The point of a public beta is to test, but it seems that many of the more useful features are absent from this release, which could make it hard for users to properly appraise the app’s usefulness.
Would you download and use this app? Let us know in the comments below.
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