The gov.uk app can now be downloaded in public beta format, with further development to follow later in the year.

The gov.uk website is visited 88 million times every month by people looking for information and completing tasks. 

With the new gov.uk app, some of these tasks relating to public services can now be completed via a smartphone.

Technology secretary Peter Kyle said: “By putting public services in your pocket, we will do away with clunky paper forms and hours spent on hold so you can immediately get the information you need and continue on with the rest of your day.”

In January 2025, the government announced that it was to launch the gov.uk app by the summer. 

While this deadline has been reached with the release of a beta format, the app is incomplete with “new tools and functionality to be added over time”.

Once downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, users can customise the app’s homepage with up to 11 of the services that are relevant to them, such as care, employment, retirement or travel. 

From this home page, they can access information and support relating to these services. 

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has said that later this year the government’s generative AI chatbot – gov.uk Chat – will be added to the app.

This can be used to quickly find answers relating to information stored within gov.uk’s 700,000-page website.

Within seconds, the chatbot will draw the most relevant information to answer queries such as how to set up a specific type of business, what’s needed to apply for a passport or what support new parents can access.

Additional features to be added to the app at a later date include childcare allowances and other forms of government support that users may be eligible for.

Kyle said: “This release of the gov.uk app is just the start. Soon you will be able to use it to ask gov.uk Chat any question you like about government services and get a reliable answer immediately. 

“You will then get personal notifications reminding you when your MOT is due or whether you need to register to vote, and you will be able to closely track your childcare credits just as you do your bank account.”

The government said that the app would be highly secure, with security features and identity verification measures including facial recognition checks built in.

Later this year, the gov.uk Wallet – which was also announced in January – will launch. This is a filing system similar to the Wallet app on an Apple or Google phone where digital versions of documents are stored and easily accessible. 

The first government-issued document to be available in the gov.uk Wallet will be a veteran card, followed by a pilot of a digital driving licence.