Google’s vibe-coding tool Opal comes to Gemini
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Google’s vibe-coding tool, Opal, is making its way to Gemini. The company on Wednesday said it is integrating the tool, which lets you build AI-powered mini apps, inside the Gemini web app, allowing users to create their own custom apps, which Google calls Gems. Introduced in 2024, Gems are customized versions of Gemini designed for specific tasks or scenarios. For instance, some of Google’s pre-made Gems include a learning coach, a brainstorming assistant, a career guide, a coding partner, and an editor. Opal, meanwhile, focuses on helping users create mini-apps or mix existing apps. To use the feature, users describe the app they want to make in natural language, and the tool will use the different Gemini models to create it. Now, Opal is directly available from Gemini on the web, where it’s found in the Gems manager. The tool has a visual editor that lays out the steps required to create an application. From the editor, users can rearrange steps and link them together, without writing code. Google notes that the visual editor also includes a new view in Gemini that will take the user’s written prompts and turn them into a list of steps. This makes it even easier to build apps and see how they work. For more advanced customization options, users can move from Gemini to the Advanced Editor at opal.google.com. The mini apps can be reused after they’re created. Known as “vibe-coding,” using AI to program and make apps has skyrocketed in popularity over the past couple of years. The market now has apps from startups like Lovable and Cursor, as well as offerings from AI providers like Anthropic and OpenAI. There are also tools focused more directly on consumers, like those from AI-powered app-building startup, Wabi. Gemini’s web app is available at gemini.google.com. Topics AI, AI, Apps, Apps, gemini, opal, vibe coding Sarah Perez Consumer News Editor Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software. You can contact or verify outreach from Sarah by emailing sarahp@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at sarahperez.01 on Signal.
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