The very first app version of GOV.UK has launched today on smartphones, kickstarting a new way for people to interact with government services.
The app has launched initially in “public beta”, meaning the technology is still being worked on extensively. It is available on the Apple App store and Google marketplace.
The first version of the app “takes crucial services a step closer to citizens in a bid to cut life-admin”, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said in a press release announcing the new platform.
Technology secretary Peter Kyle said the app will put public services in people’s “pockets” and “do away with clunky paper forms and hours spent on hold”, allowing people to “immediately” get the information they need and continue on with the rest of their day.
He added that the release of the app “is just the start”, with GOV.UK Chat – a generative AI chatbot – to be added soon, enabling users to ask questions about government services “and get a reliable answer immediately”.
DSIT said the chatbot will also enable people to get quick answers to niche questions which “may be buried in the 700,000-page website”.
“The app will draw the most relevant information within seconds – whether it’s how to set up a specific type of business, what’s needed to apply for a passport, or what support new parents can access,” the department said.
Using OneLogin technology, the app promises to give users “the same experience every time they open it in a way that is tailored to them” and to remove the need for several passwords to access different government services. Users will also be able to use facial ID to log in.
The public will be able to build the app around their personal circumstances, life events and services, adapting the app’s homepage to show them the services that they need most.
DSIT said the move also aims to make it easier to tackle fraud, and that this could save the government millions of pounds.
For the first release, the GOV.UK app homepage can feature any combination of the following 11 topics:
- Benefits
- Business
- Care
- Driving and transport
- Employment
- Health and disability
- Money and tax
- Parenting and guardianship
- Retirement
- Studying and training
- Travel
DSIT said it picked major life events relevant to most of the population – such as “money and tax”, “studying and training” and “retirement” – and some life events where people might interact more with public services, such as “parenting”, “benefits” and “care”.
Once GOV.UK Chat is added to the app, work will start to add government benefits, such as childcare allowances, to it.
There are also plans to add notifications to the app to remind people to, for example, book their MOT or update their passport.
Later this year, the UK government will also launch GOV.UK Wallet, an app offering digital versions of all government issued documents – starting with a Veterans’ Card this autumn, followed by a pilot of a digital drivers’ licence later this year.
For the first release, the GOV.UK Wallet will be separate from the GOV.UK App, but it will eventually be intregrated into the app.
The government also rebranded GOV.UK last week, changing the background colour from black to blue and turning the the dot in “GOV.UK” to a light blue-green colour and moving it higher up.