Meta launches a standalone Meta AI app

Background

Meta had offered its AI assistant inside its existing apps, including WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram. On 29 April 2025 it launched a separate app for the assistant. The launch coincided with Meta's first LlamaCon developer event, where the company presented its Llama news.^[2]

What happened

On 29 April 2025 Meta launched a standalone Meta AI app for iOS and Android. The app was built with Llama 4, the models Meta had released earlier that month.^[1]

Key details

Discover feed. The app included a Discover feed where people could share and remix prompts. Meta said nothing is posted unless the user chooses to post it.^[1] Remixing a prompt means taking someone else's prompt as a starting point and changing it.

Voice. Voice conversations launched in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Meta also offered an optional full-duplex speech demo, in which the app can listen and speak at the same time, as a person does in a phone call.^[1] Full-duplex is the term for two-way audio at the same time, the opposite of taking turns.

Personalised answers. Responses that draw on Facebook and Instagram profile information launched in the United States and Canada.^[1] This meant the assistant could take a user's profile details into account when answering, but only in those two countries at launch.

Glasses. The app replaced Meta View as the companion app for Ray-Ban Meta glasses.^[1]

Timing. The launch coincided with Meta's first LlamaCon developer event.^[2]

Impact

The standalone app gave Meta AI a home of its own, separate from the social apps where it first appeared. Its feed of shared prompts made the assistant something people could browse and copy, not only a chat box. Its voice and personalisation features launched first in a small set of countries, and the glasses companion role moved from Meta View to the new app.^[1][2]