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Every Playlab app starts private. Only you and your organization’s Owners can see it until you share it, add it to a space or collection, or publish it. Apps you build inside a space are also visible to that space’s Owners and Managers. This page explains who can see what, why org Owners have access, and how to move from private to shared.

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Who can see your app

Yellow blocks see the app from creation. The rest open up only after you share, add, or publish. For details on publishing and visibility levels, see Publishing your app. Filtering your app list. The Apps page has three tabs: My apps (every app you created, in any organization), Org apps (apps in the organization you’re viewing that you can open, whether built there or shared into it), and Shared with me (apps someone shared with you by name from outside your organizations). On Org apps, the Owner filter narrows the list to apps Built in my org or Shared with my org. They only ever surface apps you already have permission to see. See Finding apps in Navigating Playlab.

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Going from private to shared

The Share Algebra Tutor dialog for an unpublished app: a search field, an Editor role menu, and an Invite button, a note that Viewers can be added once the app is published, an empty Users section, and a Collaborators section listing Maya Chen as Owner.

The Share dialog. While an app is unpublished, you can add collaborators here, but Users can only be added once you click Publish in the builder.

You have several ways to share an app, each with different reach: Share with one person. Click Share in the builder. They get Owner, Editor, or User access. See Sharing with individuals. Share with a space. Add the app to the space’s Apps tab. Members of that space can launch it once it’s published. See Cross-space app use. Share with a group or organization. Use the Share dialog. Every member of the group or org gets the role you pick. See Sharing with groups and orgs. Publish broadly. Publish, then set the General audience in Share to your organization, Playlab, or Public. Your org admin can turn off Playlab and Public for the whole organization. See Publishing. You can combine these. An app can be Public and also shared with specific Editors in your org. When someone has access in more than one way, they get the broadest of those roles.

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Why org Owners have access to your app

Org Owners automatically get Owner access to every app built in their organization. Playlab does this for trust and safety: if a session in any app is flagged, an Owner needs to be able to find the session, the app it came from, and the people involved. Your app shows up in their Org apps list. They aren’t notified when you create or edit it.
The Algebra Period A space showing app cards (Algebra Tutor, Essay Feedback Coach, Lab Report Helper) with the Your permissions panel open: You can build apps in this space; Your apps are private to you and the manager; You can only share your apps with other members of the space; You can archive your apps and view moderated content.

A space's Apps page with the Permissions panel open. Each member sees what they can build, share, and manage in this space.

Their access isn’t read-only. As Owners of the app, they can edit, publish, share, and archive it.

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Key points

  • New apps start private to you and your org’s Owners
  • Sharing is an explicit action: Owner, Editor, User, or add to a space or collection
  • Org Owners have Owner access to every app built in their organization

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FAQ

No. Org Owners automatically get Owner access to every app built in their organization. Apps you build inside a space are also visible to that space’s Owners and Managers.
Yes. The app’s Sessions tab lists sessions with who used it and when. It shows people who share an organization with you, plus logged-out sessions. See Reviewing session activity.
Not quite. An unpublished app shows up in search and app lists only for people who already have access: you, your org’s Owners, people you’ve added in Share, and members of any space or collection you’ve added it to. Space and collection members can see its card but can’t launch it until you publish.
Not as a download. Click Share to see who you’ve shared it with: people with the User role under Users, and Editors and Owners under Collaborators. People who reach the app through a space, a collection, or the general audience aren’t listed there.
Playlab archives apps rather than deleting them: an app Owner chooses Archive App from the menu (⋮) next to the app’s name in the builder. Archiving unpublishes the app and removes it from spaces and app lists, so links to it stop working. People keep their past sessions in History, but can’t start new ones.
No. Unpublishing the app or changing its general audience doesn’t delete any sessions. People keep their past sessions in History.
Yes. Org admins can turn off Allow apps to be shared publicly under App Capabilities in the organization’s settings. Apps shared with all Playlab users or the public then become accessible to your organization only, and anyone a builder invited directly keeps access. Turning the setting back on doesn’t make those apps public again; builders will need to re-share each one. See Turning off public apps.
Last updated: 10-14-2026 Contact us at [email protected]