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This guide is for people coming from the previous version of Playlab. It will be retired in August 2026 once everyone has migrated. For current Playlab guidance, see Learn on Your Own or Feature Documentation.
If you build apps in Playlab, the building experience is close to what you knew, and what changes is how your apps move once they exist. Privacy is the default, sharing is per-app, and deployment across organizations no longer requires remixing.

At a glance

Five changes shape the builder experience.
  1. Your apps start private. Only you and the organization’s admins can see them until you share or publish.
  2. Sharing is granular. You add specific people as Editors or Viewers from a Share modal on each app.
  3. Apps deploy across workspaces and organizations without being copied.
  4. App-level insights are coming. A dashboard for usage stats lives in the next eng cycle.
  5. Publishing happens from the app builder or from any app’s Share modal. Visibility levels are clearer.
The rest of this page explains each one in turn and links to the deeper guide.

Increased privacy

Previously, an app you created sat inside a workspace and was visible to everyone in that workspace. Now, every app starts private. Only you and your organization’s admins can see it until you take action to share or publish. This applies to drafts, work-in-progress, and finished apps you have not yet released. The privacy indicator on the app card shows the current state. Org admins still see your app for trust and safety reasons. If a student conversation is flagged, an admin needs to be able to find it. The default is private to the rest of your organization. For more, see App privacy and visibility.

Simpler permission management

Previously, collaboration ran through workspace membership. To let a peer edit your app, you added them to the workspace, which gave them access to every app in that workspace. Playlab now separates collaboration from workspace membership. Each app has a Share button. From there, you add a peer as an Editor for that single app. They do not get access to anything else. If you want a peer to see the app but not edit it, share with the Viewer permission. If you change your mind, you can remove or change permissions at any time. For more, see Sharing with individuals.

Easier deployment across organizations

Previously, you had to remix an app for each new context. If a partner wanted to use your app in five districts, that meant five remixes, five separate copies, five separate update paths. Now you can share an app directly with another workspace, group, or organization. The recipient adds it to their workspaces and uses it. When you publish a new version, everyone with access sees the update. For partners deploying apps to many orgs, see Sharing with groups and orgs and Collections.

App-level insights are coming

Playlab introduces an insights dashboard on each app showing usage stats, conversation patterns, and engagement over time.
The per-app dashboard is now available, including a date-range filter. Workspace-level activity still gives you per-class data.
For more, see App-level insights for builders.

Clearer publishing flow

Previously, publishing happened through one path: app builder, then Publish, then pick a visibility level. Playlab keeps that path and adds a second one. You can now publish from the Share modal on any app. The visibility selector is the same. The benefit is that you can choose whether to publish broadly, share with specific people, or both, in a single place. The relationship between publishing and sharing is now more direct. People you have added as viewers cannot see the app until it is published. Once published, they see it on their next visit. For more, see Publishing your app.

What stays the same

The app builder, prompt engineering surface, references, model selection, and conversation experience are unchanged. If you knew how to build an app before, you still do. The differences live around the app, in how it is shared, monitored, and deployed.

FAQ

Yes. Existing apps move with their owners and shared collaborators preserved. Workspace-level access is mapped to the new permissions during migration. See Migrating to the new Playlab.
No. Org admins keep visibility for trust and safety reasons. The default is private to your peers and members of your workspaces unless you share.
The app keeps its original owner. Workspace members who used the app retain access. New workspaces get the app only when you share or add it.
Playlab doesn’t support paid apps today. The platform is free for educators and learners. Partnership and licensing arrangements work through the Playlab team.
Apps stay with your account. If you leave the org, your apps go with you. Sharing arrangements with the old org may need to be reset.
Each publish creates a version. Conversations are tied to the version they ran on. You can roll back to an earlier version from the app builder.

Last updated: 06-01-2026 Contact us at [email protected]