Android overview
Use Public on Android — bottom tabs, the Menu hub, and platform tips.
The Android app is on Google Play under in.publicapp.android.
Install Public from Google Play — see Install the Android app for step-by-step.
For what each feature does, see Features. This page covers Android-specific navigation and platform behavior.
Bottom navigation
The app has 5 tabs in the bottom bar:
| Tab | What it opens |
|---|---|
| Home | Your Feed (Following / Public toggle in the top bar) |
| Explore | Explore and search — people, pages, trending |
| Pulse | Pulse — short portrait videos |
| Chats | Messages — DMs, groups, AI characters |
| Menu | A hub of everything else |
The Menu hub
Tap the Menu tab for a grid of secondary destinations, plus a More sheet for account links.
Features grid includes: Explore, Public AI, Saved posts, Videos, Images, Polls, Quizzes, Q&A, People, Online users, Todos, Todo groups, Time tools, Time groups, Passwords, Pages, Communities, XP, Invite Center, and Blogs (when available).
More sheet: Settings, Subscribe (opens pricing/subscribe in the browser), Blocked Users, CSAE Policy, Refund Policy, Privacy, Terms, About, Help (docs), Log Out.
The footer of the Menu screen shows your Public App version and a link to docs.public.kim (this site).
Default middle bottom tabs are customizable (Characters / Pulse / Chats by default); items already pinned as middle tabs open there instead of stacking a new screen.
Top bar
The top bar of each screen changes with context:
- On Home — a bell icon with an unread badge for Notifications, an Add Post (+) icon for the composer, and a control to switch between Public posts and Following posts.
- On most other screens — the screen title and back button.
System theme
Public follows your Android system theme automatically. If your phone is in dark mode at the system level, Public is too. There's no in-app theme picker on Android today.
Languages
Public supports 21 app languages, controlled by your Android system language settings. Available languages: English, Hindi, Russian, Chinese (Simplified), Vietnamese, Turkish, Spanish, Arabic, French, Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese, German, Korean, Italian, Dutch, Persian (Farsi), Thai, Swahili, Malay, Polish.
To change the app's language: open Settings → Language → App language inside Public.
For Arabic and Persian, the layout switches to right-to-left. See Language and RTL.
Android-specific topics
- In-app updates — how Public prompts you to update.
- Deep links — public.kim URLs open the app.
- Permissions — what Public can ask for and why.
Need help?
Common questions
- Where do I download the Android app?
- Install Public from Google Play (package in.publicapp.android). See Install Android under Getting started.
- Which permissions does Public need on Android?
- Public uses Internet (automatic), Notifications on Android 13+, and Camera when you capture media. It uses the system Photo Picker and does not need broad storage access.