Google expands AI storytelling app Dreambeans to India

Dreambeans, accessible on both Android and iOS platforms, launched in India on Monday, offering support for 13 local languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Bengali, alongside English. This rollout follows a period where the app was made available to all eligible U.S. users aged 18 and older, beginning in June.

Dreambeans utilizes data from connected Google services like Calendar, Gemini, Gmail, Photos, Search, and YouTube to create personalized illustrated stories without requiring user prompts. Initially featuring static images, the app now incorporates animated visuals through Google’s Veo video-generation model.

Google selected India as the first international market for Dreambeans due to significant user interest and widespread adoption of its services across the country. Product manager Gozde Oznur highlighted the high usage of Gemini, Gmail, and Google Photos among potential Indian users as a key factor.

Sensor Tower data indicates approximately 55,000 downloads of Dreambeans in the U.S. since its launch, with a peak of 63% of downloads occurring in September. October saw a substantial drop of 84% in downloads to around 5,500.

While Dreambeans’ initial downloads were lower than those of competing AI apps like Meta’s Muse, ChatGPT, Grok Bot, and Claude, it distinguishes itself by focusing on personalized storytelling rather than general AI query responses.

Currently, Dreambeans allows users to select only one language per story, despite its support for multiple Indian languages. The app can process information across various languages within Google services but cannot yet generate stories that combine languages, a limitation given the prevalence of “Hinglish” – the mixing of Hindi and English – in India.

The app’s reliance on Google account data also raises privacy considerations. Dreambeans uses Google’s Personal Intelligence technology, which can access sensitive personal information. Users can manage connected services and delete their Dreambeans data, and information removed from connected services is also removed from Dreambeans.

Users can restrict Dreambeans from including certain topics, such as business information, and the app is currently limited to personal Gmail accounts. Google is exploring ways to expand Dreambeans’ functionality beyond storytelling, potentially enabling users to take action based on the app’s suggestions.