The AI vendor introduced the new app soon after releasing the iOS version. It's free for Team and Pro users. It includes vision, multi-platform support and multilingual processing.
Two months after introducing a new Claude iOS app, Anthropic has introduced an Android version.
On July 16, the foundation model provider introduced the Claude Android app, which brings Claude 3.5 Sonnet, the vendor's newest version of the large language model, to Android users.
The app is free and accessible for users on the Pro and Team Claude plans. Like the iOS version, the Android app gives users access to multi-platform support.
Users can pick up and continue conversations with Claude across multiple mediums and devices.
It also has vision capabilities so users can upload pictures and files for image analysis.
The app also provides multilingual processing, or real-time language translation. Its advanced reasoning is aimed at helping users tackle difficult problems like analyzing contracts for market research, according to Anthropic.
Natural progression
Claude Sonnet on Android is a natural progression, particularly with rival generative AI systems such as Perplexity, ChatGPT and Gemini already available on both iOS and Android.
"Bringing Claude Sonnet to Android is kind of, in my opinion, table stakes," said Paul Nashawaty, a Futurum Group analyst. "If they have the ability to cross the web and the iOS devices, it should have also been with Android at the same time."
He added that having the apps brings uniformity and harmonization across different platforms.
"It's a big focal point," Nashawaty said.
Enterprise angle not clear
However, offering Claude Sonnet on Android or even iOS might not affect enterprises, said Mark Beccue, an analyst with TechTarget's Enterprise Strategy Group.
"It's difficult to see the path for consumer products," he said.
If they have the ability to cross the web and the and iOS devices, it should have also been with Android at the same time.
Paul NashawatyAnalyst, Futurum Group
For a tech giant like Microsoft, which offers various versions of GPT as well as a line of Copilot assistants, the enterprise role for generative AI is more clear, he added.
It's a different case with Microsoft as the tech giant offers applications within applications for people to use. But it might not be effective for people to remember to download the Claude app just to use Claude.
Meanwhile, other models, such as Microsoft's small language models Phi 2 and Gemini 1.5 Nano, are built for Android and can be easily adapted for the enterprise.
"They're thinking about Android-native," Beccue said, "[and] how they can infuse that into the applications they have on the phones already."
In contrast, Claude as an app seems more like a general-purpose assistant than an extension of the enterprise, he added.
Meanwhile, as Anthropic continues to grow and expand, it will need to keep the ever-proliferating number of data sources as part of its overall vision.
Having access to additional data sources, whether on the web or Android or iOS, will help the foundation model provider expand its footprint, Nashawaty said.
Esther Ajao is a TechTarget Editorial news writer and podcast host covering artificial intelligence software and systems.
