DEV Community

Cover image for The first screen of my Android AI app asks for an API key. That's where most people give up
Grokkris
Grokkris

Posted on

The first screen of my Android AI app asks for an API key. That's where most people give up

#android #ux #opensource #showdev

My app has passed 200 downloads, and the most useful feedback I've had so far wasn't about a feature. It was one person on a forum telling me, twice, that he couldn't get past step one.

Quick context: Kryzz AI is an MIT-licensed Android app (Kotlin + Jetpack Compose) for chat, voice and agent tasks. It doesn't run models on the phone. You bring your own OpenRouter key and the models are hosted by whichever provider you pick. Chats, memory, files and keys stay on the device, and there's no analytics or telemetry.

Bring-your-own-key has a cost, and the user pays it first

I picked BYOK on purpose. No server of mine sits between you and the model, I never see your prompts, and I don't need to charge a subscription to cover API bills. I still think that's the right call for a privacy-focused app.

But it means the very first thing a new user does isn't "try the app". It's "go to another website, make an account, find the keys page, create a key, copy it, come back, paste it". That's five steps before the app has done anything for them.

What actually went wrong

The person who reported it wasn't confused about what a key is. He got stuck at OpenRouter's own sign-up check, which kept timing out for him. Things that seemed to help other people:

  • turning off a VPN or ad blocker while signing up
  • doing the sign-up in a normal browser instead of an in-app one
  • signing up with Google or GitHub instead of email

Then he asked a fair question: can I just use a Grok or Gemini key instead? Right now, no. The app only talks to OpenRouter (which does have those models). That's a real gap, and I've written it down as a feature request.

What I'm thinking of changing

  • A short first-run guide with a button that opens OpenRouter's key page directly, so nobody has to hunt for it.
  • A clear "this key works" or "this key doesn't work, here's why" check right after you paste it.
  • Maybe direct support for a couple of other providers' keys, so OpenRouter isn't the only door in.

None of this is built yet. I'd rather hear from people who've shipped BYOK apps before I pick one.

If your app asks users for their own API key: how do you get them through that first step? Did a guide help, or did offering more providers matter more?

Try it

Honest caveats: you need your own OpenRouter key, it's not on the Play Store, and so far the signed release build has only been tested on an emulator. Bug reports are very welcome.

Top comments (0)