Google AI has done it again. Just when I thought NotebookLM turning my resume into a dramatic podcast tribute was peak wizardry, Gemini Canvas came along and said: “Hold my beer.” With just one line of prompt, I watched it conjure up a fully functional, fun travel app.
Prototyping used to be a drag
Let’s rewind. Rapid prototyping used to be UI-only vaporware, or long nights of hacking together half-working demos and hoping no one clicked the wrong button during your pitch. Then came “vibe coding” — yes, that’s the name — where prototypes are created in minutes. You might have heard of Replit, Cursor, Windsurf, etc. Even I jumped on that train and wrote about it.
But if you care more about the destination than the route (read: you don’t want to code), Gemini Canvas is your new technical co-founder. It turns a single sentence into an entire working app with AI features built-in. To me, it’s love at first try.
What is Canvas?
According to Google, Canvas “turns prompts and reports into interactive visuals” — apps, infographics, whatever your caffeinated brain can come up with. I mostly used it for app creation, but if you’re curious, you can explore more at gemini.google/overview/canvas.
To try it yourself, just click the “Canvas” button beneath your Gemini prompt window. No instruction manual nor magic wands required.
To enable Canvas, click on “Canvas” button beneath Gemini prompt window
What I created
Prompt I gave Canvas:
Create a trip planning website that multiple users can collaborate and plan trips together. The website will allow users to create itineraries, add hotels, transportation, top visited sites, and automatically suggest restaurants around the top sites and hotels. The trip planner’s UI will look like a corkboard with drag and drop interface, almost like users are pinning ideas to a board to make trip planning fun and visual.Model used: 2.5 Pro (preview)
Final product: For those impatient ones, check out the trip planner!
Because I specified “multiple users” in the prompt, Gemini also created a special share feature:
Share the Trip ID: Copy the Trip ID and send it to your friends so they can join the same corkboard. You’ll see their cursors and changes in real-time.
(spoiler alert: this feature doesn’t work)
What makes Canvas magical
One prompt. Working and polished app. Instant gratification beyond max. I’m convinced this is the primary OKR for the team.
Drag and drop? Flawless. Unlike Replit or Firebase, where drag-and-drop features didn’t work even with multiple prompts, Canvas nails it on the first try.
Nailed the corkboard UI. Other tools like Replit did okay, but I appreciate the simple yet realistic look & feel.
Built-in restaurant recs. Add a hotel? It suggests restaurants nearby. Replit and Firebase could never.
Collaboration, no login required. You don’t need to mess with user auth (which, let’s face it, is the worst part of any tech project).
“Add Gemini” button = ✨chef’s kiss✨. I didn’t expect anything when I clicked it, and boom — it gave me two useful AI features. That’s the best kind of magic.
Walkthrough: From Prompt to Pinning
After the prompt, Canvas generated the code and dropped me onto a clean corkboard-style UI.
After creating a new trip, I got an empty board. I could add an additional prompt to help me create some boilerplate activities upon a trip creation. Instead, I added “Tokyo” as a hotel location, and like magic, a few restaurant pins appeared (with no additional prompting).
Automagic restaurant suggestions. Drag & drop was smooth like butter, which no other tools came close.
So far, everything worked like a charm with just a single prompt. Curious about “Add Gemini” button on the bottom right, click it brought up a couple new tools, including a “Suggest Activities” and “Create summary” features.
“Add Gemini” button on the bottom right corner is one of the most magical experience.
The fact that I had no expectation was one of the reasons that this feature blew my mind. Not only did it create two useful features, but they actually work right away.
Clicking “Suggest Activities” button and entering“tokyo”, it instally generated a few top attractions to pin to the board.
One design quirk: the board looks a bit toy-like, which I kind of love. But it’s missing one thing — travel stock images! That visual flair would take it to the next level, and other tools did better in this area.
The board is so much fun. With a bit more tweaking, I’d actually use this to plan my next trip!
The final feature I tested was “Create Summary”, which summed up the trip, and I can see this feature becoming a “printed itinerary” for some travelers.
Product limitations
While Canvas is an amazing tool for the intended, non-technical audience, I do wish there are more advanced feature that I can tweak as tinkerer.
Only as good as the model. I tried the same prompt with Gemini 2.5 Flash, and… let’s just say it felt like going from iPhone to flip phone. Stick with Pro if you want the wow.
Multi-user feature is a tease. There’s no real-time collaboration (it claimed it did) or state persistence. Think more “everyone gets their own version” than “true multiplayer.”
No export to Firebase. Would love a one-click “Host This” option. Copy-pasting could work, but it’s not quite as seamless as it could be.
No stock images. I only have this expectation because Replit populated stock images. For travel apps, a little photo pizzazz would go a long way.
Final thoughts
Whether you’re a seasoned dev or someone who has never heard of HTML, Gemini Canvas will impress you. Zero setup. No account creation. Just type, click, and marvel. The Canvas team nailed this experience, and I can’t wait to see what people build once they realize just how powerful this is.