Part 1 — Get the key (on Mac or iPhone, ~60 seconds)

1. Open a browser and go to: https://aistudio.google.com/app/apikey
2. Sign in with any Google account (Gmail works).
3. If prompted, accept the Google AI Studio terms of service.
4. Click the blue "Create API key" button (top right).
5. If asked, choose "Create API key in new project". (If you already have a Google Cloud project and prefer that, pick it from the list — either is fine.)
6. A pop-up shows your new key — it starts with AIza... and is about 39 characters long.
7. Click the copy icon next to the key to copy it to your clipboard.
8. (Optional) You can return to this page any time to view, rename, or delete the key.

 

That's it — no credit card, no billing setup. The free tier gives you 250 requests/day, more than enough for daily picks.

 

Part 2 — Paste it into LottoLens (on the iPhone)

1. Open LottoLens on your iPhone.
2. Tap the Settings tab (gear icon, bottom right).
3. Tap inside the "Google Gemini API key" field — the keyboard appears.
4. Long-press the field and tap Paste (or paste from your keyboard).
5. Tap Done (top-right of the keyboard) — or just tap anywhere outside the field — to close the keyboard.
6. Tap the white Save button.
7. The button label switches to Update — that confirms the key is stored securely in your iPhone's Keychain.

 

Part 3 — Test it

1. Tap the Picks tab (sparkles icon).
2. Pick a strategy (e.g. 🔥 Hot Numbers) and leave the slider at 3 tickets.
3. Tap the big ✨ Generate My Picks button.
4. After a couple of seconds you'll see 3 ticket cards with numbers and a one-line reason from Gemini for each pick.

 

If something goes wrong:

• "Add your Google Gemini API key" — the key didn't save. Go back to Settings and re-paste.
• "Gemini API error 400/403" — the key is invalid or hasn't been activated yet. Wait 30 seconds and try again, or generate a fresh key at aistudio.google.com.
• No internet warning — connect to Wi-Fi or mobile data and retry.

 

Keeping the key safe

• The key lives only on your iPhone, in iOS Keychain (encrypted, sandboxed to LottoLens).
• It's never logged, synced, or sent anywhere except directly to generativelanguage.googleapis.com.
• If you ever want to remove it: Settings tab → tap Remove next to the key field.
• If you think it's been leaked: revoke it at https://aistudio.google.com/app/apikey and generate a new one.