Google is opening Gemini and Google Search to a much wider set of outside apps, and the vehicle is a new offering called the Connected Apps Platform. According to reports from TechCrunch, SammyGuru and Digital Trends published around October 28, 2026, the platform lets businesses and developers connect their apps to both surfaces, so users can take specific actions without leaving the conversation. Gemini already carries more than 50 Connected Apps.
The timing is deliberate. AI agents are changing how people reach services on the web, and the assistant that sits in front of the user now decides which brands get a turn. Agents that do real work still need clean access to the services behind the chat box, as our look at a Grok agent that sent 187 messages chasing a £350 refund showed. Google’s answer is to publish an official front door and let developers walk through it.
This analysis covers what Google confirmed, how the integration paths work, which partners are named, and what the move means for developers, rivals and users. It also separates what is confirmed from what is not, because the announcement leaves several practical questions open.
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What Google announced about the Connected Apps Platform
The core announcement is short. Google is introducing the Connected Apps Platform so that businesses and developers can connect their apps to Google Search and Gemini. Once an app is connected, a user can securely link the third-party service and ask the assistant to perform specific actions inside it.
Two examples anchor the pitch. A user can have Canva design a flyer, and a user can have YouTube Music create a playlist. Both are concrete tasks with a clear output, and both show the pattern Google wants to scale: the user states an outcome, and the assistant hands the work to the right app.
The platform is in public preview for developers in the United States who join a waitlist. Google did not say when the Connected Apps Platform would become more broadly available, and it did not publish pricing in the material reviewed for this story. Reports also did not name a Google spokesperson or carry an on-record executive quote, so this piece paraphrases the announcement rather than quoting anyone.
The announcement matters for one more reason. It moves Search into the same app-connection model that Gemini already uses. Search has long been the front door to the web, and putting actions inside it changes what a search result can be.
How developers connect apps to Gemini and Search
Google gave developers two technical routes, and both lean on MCP, the Model Context Protocol. MCP is an open standard that lets an AI system call tools and fetch context from outside services in a consistent way. By building on it, Google avoids asking developers to learn a proprietary format from scratch.
Cloud-hosted MCP server
The first route is a cloud-hosted MCP server. A company runs a server that exposes its actions, such as creating a design or building a playlist, and Gemini or Search calls those actions on the user’s behalf. This suits services whose logic lives in the cloud, which covers most web products.
Android MCP and AppFunctions APIs
The second route is Android MCP, which uses AppFunctions APIs. This path targets apps installed on a phone, where an action may run on the device rather than on a remote server. Google did not detail how the two routes differ in capability, so developers will need the documentation to judge which fits a given product.
Developers register, test and submit apps through the Google Connected Console. They also choose where an app appears: in Google Search, in the Gemini app, or in both. That choice gives each company control over exposure, which matters when a brand wants conversational reach on one surface but not another.
| Element | What the announcement says | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud-hosted MCP server | One supported integration route | Fits web services with logic in the cloud |
| Android MCP with AppFunctions APIs | Second supported integration route | Targets apps on Android devices |
| Google Connected Console | Where developers register, test and submit apps | Single review and submission point |
| Surface selection | Search, Gemini app, or both | Lets brands control where they appear |
| Availability | Public preview, US developers, waitlist | Early access only, no broad date given |
Who is already on board: the named partners
Google named a mix of consumer and enterprise brands. The list includes Adobe, Experian, Localiza, Peloton, Instacart, Canva, YouTube Music, Yahoo Fantasy Football and Calm. The spread is wide, covering creative tools, credit data, car rental, fitness, grocery delivery, music, sports and wellness.
That range tells a story. Google is not testing the idea with a single vertical. It wants Gemini and Search to act as a general-purpose layer, where the same assistant can switch from designing a flyer to handling a grocery order. Whether every partner ships the same depth of integration is unknown, because the announcement did not detail the actions each one supports.
| Partner or app | What was reported |
|---|---|
| Canva | Example action: design a flyer |
| YouTube Music | Example action: create a playlist |
| Calm | Expected on both Gemini and Google Search, no launch date given |
| Adobe, Experian, Localiza | Named as partners, specific actions not detailed |
| Peloton, Instacart | Named as partners, specific actions not detailed |
| Yahoo Fantasy Football | Named as a partner, specific actions not detailed |
| Google Workspace, Google Photos, Google Home | Already in Gemini, scheduled to reach Search over the following weeks |
What users can do with connected apps today
For a user, the flow starts with linking an account. The announcement describes this as a secure link between the assistant and the third-party service. After that, a request in plain language can trigger an action inside the connected app.
Gemini already offers more than 50 Connected Apps, so the experience is not hypothetical on that side. Search is the newer destination. Apps that already work in Gemini, including Google Workspace, Google Photos, YouTube Music and Google Home, are scheduled to come to Search over the following weeks. Google did not give exact dates for each.
Calm is the clearest example of a new arrival. It is expected to launch on both Gemini and Google Search, though the source does not say when. For wellness and productivity brands, that kind of dual launch is the real test, since it shows whether one integration can serve two audiences.
Why Google Search is the bigger prize
Gemini is a destination people choose to open. Search is a habit that most internet users repeat several times a day. Bringing connected apps into Search puts actions in front of far more people than a standalone assistant can reach, and it does so at the moment of intent.
Consider the difference. A classic search for a workout returns links, and the user clicks through to a fitness site. A connected-app flow can skip the click and start the session, assuming the user has linked the account. For the brand, that is a shorter path to engagement. For the web at large, it is a shift in who owns the last step before the action.
Google also controls the ranking layer, which gives it unusual leverage. How connected apps are surfaced in Search results, and which apps appear first, has not been spelled out. Developers will watch that closely, because placement rules often decide who wins on a platform that many companies share.
Google’s wider AI push in personal data shows how seriously it treats trust at this layer. Our coverage of Google’s four ad safeguards for Gmail and Photos AI data shows the company already faces questions about how assistant features touch personal information. Connected apps add a new set of third-party data flows to that conversation.
Developer choice: Search, the Gemini app, or both
The per-surface switch deserves its own look. A developer can make an app available in Google Search, in the Gemini app, or in both. This sounds like a minor setting, yet it shapes strategy.
A company that wants deep, multi-step conversations may prefer the Gemini app, where a session can run long. A company chasing discovery and quick actions may want Search first. Many will choose both, but support costs and brand control differ by surface, so the choice is real. Google has not published guidance on how the two surfaces differ in presentation or limits.
Teams that already build tool-calling features will find the pattern familiar. Our hands-on guide to function calling across four LLMs in 13 steps covers the same basic idea, where a model picks a tool and passes structured arguments. MCP standardizes that handoff across vendors, which is why Google adopting it carries weight beyond one company.
The agent web: why the plumbing matters now
The term agent web is shorthand for a web where software acts for people. A user states a goal, and an AI system works across several services to reach it. That model needs two things from the services involved: a way to be discovered and a safe way to be called.
MCP supplies the second piece. Anthropic introduced the protocol, and other major AI vendors have since moved to support it. Our reporting on Anthropic’s IPO filing covers the company behind the standard. Google building a consumer-scale platform on MCP and AppFunctions shows the protocol has moved from developer experiment to mainstream product plumbing.
The Connected Apps Platform supplies the first piece, discovery. The Google Connected Console acts as a registry, and Gemini and Search act as the places where users meet the registered apps. In that sense, Google is building both the road and the toll booth.
Competitive picture: Google versus other assistants
Google is not alone in courting developers. Other AI assistant makers have also been signing up outside services so their chatbots can do more than answer questions. The race is now about ecosystem depth, not just model quality.
Google brings three advantages that rivals struggle to match. It owns Search, which carries enormous daily traffic. It owns Android, where AppFunctions can reach apps on the device. And it runs Workspace, Photos, YouTube Music and Home, all of which can serve as first-party connected apps. Few competitors can pair a search engine, a mobile operating system and a productivity suite in one offer.
Rivals hold their own strengths, including strong chatbot brands and developer goodwill. The model underneath matters too, and our price and capability comparison of GPT-6.1 Sol, Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 4 Argon shows how close the top tier has become. When models converge, the apps an assistant can reach become the differentiator, and that favors the platform with the most connections.
Security and consent: the open questions
An assistant that acts inside third-party accounts raises obvious risks. The announcement says users link services securely, but it does not publish the permission model in the material reviewed here. Readers should treat the security details as unconfirmed until Google releases documentation.
Three questions stand out. First, how granular is consent when a user links an app, and can they limit it to certain actions? Second, how does Google vet apps submitted through the Connected Console? Third, what happens to data that flows between Gemini or Search and a partner’s server? None of these has a public answer yet.
The wider AI industry offers cautionary examples. We covered a case where a developer tool let agents run deletion commands without asking, in our report on Claude Code v2.1.311 skipping approval for rm. We also covered a Workers AI cache leak that exposed 155 responses. Neither involves Google, but both show how permissions and shared infrastructure can fail in AI products.
What is confirmed and what is not
Coverage of a fast-moving platform launch tends to blur reported facts with assumptions. The table below separates the two so readers can judge what to rely on.
| Item | Status | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Connected Apps Platform exists | Confirmed | Introduced for businesses and developers |
| Public preview in the US via waitlist | Confirmed | Developers must join the waitlist |
| More than 50 Connected Apps in Gemini | Confirmed | Reported in the announcement |
| Workspace, Photos, YouTube Music, Home coming to Search | Confirmed | Scheduled over the following weeks |
| Calm on Gemini and Search | Expected | No launch date provided |
| Broader availability date | Not announced | Google gave no timeline |
| Pricing or revenue terms | Unconfirmed | Nothing published |
| Named Google spokesperson or on-record quote | Unconfirmed | None in the reports reviewed |
Market impact for developers and brands
For developers, the platform lowers the cost of showing up inside an assistant, since MCP is an open standard and one server can in principle serve more than one AI product. It also raises a strategic worry. If users start tasks in Gemini or Search and never open the brand’s own app, the brand loses some direct contact with its customers.
Brands that sell a service, such as a car rental firm or a grocery delivery company, may welcome the shift if it brings new orders. Brands that depend on ad impressions inside their own apps may feel the opposite pressure. Google’s pitch implies the first outcome, but the second is a fair concern.
The waitlist also matters. A US-only public preview means developers elsewhere cannot join yet, and the missing broader-availability date leaves global teams unable to plan. Companies outside the United States should prepare their MCP servers now and wait for Google to announce expansion. More background on this beat sits in our AI and machine learning section.
Even Google’s own model line shapes this story, since each new Gemini release changes what an assistant can do with connected apps. Our look at the unconfirmed Gemini 4 Carbon testing shows how much remains unknown about the models that will drive these integrations.
Five predictions for connected apps
These predictions are analysis, not reported fact. They rest on the confirmed details above and on how platform launches usually unfold.
- The partner list will grow fast. Gemini already has more than 50 Connected Apps, and a public preview with a waitlist suggests Google wants a steady flow of new submissions. Expect more consumer brands to announce integrations in the coming months.
- Search will become the main battleground. With Workspace, Photos, YouTube Music and Home scheduled to arrive, Search is where reach is largest. Developers will focus their effort there once the surface opens.
- Google will publish a permission and review framework. Pressure from developers and regulators on consent and data flows is likely to force clearer rules than the announcement provides today.
- Broader availability will follow the US preview. Google gave no date, but a US-only waitlist is a typical first stage. Expansion to more countries is the logical next step, though timing is unknown.
- Rivals will answer with their own app programs. Competing assistant makers cannot ignore an ecosystem race, so expect new developer incentives and integration announcements.
FAQ: Google Connected Apps Platform
What is the Google Connected Apps Platform?
It is a new offering that lets businesses and developers connect their apps to Google Search and Gemini. Users can link a third-party service and ask the assistant to perform specific actions, such as having Canva design a flyer or YouTube Music create a playlist.
Who can use the platform right now?
It is in public preview for developers in the United States who join the waitlist. Google did not announce when it will reach a wider group of developers or other countries.
How do developers connect an app?
They can integrate through a cloud-hosted MCP server or through Android MCP using AppFunctions APIs. They register, test and submit apps through the Google Connected Console.
Can an app appear in only one place?
Yes. Developers choose whether an app is available in Google Search, in the Gemini app, or in both.
How many apps does Gemini support today?
Gemini already has more than 50 Connected Apps. Named partners include Adobe, Experian, Localiza, Peloton, Instacart, Canva, YouTube Music, Yahoo Fantasy Football and Calm.
When will Google apps arrive in Search?
Apps already in Gemini, including Google Workspace, Google Photos, YouTube Music and Google Home, are scheduled to come to Search over the following weeks. Google did not give exact dates for each app.
Does the platform cost anything?
The reports reviewed for this story do not mention pricing, so it remains unconfirmed. Check Google’s own documentation once the waitlist opens to more developers.
