Google is opening its AI front door to outside developers. The company has launched the Connected Apps Platform, which lets businesses build their own integrations and submit them for use inside Google Search and the Gemini app, according to TechCrunch AI. It’s in beta for now, available to U.S. developers through a waitlist.
Connected apps first showed up in Gemini and Search earlier this year. They let users securely link third-party services and take real actions without leaving Google’s AI, like designing a flyer with Canva or building a playlist in YouTube Music. Until now, Google picked the partners. This launch lets any business or developer apply to join.
What Google Actually Shipped
Here’s what developers get with the new platform, as TechCrunch AI reports:
- Two ways to connect. Developers can integrate through a cloud-hosted MCP server or through Android MCP using the AppFunctions APIs. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the open standard that’s quickly becoming the common language for plugging tools into AI models. Google building on it means developers don’t have to learn a proprietary system.
- A single console for everything. The Google Connected Console handles registering, testing, and submitting apps. It’s one place to manage the whole process from first build to going live.
- You choose where your app shows up. Developers can make their app available in Search, the Gemini app, or both. That matters, because people use Search and a chat assistant in very different ways.
- Performance tracking after launch. Once an app is live, developers can watch traffic, latency, and error rates. Basic stuff, but you need it if you’re going to treat AI surfaces as a real distribution channel.
- Brand control stays with you. Businesses keep control of their identity, including verified logos and authenticated accounts. If your service shows up inside someone else’s AI, you want people to know it’s actually you.
Who’s Already On Board
Gemini already has more than 50 connected apps, from partners like Adobe, Experian, Localiza, and Peloton. Google’s own services are in there too: Workspace, Photos, YouTube Music, and Google Home.
Those Gemini apps will come to Google Search over the next few weeks. Search has fewer integrations right now, including Instacart, Canva, YouTube Music, and Yahoo Fantasy Football. Meditation app Calm is the newest partner, and it’ll launch on both Gemini and Search soon.
Why This Matters
What stands out to me is the SEO comparison. TechCrunch AI suggests this could be one of the first steps for businesses that want to stay visible on the “agentic web,” much like SEO helped websites rank in search results. If people stop opening individual apps and start asking their AI assistant to do things for them, getting into that assistant becomes the new version of ranking on page one.
Google isn’t alone here. ChatGPT and Meta’s Muse have their own versions of the same idea. The bet behind all of them is identical: people will run their favorite services through one preferred AI instead of jumping between a dozen apps.
None of that works without a big catalog, though. An assistant that can only talk to a handful of services won’t change anyone’s habits. By letting any developer submit apps, Google is trying to grow that catalog faster than it could by signing partners one at a time. And with Search’s reach, its version could get more traction than rivals that are starting from a smaller audience.
The Caveats
There are a few limits to keep in mind:
- U.S. only for now. The preview is limited to U.S. developers.
- Waitlist required. It’s a public preview, but you still have to sign up and get approved.
- No timeline for wider release. Google hasn’t said when the platform will open up more broadly.
- Pricing isn’t public. The article doesn’t cover costs or revenue-sharing terms for developers.
What Comes Next
If you run a consumer service, this is worth watching closely. Apps that get in early will help set the norms for how businesses show up inside AI assistants, just like early SEO adopters shaped search marketing. The bigger question is whether users really change their habits or keep opening apps the old way. Google is betting they’ll change. You can find the full details in the original TechCrunch AI report.