Google wants many more third-party services to live inside its AI assistant and its search engine, and it is now letting developers apply to put them there. On October 28 the company opened a preview of the Connected Apps Platform, a single place where outside developers can build, test, submit and monitor apps that people reach through the Gemini app, Google Search or both. The announcement was written by Chips Mistry and Mai Lowe, group product managers for Search and the Gemini app.
Connected apps are not new in themselves. Google introduced them earlier this year so users could link outside services and ask Gemini or Search to act on their behalf, for instance building a playlist in YouTube Music or a flyer in Canva. Until now the list was curated by Google. The platform turns it into something closer to an app store that any qualifying developer can join.
The technical route runs through the Model Context Protocol. A developer either exposes a cloud-hosted MCP server or, on Android, uses Android MCP with the AppFunctions APIs. The app is then registered, tested and sent for review in a tool called Google Connected Console, where the developer also decides whether it should appear in Search, in Gemini or in both. After launch, the console reports traffic, latency and error rates, and lets the publisher keep control of brand elements such as verified logos and signed-in accounts.
Access is limited for now. TechCrunch reports that the preview is open to developers in the United States who join a waitlist, and Google did not say when it will widen. Google's own post says it is admitting developers in phases and will add more markets and more Google products over the coming months, with documentation published on its developer site.
Alongside the platform, Google is extending the catalog it already runs. It counts more than 50 connected apps across Search and Gemini, covering areas from productivity and ticketing to health and fitness. Integrations from Adobe, Experian, Localiza and Peloton already work in Gemini and are due to reach Search within weeks, which matters because Search currently offers a shorter list, including Instacart, Canva, YouTube Music and Yahoo Fantasy Football. The meditation app Calm is a new partner and will launch on both surfaces.
TechCrunch frames the move as part of a wider contest among AI assistants. OpenAI's ChatGPT and Meta's Muse offer their own app integrations, and each company is betting that people will increasingly use services through an assistant instead of opening separate apps. In that world, being callable from Gemini or Search could become as important for a business as ranking in search results once was, a comparison TechCrunch draws with SEO.
For developers, the choice of MCP as the integration layer is the most practical detail. Teams that have already built an MCP server for other assistants may be able to reuse much of that work for Google, rather than writing a Google-only connector. What Google has not yet explained is how apps will be reviewed and ranked, which business terms apply, and when the platform will leave its U.S.-only preview.