Google opens Gemini and Search to third-party apps with new developer platform

Google opens Gemini and Search to third-party apps with new developer platform

Google has opened its Connected Apps Platform — a formal developer platform that lets companies and developers connect their own apps to Gemini and Google Search. A public beta preview was made available to US developers via a waitlist on October 28, 2026, and Google says the apps already connected to Gemini are expected to roll out in Search over the coming weeks, according to coverage of the company's blog post by TechCrunch, The Verge, Android Authority and others.

What has changed

Until now, third-party integrations across Google's AI surfaces have been a closed, curated selection. In Search, the connected apps were limited to Instacart, Canva, YouTube Music, Yahoo Fantasy Football and Sleeper Fantasy Football, as Android Authority writes. Gemini had a larger selection, but there too Google chose the partners itself.

With the Connected Apps Platform, the process opens up to a wider circle. According to TechCrunch via UA.NEWS, the platform enables companies and developers to connect their own apps to the AI features in both Gemini and Google Search. A public beta preview is available as of October 28 to developers in the US who sign up via the waitlist, TechCrunch and The Verge both report.

It is worth noting that all the information in this story comes from secondary coverage of Google's own blog post published the same day; Google's primary source is not available in the material underpinning this article. The figures and names below should therefore be read as multiple outlets' rendering of the same announcement, not independently confirmed facts.

How the integration works

Technically, the platform is built on MCP (Model Context Protocol). According to TechCrunch, developers must integrate their app with either a cloud-based MCP server or Android MCP via the AppFunctions API. The app is then registered, tested and submitted through the Google Connected Console.

The Connected Console is, according to Android Headlines, a central dashboard where developers test features, track error rates and monitor traffic in real time. The Verge adds that beta participants get tools to track metrics such as traffic and latency — that is, response time — for app usage across Google's surfaces.

Developers also decide for themselves whether the app should run in Search, in the Gemini app, or in both at once, Android Headlines writes. That is a significant detail: the same integration can now reach users both in the search engine and in the AI assistant — two surfaces with very different usage contexts.

Who is already on the platform

According to TechCrunch, more than 50 Connected Apps are already available in Gemini, including offerings from Adobe, Experian, Localiza and Peloton, alongside Google's own services — listed as "Workplace," Photos, YouTube Music and Google Home. "Workplace" is likely a typo for Google Workspace, but that has not been confirmed, and it is worth keeping in mind when reading the list.

The sources are not fully aligned here: TechCrunch places the 50-plus apps "in Gemini," while Droid Life and Android Authority say the figure covers apps across both Search and Gemini. Droid Life quotes Google itself as saying the apps span "areas from productivity and event ticketing to health and fitness." The discrepancy is not resolved in the available source material, but in practice both readings point in the same direction: the selection of integrated apps is substantial and growing, and the spread beyond Search is under way.

What's coming — and what Google hasn't said

The rollout is happening in phases. According to Android Headlines, basic access is being opened in waves, with more developers, regions and products added over the coming months. The beta preview is so far limited to developers in the US; when the platform will be available in more countries is not specified.

Google has, according to TechCrunch, said that the apps already in Gemini are expected to appear in Google Search over the coming weeks — but without a precise date. The same applies to Calm, the meditation and sleep app that Google will launch, according to Android Authority, as a connected app across both Gemini and Search, with no timeline. And most importantly: the company has not said when the Connected Apps Platform itself will become generally available.

Why it matters

The point of the platform is to move app usage into the conversation. Instead of a user leaving Gemini or Search to open a separate app, the app's functions can be triggered directly in the AI interface — for example, health and fitness data from Peloton or document work via Adobe. For developers, that means a new distribution channel with potentially large reach, but also a dependency on Google's infrastructure, console and policies.

The MCP specification as the foundation aligns with a broader industry trend toward standardized interfaces between AI models and external tools, but the source material says nothing about exclusivity, commercial terms, or how apps are ranked or prioritized in answers — questions that will become relevant as the selection grows.

What remains to be clarified

Several significant questions remain open after the announcement. There is no date for broader platform access, whether beyond the US or beyond the beta preview. The rollout of existing Gemini apps to Search is dated only as "the coming weeks." The Calm launch has no timeline at all. And the disagreement between sources over whether the 50-plus apps already exist in both surfaces or only in Gemini has not been resolved.

For Norwegian and European developers, the immediate conclusion is for now negative: the beta preview is limited to developers in the US, and Google has said nothing about when additional regions will be included, beyond the general plan of phased waves "over the next few months."