Google has launched a preview of its Connected Apps Platform, a single place for developers to build and manage apps for Search and the Gemini app, alongside a new set of partner apps from Adobe, Calm and Peloton. The platform lets developers build once and reach users across both surfaces, with more than 50 Connected Apps already live between Search and Gemini.
Build Once, Reach Both Surfaces
Until now, bringing an app into Search or the Gemini app meant separate paths for each surface, with separate integration work and separate management. The new platform unifies that process: developers integrate through a cloud-hosted MCP server or Android MCP using the AppFunctions APIs, then use the Google Connected Console to register, test and submit their app.
Before review, developers choose whether their app will go live in Search, the Gemini app, or both, and once live they can track traffic, latency and error rates from one place. They also keep control of their brand identity, including verified logos and authenticated accounts, so an app still looks like itself inside Google’s products rather than disappearing into them.
Google says it is opening access in phases and will add more developers, markets and Google products over the coming months. Developers can sign up for the preview and read the documentation now, but there is no date yet for general availability, which means early access will remain limited for some time.
New Partners Join Search And Gemini
Integrations with Adobe, Experian, Localiza and Peloton are live for users in the Gemini app, and Google says it will bring those Connected Apps to Search in the coming weeks. A new integration with Calm will launch across both Search and Gemini, adding health and fitness to a catalogue that already spans productivity and event ticketing.
The examples Google gives are deliberately everyday ones: ordering groceries, making playlists and getting more done without leaving a search or a chat. That framing matters, because Connected Apps only succeed if users treat them as shortcuts inside tools they already open, rather than as another app store to browse.
The move also deepens Google’s bet on the Model Context Protocol as the connective tissue between AI assistants and outside services. By standardising on MCP, Google lowers the cost for developers who already support the protocol elsewhere, while keeping review and distribution firmly in its own hands.
What Developers Should Watch
Distribution is the prize here: a small developer that lands in Search or the Gemini app reaches high-intent users at the moment they ask for something. The trade-off is dependence, since Google controls review, ranking and the console through which performance is measured, and a policy change can reshape an app’s reach overnight.
Brand control is Google’s answer to that concern, at least in part. Verified logos and authenticated accounts let partners stay recognisable, and the console’s traffic and error data gives them a clearer picture of how their app performs. Whether that transparency extends to how often apps are surfaced, rather than just how they perform once found, remains an open question.
The launch sits alongside Google’s wider push to make its AI surfaces more useful for everyday tasks, including the Chrome autofill upgrade that draws on Gmail. Together, the moves point to a Google that wants its assistant to act on a user’s behalf, not merely answer questions.
Why It Matters
If the platform takes off, Search and the Gemini app stop being destinations and become switchboards, routing users to the right outside service at the right moment. That is a significant shift for developers, who gain a new distribution channel, and for rivals, who must decide whether to join a Google-controlled surface or stay outside it.
For users, the benefit is convenience with a catch: the more an assistant can do inside one conversation, the more it knows about what they buy, book and plan. Google’s pitch is that brand controls and console transparency keep that bargain honest, and the platform’s success will depend on whether developers and users believe it.
Background
Connected Apps have already been appearing in Search and the Gemini app, but developers previously lacked a unified way to build, submit and manage them across both surfaces.
Source: Google’s announcement
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