Google launched a preview of its Connected Apps Platform on October 28, 2026. The Google Connected Apps Platform gives developers one place to build apps that people can use from inside Google Search and the Gemini app, and Google is opening access in phases.

What’s new

  • Developers connect a cloud-hosted MCP server, or Android MCP through the AppFunctions APIs, then register, test and submit the app in a new Google Connected Console.
  • Before review, developers choose whether the app goes live in Search, the Gemini app, or both.
  • Once an app is live, the console shows traffic, latency and error rates, and the business keeps its verified logo and authenticated accounts.
  • Google says more than 50 Connected Apps are already live across Search and Gemini. Adobe, Experian, Localiza and Peloton work in Gemini now and reach Search in the coming weeks, and Calm is coming to both.

TechCrunch reports the preview is open to developers in the U.S. for now. Google says more developers, markets and Google products will follow over the coming months.

Who it affects

Businesses whose customers take an action online: booking, ordering, getting a quote or checking an account. If a person asks Gemini to do that task and your app is connected, the request can reach you without a visit to your website.

Local service firms, ecommerce stores and software products are the clearest fits. Most small businesses won’t get into the first phase, but the build steps are public now. The practical question for a business is which customer tasks could run through an app like this, and whether its systems can expose them safely.

Our take

We’d file this under worth preparing for, with no rush. If you already have an API for bookings or orders, ask your developer what it would take to put it behind an MCP server, since the same server can also work with Claude and ChatGPT connectors. If you don’t have an API yet, list the two or three actions customers ask for most, because those are what you’d build first.

Our API and connector development team builds connectors like these, and our AI agents service covers the agent side.