Google opened more of Gemini and Search to outside applications this week, TechCrunch reported Wednesday, as agents change how software reaches users.
The vehicle is the Connected Apps Platform, now in beta for US developers. Connected apps, introduced in Gemini and Search earlier this year, let a person link a third-party service and act inside it, designing a flyer in Canva or building a playlist in YouTube Music. Google now lets any business or developer submit one through a console where they register, test and track the result.
The build path runs through a cloud-hosted MCP server or Android MCP using AppFunctions interfaces. Developers decide whether an app appears in Search, in the Gemini app or both, and afterward can watch traffic, latency and error rates while keeping control of their branding. The comparison Google invites is to search optimization. Ranking in results once decided who got found, and placement in an assistant’s list of callable tools may decide it next.
Scale matters, because an agent can only choose from what is available. More than 50 connected apps already sit in Gemini, with partners including Adobe, Experian, Localiza and Peloton, alongside Google’s own services. Those arrive in Search over the coming weeks, where the list is thinner. Calm is the newest partner, with an app due on both surfaces.
The consequence is that surfaces stay inside Google’s control, and so does the ranking of everyone who wants to appear on them.
