Google is beginning to roll out Connected Apps in AI Mode in the U.S. this week, allowing people to link Instacart, Canva, and YouTube Music and use one connected workflow to move a search request toward a completed task.

For people using AI Mode, the decision is whether that convenience is worth linking third-party accounts and accepting the related data-use choices. Google says it uses interactions with Search and its AI experiences to develop and improve its generative AI systems.

The rollout puts Google alongside OpenAI and Anthropic, whose AI assistants are also beginning to connect requests with actions in outside services to make workflows more efficient and reduce the need to move between separate services to get tasks done. AI Mode can prepare a grocery cart, flyer, or playlist, though people may still need to leave Google to complete steps such as checkout, editing, downloading, or listening.

In short, Google’s Connected Apps can make AI Mode a place for getting tasks done as well as getting answers, helping people carry a request into a connected service through one workflow. People should still understand the account connections, final handoffs, and data-use choices involved.

Connected Apps are account links that let AI Mode work with a partner service, such as preparing an Instacart cart, Canva design, or YouTube Music playlist.

Connected apps link an AI assistant to third-party services, allowing it to help move a request toward a completed task.

Google is starting to roll out Connected Apps in AI Mode in the U.S. this week, allowing people to securely link and interact with Instacart, Canva, and YouTube Music while they search. AI Mode is available through Google Search or at google.com/ai, although Connected Apps availability varies by location, language, and device.

Google already lets people connect some services to the Gemini app, but this rollout brings those types of connections directly into Search. Once a person links one of these services, how can AI Mode help with tasks?

Connected Apps let AI Mode help with requests such as building a grocery cart, starting a flyer, or creating a playlist. After a person links an account to one of the connected apps when prompted, AI Mode can work with the connected service to move that task forward.

Someone planning a barbecue, for example, can ask AI Mode for help with a grocery list. If they connect Instacart, AI Mode can add the ingredients to an Instacart cart. The person is then directed to Instacart to check out, manage the order, and track its delivery.

Canva and YouTube Music follow the same pattern. AI Mode can show Canva template options or create a flyer draft, then direct the person to Canva to modify or download it. It can also curate a playlist and save it to YouTube Music, where the person can listen to their new playlist.

OpenAI and Anthropic have already begun connecting their assistants to apps such as Instacart and Canva. Google’s rollout puts Search into that developing effort to help people move from a request toward a completed task through one connected workflow.

Google’s rollout of Connected Apps arrives after OpenAI and Anthropic began connecting their own AI assistants to outside services. OpenAI added Instacart to ChatGPT in December 2025 and Canva in June 2026. Anthropic expanded Claude’s Canva capabilities in January 2026 and added everyday apps, including Instacart, in April.

OpenAI and Anthropic have also connected their assistants to productivity services such as Dropbox, Gmail, and Calendar. Those connections extend the same kind of workflow beyond shopping, design, and music into files, email, and scheduling. How much of a task stays inside the AI assistant still varies from one company to another.

With Instacart, Google can add ingredients to a cart through AI Mode, then directs the person to Instacart to check out, manage the order, and track delivery. OpenAI says its Instacart app lets people build a cart and complete checkout within ChatGPT, keeping the planning and purchase in the same conversation.

Google and Anthropic each use Canva to carry an idea from chat into editable design work. Google says AI Mode can show template options or create a flyer draft before directing people to Canva to modify or download it. Anthropic’s Canva connection can turn ideas or drafts created in Claude into editable designs in Canva.

Instead of opening a shopping, design, music, email, calendar, or file-storage app before they can begin working, people can start with a request in an AI assistant where they are already working. The assistant can organize the work and prepare the next action within one connected workflow, even when a partner service completes the final step. That raises a larger question for Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic: are their AI assistants becoming a place where people get tasks done, as well as a place to ask for help?

Google says Connected Apps are meant to help people “get even more done” and “streamline your day.” Its first partners show how AI Mode can do that by helping users build a grocery cart, start a marketing design, or curate a playlist.

For a person, the convenience is having one conversation carry the task from the initial request through its planning and setup. AI Mode can prepare the cart, flyer, or playlist before the person moves to the connected service for checkout, editing, downloading, or listening.

Because AI Mode uses the original request to prepare that starting result, the person does not have to restate the grocery list, design brief, or playlist criteria while it works. They also do not need to begin the task by opening each separate service in a different tab or window.

Whether that all-in-one workflow feels worthwhile depends on the account connections, app controls, and data-use choices a person is comfortable making.

On a computer, people can open AI Mode through Google Search or at google.com/ai. From the Ask anything bar, they can name the app they want to use or make a general request and choose from the available app list. For example, a person could ask, “Make me a grocery cart of healthy snacks and drinks for 8 adults.” If the selected app is not already connected, AI Mode offers an option to connect it. To complete the connection, the person selects “Link” and follows the account-linking steps in AI Mode.

Connecting an app requires an account with that service and a link between that account and the person’s Google Account. Google may default to the app a person last used for a particular task, though they can choose another available service by mentioning the name of the desired app in the Ask anything bar in AI Mode.

People can view connected apps in the Linked apps section of their Google Account or at myaccount.google.com/connections. To disconnect an app, they select it in those settings and remove the connection. Choosing “Delete all” removes all links and stops sharing Google Account data with the apps. Google says deleting a link also removes its access to that app account and disables any features that require the connection on devices where the person is signed in to Google.

Google recommends enabling history and personalized recommendations so people can return to a previous AI Mode search and continue where they left off. For example, someone planning a party might start a grocery list or playlist, then need to leave before finishing it. With those settings enabled, they can return to the earlier AI Mode search and continue the planning. AI Mode remains available without the setting, but people cannot pick up earlier searches from where they stopped.

Google says it uses interactions with Search and its AI experiences, including what people search for and user feedback, to develop and improve generative AI in Search and related machine-learning technologies. When trained reviewers work to improve the quality of Search’s machine-learning models, Google says the data they see and annotate is disconnected from users’ accounts. The company also says automated tools recognize and remove a broad range of identifying and sensitive personal information.

The rollout of Connected Apps starts in the U.S. with Instacart, Canva, and YouTube Music, and availability can vary by location, language, and device. Google says it is working with additional partners and expects to launch more apps soon.

Q: What are Google Connected Apps in AI Mode?
A: Connected Apps link AI Mode with third-party services, allowing it to help move a request toward a completed task. AI Mode can prepare a grocery cart, flyer, or playlist, then direct the person to the connected service for final steps such as checkout, editing or downloading a design, or listening to music.

Q: What can AI Mode do with a Connected App?
A: AI Mode can add ingredients to an Instacart cart, show Canva template options or create a flyer draft, and curate a playlist for YouTube Music. The connected service handles the final action for each task.

Q: Which apps work with Google Connected Apps, and where are they available?
A: Google is starting the U.S. rollout with Instacart, Canva, and YouTube Music. Availability can vary by location, language, and device, and Google says it expects to add more partners soon.

Q: Will I have to leave AI Mode to finish a task?
A: In many cases, yes. AI Mode can move the work forward, but it directs people to the partner service to complete actions such as checking out, modifying a design, downloading a file, or listening to a playlist.

Q: How do I connect or remove an app in AI Mode?
A: People can name the app they want to use or choose an available app in AI Mode. If it is not already connected, AI Mode provides an option to link it. Connected Apps can later be reviewed or removed through the Linked apps section of a Google Account.

Q: How does Google use my AI Mode activity?
A: Google says it uses interactions with Search and its AI experiences, including searches and user feedback, to develop and improve its generative AI in Search and related machine-learning technologies.

Google’s Connected Apps turn AI Mode into a place where people can move from a search request toward completing a real task through one connected workflow.

The key change is that AI Mode can reduce the back-and-forth between searching for information and using separate services to act on it. It can prepare a grocery cart, flyer, or playlist from the same conversation, so the person does not have to restate their needs when they take the next step.

People who regularly use Search and apps to plan household errands, create marketing materials, organize an event, or choose entertainment should pay attention. It may be especially useful for shoppers building a delivery order, small-business owners and marketers starting a Canva design, and anyone who uses YouTube Music to create playlists.

AI Mode can help people get more done from one conversation by using the original search request to prepare the next step. The result is less interruption between planning and doing, which can make routine tasks quicker to start and easier to finish.

People considering Connected Apps now need to decide whether the convenience is worth linking their third-party accounts and making the related data-use choices. They may also need to consider whether they want to enable history and personalized recommendations so they can return to an earlier AI Mode search and continue a task later.

In short, Google’s Connected Apps can turn a search request into the setup for a real task, helping people get more done through one connected workflow while the partner service still handles the final steps.

The AI assistant that helps people get more done with fewer steps may become the one they turn to first.

Editor’s Note: This article was created by Alicia Shapiro, CMO of AiNews.com, with writing support, AEO/GEO/SEO optimization, image concept development, and editorial structuring support from ChatGPT, an AI assistant. All final editorial decisions, perspectives, and publishing choices were made by Alicia Shapiro.