What you need to know
- Google announced a Connected Apps expansion in AI Mode in Search, opening access to Instacart, YouTube Music, and Canva for U.S. users.
- These services let users lean on the AI for grocery shopping, as AI Mode asks for their preferred store before filling their Instacart bag ahead of checkout.
- Google states that it’s working with other partners in preparation to add more services
Google’s Connected Apps let users bring Gemini into their emails, Drive, and more. This experience is expanding this week, as AI Mode lends a helping hand.
Google announced this afternoon (July 16) that it’s rolling out Connected Apps in AI Mode. The post states, “…we’re enabling you to directly connect your apps in Search.” Connected Apps in AI Mode will roll out first for U.S. users, and it’s adding three “go-to” services for users getting started. U.S. users can connect their YouTube Music account with AI Mode for playlist creation.
The company offers a brief example, stating users can prompt the AI to create a playlist for someone’s birthday. Offering their age helps, as the AI rolls the time machine back to their birth year to create a playlist that blends the past and present. AI Mode will produce its results in your chat with it. Users will find the playlist’s AI-generated title, number of songs, playlist length (mins/hours), and buttons to “add to library” or play.
Something to note is that AI Mode’s playlists in YouTube Music will expire after a duration. Google recommends that users save their playlist to avoid losing it.
Instacart is another service users can let the AI leverage. If you’re looking to get some groceries before a big party, you can tell the AI to “get me all the things I need for my BBQ and add them to my grocery cart.” AI Mode will sift through your Google Account, Gmail, and more to gather the details, and since you mentioned “grocery cart,” Instacart is where it’ll lean to complete the process.
Users can select their preferred store, verify the items in their cart, and open Instacart to complete the transaction.
Let AI do the heavylifting
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The final service arriving in AI Mode is Canva. You may know that this is a go-to app for creating flyers and other promotional material. Users can tell AI Mode to create a specific banner in Canva, alongside specific details, such as its theme, date/time for the event, and more. AI Mode will offer its results in chat. Users can tap on the individual AI creations to edit them in the Canva app.
Connected Apps in AI Mode are rolling out today (July 16) for U.S. users. Google says it’s “working with a range of partners,” teasing that there’s more to come.
Personal Intelligence was a huge update for Gemini in January. This allowed users to bring Gemini into their personal lives by connecting Photos, Gmail, YouTube, and other apps. Users could ask Gemini to find dates from a recent string of emails or find replacement tires. The AI would look through emails and their photos to find their car’s make and model before completing the search.
Google rolled this experience out in AI Mode, Gemini, and Gemini in Chrome for more U.S. users in March. It was confined to Google’s apps, but this expansion gives users even more room to work with.
