If you’ve been using ChatGPT’s Connectors to access tools such as Google Drive, Gmail, SharePoint or other business platforms, you may have noticed that things look a little different.
OpenAI has been changing how integrations with external tools are organised and described within ChatGPT.
The most important change for everyday users is simple:
Connectors are now called Apps.
From Connectors to Apps
Until recently, OpenAI commonly referred to integrations that allowed ChatGPT to work with information held in other services as Connectors.
The terminology has now changed to Apps.
This is more than a cosmetic name change. It reflects the way ChatGPT’s integrations are developing.
Early connectors were largely about giving ChatGPT access to information held somewhere else. For example, connecting Google Drive so that ChatGPT could find and work with documents.
Apps can potentially do more. Depending on the individual app and the permissions you give it, an app can allow ChatGPT to search and retrieve information, use external data as context and, where supported, take actions.
In other words, the direction of travel is from “let ChatGPT see information in another system” towards “let ChatGPT work with the other systems you use.”
Where have my Connectors gone?
They haven’t disappeared.
If you previously connected services to ChatGPT, you’ll now find this area under Apps.
Go to: ChatGPT → Settings → Apps
This is where you can see the apps available to your account and manage your connections.
You can also access relevant apps from within a ChatGPT conversation when you want ChatGPT to use information or functionality from another service.
Exactly what you see will depend on your ChatGPT plan, location, workspace settings and which integrations are currently available to you.
What can an App actually do?
It depends on the app.
Some apps primarily give ChatGPT access to information. Others can provide additional functionality or support actions.
For example, connecting your everyday business systems could allow you to ask ChatGPT questions such as:
“Find the latest version of our marketing strategy.”
“What meetings do I have tomorrow?”
“Summarise my recent emails about Project X.”
“What am I waiting for from this client?”
“Which projects are overdue?”
Instead of you finding the information first and bringing it into ChatGPT, the app provides a bridge between ChatGPT and the system where that information already lives.
Why the change matters for businesses
The name change might sound relatively insignificant, but what’s happening behind it is much more interesting.
Most businesses currently use ChatGPT as a separate tool.
You open ChatGPT, give it some information, ask it to do something and then take the result back to whichever system you’re actually working in.
Apps start to reduce that separation.
If ChatGPT can securely work with your email, calendar, documents, project management system, CRM and other business tools, you spend less time copying information between systems and explaining context.
It also makes much more sophisticated requests possible.
Rather than simply asking:
“Help me plan my day.”
You can potentially ask:
“Look at my meetings, outstanding projects and relevant emails. What should I prioritise today?”
That’s a very different relationship with AI.
Apps are becoming an important part of ChatGPT
The move from Connectors to Apps is another sign of where ChatGPT is heading.
The interesting question for businesses is becoming less about “What can ChatGPT generate for me?”
It’s increasingly:
“What could ChatGPT do if it could work with the systems and information we already use?”
And that’s where Apps get particularly interesting.
What can you connect to ChatGPT?
We’ve put together a separate guide to the apps and business tools you can connect to ChatGPT, including email, calendars, document storage, project management, design, analytics and more.