ChatGPT just became an app store: Spotify and Canva inside your chats

New Delhi: OpenAI has turned ChatGPT into a platform for third-party apps that work directly inside conversations, and released an Apps SDK in preview so developers can build their own. 

Users can invoke apps by name or let ChatGPT suggest them contextually, then interact through in-chat interfaces such as maps, playlists or slides. 

The first wave of partners, Booking.com, Canva, Coursera, Expedia, Figma, Spotify and Zillow, is live for logged-in ChatGPT users outside the EU across Free, Go, Plus and Pro tiers, with more partners to be added later this year.

For developers, the Apps SDK is available in preview and built on the Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling apps that define both chat logic and custom UI components. OpenAI says app submissions will open later in 2025, alongside a dedicated directory and forthcoming details on monetisation.

OpenAI underscores safety and privacy requirements: every app must follow platform policies, disclose privacy practices, request only minimum data, and prompt users to connect so they understand what may be shared. More granular data-control options are planned. 

The company frames the move as meeting users “in the chat” while giving developers reach to 800 million+ weekly ChatGPT users, part of a broader DevDay push to help teams “build agents more reliably” and scale inside ChatGPT.

How it works, at a glance

• Discover & invoke: Start with “Spotify…” or let ChatGPT surface the right app mid-chat. 
• In-chat UI: Apps render interactive elements, e.g., Zillow maps or Canva slide decks—within the conversation.
• Build now: Apps SDK preview, MCP-based; open submissions, directory listing and monetisation later this year.
  
  

Why it matters: Embedding app workflows inside a ubiquitous chat interface could compress discovery, intent and action into a single thread, benefiting users with fewer context switches and giving developers native reach inside ChatGPT.