Apps Inside ChatGPT: What It Means Now

Apps Inside ChatGPT: What It Means Now

ChatGPT now hosts real apps inside your conversations. Want to design in Canva or browse homes on Zillow? You can, without leaving chat.

By Rodger Mansfield, Technology Editor

October 7, 2025

What if your AI chat assistant could also be your design tool, travel planner, or real-estate scout, all in one place? 

Here's a Cool Tip:  Use the New "Apps in ChatGPT" feature.

OpenAI now allows users to call up functional integrations from Canva to Zillow directly inside chat, merging conversation and action.

Until now, ChatGPT could analyze text, fetch web pages, or run code plugins. 

Now it can reach outward, interactively, with real services. 

That shifts the conversation from “ask and receive” to “ask and do.” Let me walk you through what’s live, why it matters, and how to use it.

Feature Explanation

OpenAI has launched a new Apps SDK (available in preview) that lets developers build integrations that run within ChatGPT. 

Apps can appear when you name them in your message, for example, “Canva, design a poster for Earth Day” or ChatGPT can suggest an app when it thinks you mean to use one. 

These apps respond in context, with interactive elements like designs, maps, listings, previews, and more. 

At launch, the primary apps include Booking.com, Canva, Coursera, Expedia, Figma, Spotify, and Zillow. 

These integrations bring more than read-only data: they let you act. 

Ask Zillow to show homes for sale in a city; it will return mapped listings, photos, price ranges, filters, all inside the chat. 

When you’re ready to go further (schedule a tour, apply for financing, contact an agent), it drops you into the full Zillow experience. 

With Canva, you can ask ChatGPT to generate a visual: say, “Create an Instagram post for our summer sale.” Canva responds inside the chat with design previews, which you can refine or export. 

Because apps live inside the conversation, they take advantage of context. 

You can build layered prompts: “Canva, make a slide with these bullet points … then expand each point with visuals.” 

You don’t bounce between windows.

Also: this feature is live today for users outside the EU, across Free, Plus, and Pro subscription tiers. 

Developers can already experiment using the Apps SDK preview. 

Later this year, OpenAI will begin accepting app submissions and provide monetization options. 

What You’ll Gain

• Work with Canva, Zillow, Booking, and more without jumping between tabs
• Seamless pipelines: talk, build, refine, act all in one chat
• Time saved and friction reduced
• Access to interactive UI elements (maps, designs, previews) within chat

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here's how to do it.

On Web / Desktop

1. Log into ChatGPT, www.chatgpt.com.
2. Start a chat and include an app name (e.g. “Zillow, show me houses in Austin, TX”)
3. If it’s your first time, ChatGPT will prompt you to connect that app and grant permissions.
4. Once connected, continue chatting naturally; the app UI will appear inline (maps, listings, designs).
5. Use follow-up prompts (e.g. “narrow to $300K–400K,” or “change color to blue”) to refine results.

fig. 1 - Example of Zillow in ChatGPT

On iOS / Android

1. Update the ChatGPT app (iOS / Android) to the latest version.
2. Open the app and start a conversation, naming an app (e.g. “Canva, create a poster”)
3. When prompted, sign in to that service and grant permissions.
4. App responses will show inside the chat, just like on desktop.
5. Use follow-up prompts to modify or iterate.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Makes ChatGPT a true multitool rather than just a text engine.
• Contextual continuity: results respond to prior messages.
• No need to juggle multiple apps or windows.
• Broad initial set of apps with plans to expand.

Cons

• App availability may still be region-locked (not live in EU yet) .
• You must grant permissions for each app, which can raise privacy concerns.
• Some tasks (e.g. scheduling, transactions) revert you to the app’s native experience.
• Developer integrations may vary in polish or consistency. For example: Zillow will show homes. and maps inside chat, but booking a showing still happens in Zillow proper. 

Examples in Action

Real estate search

• You ask: “Zillow, show me 3-bed homes in Chicago, IL under $350,000.” 
• Zillow surfaces a map and listings, letting you filter or ask follow-ups (e.g. price drop alerts). 
• When you request a tour, it hands you off to Zillow’s site. 

Marketing assets

• You ask: “Canva, draft me a flyer for our Back-to-School sale.” 
• ChatGPT triggers Canva, produces multiple design options, and lets you request changes (“make text larger,” “swap color scheme”). 
• When satisfied, you export or open it in Canva for final touches. 

Configuration Guide

Go to Settings / Connected Apps inside ChatGPT to view or revoke app permissions.

If you ever see a permission prompt, read carefully, it shows which data the app may access.

Developers: use the Apps SDK preview (built on the Model Context Protocol) to build and test your own integrations. 

Later this year, OpenAI will open app submissions, publish guidelines, and introduce a directory. 

Feature Access

Available now for logged-in users outside the EU on Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans. 

Apps only in English initially, in markets where those services operate. 

Developers have preview access to the Apps SDK; broader submission opens later. 

Score

Criterion | Score | Justification

Value: 9 / 10:

This extends ChatGPT from helper to doer, enabling sophisticated, real-world tasks inside conversation.

Usability: 8 / 10

Setup is smooth and the experience feels natural, though some permission flow and handoffs still interrupt immersion.

Wow Factor: 9 / 10

Seeing Zillow maps or Canva designs directly inside your chat feels futuristic and tangible.

Total: 26 / 30 (Excellent)

This is one of the first AI updates that feels like a genuine shift, not just incremental polish.

Key Takeaways

Apps in ChatGPT let you design, book, search, and automate without ever leaving the chat window. 

The experience merges interactive UIs with conversational context. It’s new, with rough edges, but already powerful.

Try It Yourself

Open ChatGPT now, type “Zillow, show me homes in Springfield, IL,” or “Canva, build a flyer for fall sale.” 

Grant permissions when prompted. 

Play with follow-ups, edits, filters. 

Then share your favorite use case or challenge.

READ MORE

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• ChatGPT Projects Are Now Free for Everyone
  
• Give ChatGPT a Personality That Actually Sticks. Here’s How (and Why It Matters)
  
• MORE AI Cool Tips

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Rodger Mansfield, a seasoned tech expert, is the mastermind behind www.OneCoolTip.com where he serves as both writer and editor. With a keen eye for simplifying complex tech, Rodger delivers practical advice that empowers readers to navigate the digital world with confidence. Dive into www.OneCoolTip.com for a treasure trove of savvy tips and tricks that keep you one step ahead in tech.

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