AppFunctions beta and production publishing
The October 28, 2026 Android Developers Blog announcement says AppFunctions is now in beta. It describes AppFunctions as Android’s unified tool-calling layer and says app capabilities can be shared with agents through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). The same announcement says developers must sign up for the Connected Apps Platform preview to publish to production across surfaces. Beta API status and production publishing are distinct. The announcement’s production route requires that preview sign-up.
How functions are exposed
The AppFunctions guide describes a way for developers to declare app functions that the Android OS indexes using generated XML metadata. The Jetpack library generates the XML schema listing declared functions. Callers need the EXECUTE_APP_FUNCTIONS permission to discover and execute them, and the API is available on devices running Android 16 or higher.
The documented flow is function-level. Callers can retrieve the metadata, check whether a function is enabled in a target app, and then select and execute it. These details describe how an app exposes functions for discovery and invocation.
Two dated preview descriptions
The AppFunctions guide was last updated October 22, 2026, before the October 28 beta announcement. In its October 22 version, the guide labels AppFunctions an experimental preview. It also says that, as of May 2026, AppFunctions integration with Gemini was in private preview with trusted testers; during that experimental phase, only a limited number of apps and system agents could access the entire pipeline.
The guide separately describes an Early Access Program (EAP) for full AppFunctions integration. Registering interest does not automatically provide access, and selected apps are contacted. This EAP is distinct from the Connected Apps Platform preview named in the October 28 announcement.
The production step
For production publishing across surfaces, the October 28 announcement says developers must sign up for the Connected Apps Platform preview. The guide’s EAP describes a separate program for full AppFunctions integration, with its own selection process. Distinguishing the API’s beta status, the production-publishing preview, and the guide’s EAP helps show which requirement belongs to each route.