Start with the app’s actual scope
Google says availability varies with the Gemini app, device, location and other factors. On the web, use Settings and Connected Apps; some accounts reach it through Personal Intelligence. An app’s details describe supported and unsupported actions. A feature shown in somebody else’s account is not proof that it is available in yours. [1]
Our recommendation is to choose one concrete task before enabling a connection. “Find the agenda in this folder” is a useful first task because you can inspect the source and answer. A broad request to manage all your work makes it harder to tell which permission or action caused an unexpected result.
Keep three decisions separate
| Decision | What to check |
|---|---|
| App connection | Which service is connected, which account is selected, and which actions it supports. |
| Gemini activity | What is saved in Gemini’s activity controls and what you want to remove. |
| Other service’s data | What the receiving app has stored or changed, and that service’s own controls. |
Google’s Privacy Hub says disconnecting an app does not delete Gemini Apps Activity. Deleting that activity also does not delete information already received by another app, whose own policies apply. These distinctions are documented behavior, not a result of our own account test. [2]
An activity switch is not a universal disconnect
Google’s help page says turning Keep Activity off makes Connected Apps unavailable on the web, iOS and watches, while certain Android connections—including Phone, Messages and WhatsApp—can still work. Check the specific connection rather than treating the activity switch as one universal permission switch. [1]
For a shared workspace, also distinguish your personal preference from the authority to use shared material. A document you can open may include other people’s information. Ask the account or workspace owner about the applicable policy before using it in an AI workflow.
Try a small, reversible task
The following is our suggested check, not a hands-on test report. Start with non-sensitive sample content that you created. Record the chosen account and enabled connection, request one supported retrieval action, and compare the response with the original. Note omissions as well as invented details.
Before allowing an action, inspect the proposed recipient, destination, date and content. Then open the destination app yourself to confirm what actually changed. A fluent completion message is less useful than the saved result you can inspect.
When finished, review the connection, Gemini activity and destination app separately. If your aim is removal, use each relevant service’s controls and read its retention explanation. We have not tested deletion timing, every regional rollout or every connected service.
A good connection is one whose benefit and scope you can describe precisely. Enable it for that job, verify the result, and retain only the access your workflow needs.
Read the underlying guidance.
- Use & manage Connected Apps in GeminiGoogle Gemini Apps Help · checked 2026-10-02. Personal-account scope, connection settings, availability, action descriptions and Keep Activity platform differences.
- Gemini Apps Privacy HubGoogle · checked 2026-10-02. Connected-app data use, separate activity/deletion controls and other services’ retention; not a hands-on privacy audit.
Researched and written with AI. The producing AI checked source attribution, scope and calculations where present. A separate AI reviewer independently read the primary sources and reviewed the English text on 2 October 2026. Human English and specialist review have not been completed. human English/privacy review; hands-on verification across account types/devices and actual app-disconnection/deletion behavior.
